M.L.
Gc
942.5801
V66
v.3
1267074
GENEALOGY
COLLECTION
BLACKWELL'S /
Oxford, Englaii^A
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 00724 1166
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/victoriahistoryof03page
XLbc IDictoria Ibxstot^ of the
Counties of JEnglartb
EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.
A HISTORY OF
HERTFORDSHIRE
VOLUME III
THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND
HERTFORDSHIRE
LONDON
CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED
This History is issued to Subscribers only by
Constable & Company Limited
and printed by W. H. Smith & Son
London
tf
4
INSCRIBED
TO THE MEMORY OF
HER LATE MAJESTY
QUEEN VICTORIA
WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE
THE TITLE TO AND
ACCEPTED THE
DEDICATION OF
THIS HISTORY
j THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTY OF
HERTFORD
EDITED BY
WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.
VOLUME THREE
LONDON
CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED
IQI2
CONTENTS OF VOLUME THREE
12S7C74
Dedication
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps .
Editorial Note
Topography .
Hitchin Hundred
Introduction
Hitchin .
Ickleford .
Ippollitts .
Kimpton
King's Walden
Lilley .
Offley .
Pirton
Broadwater Hundred
Introduction
Aston
General descriptions and manorial descents compiled
under the superintendence of William Page, F.S.A.,
the General Editor ; Heraldic drawings and blazon
by the Rev. E. E. Dorling, M.A., F.S.A. ; Charities
from information supplied by J. W. Owsley, I.S.O.,
late Official Trustee of Charitable Funds
Architectural descriptions (Domestic) by A. Whitford
Anderson, A. R.I. B. A. (except Hitchin Priory by
S. C. Kaines-Smith, M.A.). Architectural descrip-
tions (Ecclesiastical) by S. C. Kaines-Smith, M.A.
By Lucy M. Sanderson ....
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lucy
M. Sanderson ....
„
21
*5
»
29
»
33
"
37
"
39
»
4+
Architectural descriptions (Domestic) by A. Whitford
Anderson, A.R.I.B.A. (except Hatfield House by
S. C. Kaines-Smith, M.A.). Architectural descrip-
tions (Ecclesiastical) by S. C. Kaines-Smith, M.A.
By Mabel E. Christie, Hist. Tripos
General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel
E. Christie
Ayot St. Lawrence or Great Ayot
Ayot St. Peter
Baldoclc .
Benington
Datch worth
Digswell
Graveley
Hatfield or Bishop's Hatfield
Knebworth
S2
54
59
63
65
73
78
81
85
9'
1 1 1
CONTENTS OF VOLUME THREE
Topography {continued) —
Broadwater Hundred {continued)
Letchworth
Great Munden
Little Munden
Sacombe .
Stevenage
Totteridge
Walkern .
Watton-at-Stone
Welwyn .
Weston .
Willhn .
Great or Much Wymondlcy
Little Wymondley .
Odsey Hundred
Introduction
Ardeley .
Ashwcll .
Broadiield
By grave .
Caldccote
Clothall .
Cottered .
Hinxwonh
Kelshall .
Radwell .
Reed
Royston .
Rushden .
Sandon .
Therficld
Wallin°ton
General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel
E. Christie .....
Architectural descriptions (Domestic and Ecclesiastical)
by A. Whitford Anderson, A.R.I.B.A. (except
Ardeley Church by S. C. Kaines-Smith, M.A.)
By Lilian J. Redstone, B.A. .....
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lilian J.
Redstone, B.A. .......
General descriptions and manorial descents bv Cicely
Wilmot, Oxford Honours School of Modern History
General descriptions and manorial descents by Maud
F. Edwards, Oxford Honours School of Modern
History
General descriptions and manorial descents by
J. Redstone, B.A.
General descriptions and
M. Sanderson
General descriptions and
J. Redstone, B.A.
General descriptions and
F. Edwarhs
manorial descents by
manorial descents by
manorial descents by
Lilian
Llcy
Lilian
Maud
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lilia
f. Redstone, B.A. .....
General descriptions and manorial descents by Maui
F. Edwards ......
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lucy M
Sanderson .......
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lilian J
Redstone, B.A. ......
118
124.
129
136
■39
148
151
158
165
171
177
181
192
19+
199
209
220
226
232
240
244
2+7
253
265
270
276
CONTENTS OF VOLUME THREE
Topography {continued) —
Braughing Hundred
Introduction
Bishop's Stortfo
Braughing
Eastwick .
Gilston .
Hunsdon
Sawbridgeworth
Standon .
Stanstead Abbots
Thorley .
Thundridge
Ware
Westmill
Widford .
Hertford Hundred .
Introduction
Parts of All Saints' and St
John's, Hertford, includ-
ing the liberties of Brick-
endon and Little Amwell
Great Amwell .
Bay ford ....
Bengeo ....
Little Berkhampstead
Broxbourne with Hoddes-
don ....
Cheshunt St. Mary .
Essendon
Hertingfordbury
St. Andrew Rural
Stanstead St. Margaret'
Stapleford
Architectural descriptions by A. Whitford Anderson,
A.R.I.B.A.
By Alice Raven z89
General descriptions and manorial descents by Alice
Raven 292
., » • 3°°
General descriptions and manorial descents by Cicely
Wilmot, Oxford Honours School of Modern History 3 1 7
General descriptions and manorial descents by Alice
Raven 3»9
General descriptions and manorial descents by Cicely
Wilmot 323
General descriptions and manorial descents by Alice
Raven 33*
• 347
■ 366
• 373
■ 377
„ „ », ,, • 380
• 397
,. .< .> .. • +02
Architectural descriptions except where otherwise stated
by A. Whitford Anderson, A.R.I.B.A.
By Lilian J. Redstonk, B.A. ..... 407
General descriptions and manorial descents by Lilian
J. Redstone, B.A. ...... 409
General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel E.
Christie, Hist. Tripos ......
General descriptions and manorial descents by Eleanor
J. B. Reid, B.A
General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel
E. Christie .......
General descriptions and manorial descents by Eleanor
J. B. Reid, B.A. Architectural descriptions of
Waltham Cross and Theobalds by S. C. Kaines-
Smith, M.A.
General descriptions and manorial descents by Eleanor J
B. Reid, B.A
General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel E
Christie .......
General descriptions and manorial descents by Helen
Douglas-Irvine, M.A. Architectural description of
Panshanger by Rev. E. E. Dorling, M.A., F.S.A. .
General desci iptions and manorial descents by Maud F.
Edwards, Oxford Honours School of Modern History
414
419
423
4*7
430
44'
458
462
47*
476
CONTENTS OF VOLUME THREE
page
Topography {continued) —
Hertford Hundred {continuea) —
Tewin .... General descriptions and manorial descents by Mabel E.
Christie ........ 480
Wormley . . . General descriptions and manorial descents by Eleanor
J. B. Reid, B.A 487
Hertford Borough . . History of Borough and manorial descents by A. F. H.
Niemeyer, Oxford Honours School of Modern History.
Architectural description of Hertford Castle by A. W.
Clapham. Domestic Architecture by John Quekett,
B.A. . . +g0
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
frontispiece
4
full-page plate, facing 4
6
Jull-page plate, facing 8
14
. 16
full-page plate, facing 1 6
Ashridge Park from the Bridgewater Monument. By William Hyde
Hitchin : View in Bancroft .......
„ Old Houses in Bancroft >
„ Church : The Nave looking East )
„ The Three Tuns Inn, Tilehouse Street
„ Coopers' Arms Inn, Tilehouse Street ....
„ Church : North Chapel Screen )
South Chapel Screen )
Plan
South Porch ......
South Porch Interior >
The Font )
,, Mmsden Chapel, Ruins ........... 18
Ickleford Church from the South ........... 24
Ippollitts : Little Almshoe : The Wyck . . . . . . . . .25
„ „ , „ West Wing .... full page plate, facing 26
„ Church from the South-east
The South Porch ^
„ „ The Nave looking East )
Kimpton : Stoneheaps Farm )
„ Church from the South-west)
„ Plan
„ „ The Nave looking East |
„ „ The South Aisle looking East >
„ „ Old Desk in the Chancel »
King's Walden Church : The Nave looking East )
„ ,, „ from the North-west .
Offley Church from the South-east
„ „ The Nave looking Ea
„ The Font .
Pirton, Old Hall : Ground Plan
J
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
Grange from the South-west ) r „ , . r ■
6 I ...... . full-page plate, facing 44
High Down from the East)
Hammond's Farm : Plan ........... 45
High Down : Ground Plan ........... 45
Grange, Ground Plan . . . . . . . . . . . .45
High Down : Panel with Arms of Sir Thomas Docwra ...... 46
Grange : East Front ............ 47
Old Hall 47
Hammond's Farm showing Porch .......... 4°
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Pirton Grange : East Porch }
„ High Down : The Porch i
,, „ „ Entrance Gateway
,, Hammond's Farm, Dovecote
,, Church from the South
Aston Bury : Ground Plan
,, Attic Plan .
,, ,, Attic Gallery
„ ,, from the North-west
,, The North Porch
Aston Church from the South-west
Aston Bury : Oak Grill and Staircase
Ayot St. Lawrence Old Church : Plan
„ „ ,. ,. „ from the South-east
,, ,, „ ,, Remains of North Chapel and Aisle ]
,, ,, .. ,, ., I jth-century Tomb
Baldock Village .....
Cemetery Road : Old House
View in Hitchin Street )
Old House in White Horse Street i
Church : Plan ....
,, „ The Nave looking East |
,, ., South Chapel Screen J
Benington Church from the South-east )
„ „ The Nave looking East i
„ ,. Tomb in the Chancel .
Datchworth : Whipping Post on the Green )
,, Church : The Nave looking East >
,. ,, from the South-east
Digswell Church from the North-east
„ Plan
North Aisle showing Recess with Trac
Graveley : Chesfield Manor House, Ground Plan
,, ,, ,, , from the North-eas
,, Church from the South-east
„ The Chancel )
Ruins of Chesfield Church >
Hatfield House : Plan in 1608
., Old Palace : Plan of Hall .
., House : Ground Floor Plan
„ ,, First Floor Plan
„ „ South Fajade
„ „ West End of Long Gallery
„ Church : The Chancel and Brockett Chapel |
,, ., Salisbury Chapel
,, „ from the South
Plan
xiv
ery
J
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, fat tng
jull-page plate, facing
fuJ-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
Jull-page plate, facing
.facing
.facing
Jull-page plate, fa, ing
PACE
48
49
5°
5°
54
54
5 5
56
56
57
5»
61
62
62
66
67
68
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
86
88
89
90
9*
94
96
98
106
108
109
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Knebworth House : Ground Plan in 1 805
„ ,, West Lodge Arches from the West .......
„ „ from the South ....... full-page plate, facing
„ „ West Lodge ...........
,, West Lodge, 16th-century Window > . ,, . - .
' •- . full-page plate, facing
„ Church : The Chancel Arch )
,. „ from the South-ea5t . .........
„ „ The Pulpit ....... full-page plate, facing
Letchworth Hall : Ground Plan ...........
„ „ Part of Stair ...........
,, „ West Front ...........
., ,, Part of Screen in Hall ) ,«, ,,' . ,
„ . „. ... • full-page plate, facing
., ,. fireplace on rirst- Hoor >
„ „ from the East )
,, Church from the North )
Great Munden : Old Farm ............
,, „ Church from the South-east .........
Little Munden : Lordship Farm ...........
,, „ Church from the North-east .........
„ Old Cottage at Dane End
„ ,, Church : Plan ...........
,, ,, „ Tombs in the Chancel .... full-page plate, facing
„ „ ., The Nave looking North-east .......
Sacombe Church from the South-east ...........
Stevenage Bury : Back View ............
., „ Front View ) , ,, . . . . , .
" t ....... jull-page plate, facing
„ Chells Farm from the South >
,, ,, „ from the North ..........
„ Main Road, showing 17th century House ........
[- . . . /ull-page plate, facing
., Old House, now Gas Company's Offices)
,, Church from the North-east }
,, „ The Nave looking East)
„ Pl»n
., ,, The Font ........ full-page plate, facing
Walkern : Rook's Nest, Ground Plan ..........
„ Bridgefoot Farmhouse, Ground Plan .........
„ Rook's Nest, East Front
„ Old Cottage
„ Bridgefoot Farm from the South-west) , „ , , .
0 '-.... full-page plate, facing
„ Church : The Nave looking East )
„ Rook's Nest from the South-west .........
„ Church : Plan ............
„ „ Tomb in South Aisle ...... full-page plate, facing
, ,, from the South-west ..........
Watton Place : Front View ............
,. ., Back View ............
'3
14
:i5
16
117
118
19
124
[25
128
130
>3i
'33
'34
'34
'35
'38
[40
140
141
142
[42
'44
.46
146
'5'
152
'S3
'53
'54
'55
'56
,S6
'57
■59
161
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Watton Church from the North-east ) r n + +i . s ■ s
\ . . . . . . full-page plate, facing 1 64
„ „ The Nave looking east )
Welwyn Church from the South ) ,„
> •••••»!, » 100
„ „ Interior looking South-east )
Weston Church from the South )
£■ • • » ,, ,, 174
,, „ Capital of Impost of South-east Pier of Tower'
„ „ Interior looking East . . . . . . . . . .176
Willian Church from the South-east . . . . . . . . . . .180
„ „ Chancel Screen ....... full-page plate, facing 180
Great Wymondley : Delamere, Ground Plan . . . . . . . . .182
„ Drawing Room Chimney-piece ) , „ , , .
5 ' r [■ full-page plate, facing 182
,, „ Church : South Doorway )
„ „ „ from the North-east .... „ ,,,,184
„ „ Delamere : South Front . . . . . . . . .185
Little Wymondley : Buck's Head Inn . . . . . . . . . .187
,, „ Bury from the East . . . . . . . . . .187
„ „ Hall : Entrance Doorway . . . . . . . .188
„ ,, „ from the South-west ) , „ , . . __
I full-page plate, facing 1 8 8
„ „ Priory from the North-west )
„ „ „ Ground Floor Plan . . . . . . . . .189
„ ,, Bury : Ground Plan . . . . . . . . . .189
,, ,, Priory: North Front. ......... 190
(..... full-page plate, facing 1 90
,, „ Church from the North-west )
Ardeley Church : The Nave looking East) ,
The Roof of the Nave J
,, ., from the North ) 0
[ „ „ „ 198
Ashwell : Old House near Church >
„ View in Village ............ 200
,, High Street, the 'Rose and Crown' ......... 201
., House in the Main Street (dated 1681) . . . . full-page plate, facing 202
Church : Plan 205
„ „ from the South-east ) , ,. ., . j- . _A
> . . . . full-page plate, facing 200
„ „ The Nave looking South-west *
„ Lychgate to Churchyard ........... 207
Broadfield : Old Oak Entrance Door from Broadfield Hall . . . full-page plate, facing 210
Bygrave : Plan of Parish . . . . . . . . . . . • .213
„ Church from the North-west . . . . . . . . • .216
Caldecote Church from the North-west . . . . . . . . ■ .219
,, „ 15th-century Stoup in South Porch .... full-page plate, facing 220
Clothall Church from the South-east) -c
\ ..... „ » » 22°
Cottered Church from the South )
The Town Houses . . . . . . . . . . . .227
The Lordship, Ground Plan .......... 227
„ ,, from the North-west . . . . . • • • .229
„ ,, Entrance Front
„ „ Jacobean Chimney-piece in the Dining-room
Hinxworth Place: Ground Plan . . . . . . . . . . • *33
\ full-page plate, facing 230
1 )
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PACE
Hinxworth Place : Principal Entrance Doorway 234
„ from the North-east ) , „ , , . .
" . _ , [ full-page plate, facing 236
„ „ from the South-west >
„ „ Part of South-west Front . . . . . . . . .237
„ Church from the South-east . . . . . . . . . .238
Place : Heraldic Glass Window in Drawing Room 1 , „ , . .
" y ■ full-page plate, facing 240
Kelshall Church : The Nave looking West <
,. „ from the South-west . . . . . . . . . .243
„ „ Locker in North-west Angle of North Aisle . . full-page plate, facing 244
Radwell Church from the South-east . . . . ■ . . . 246
Reed Church : Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . .252
,, „ from the North-east ) , ,. _. , .
' ..... full-page plate, facing 252
Royston Church : 14th-century Effigy in Chancel \
„ High Street, Old Houses ........... 256
„ Cave: Sculptured Figures on Wall below Cornice (two views) . full-page plate, facing 258
,, Church : The South Arcade) ,
The Pulpit I
„ House in the Churchyard ........... 262
„ Church : Plan ............. 263
Rushden Church from the South-east .......... 269
„ ,, The Nave looking East ) , ,, , , .
V • full-page plate, facing 270
Sandon Church : Easter Sepulchre, North Side of Chancel I
„ „ and Cottages from the South-west )
\ , „ „ 274
„ „ The Nave looking East )
„ „ Tower and South Porch . . . . . . . . . .275
Therfield Rectory : Plan ............. 277
„ ,, 1 5th-century East Wing from the North-west ..... 277
„ „ North Window of Kitchen ) , „ , , .
[• . . . full-page plate, facing 278
„ „ South Window, now partly doorway >
Wallington Church : 1 5th-century Altar Tomb . .... ,, „ „ 286
„ „ from the South-east .......... 287
Bishop's Stortford : St. Joseph's, formerly Wind Hill House . . full-page plate, facing 292
,, „ The White Horse Inn ......... 294
„ ,, The Black Lion Inn ...... .... 295
,, „ Church : The Nave looking East ]
Waytemore Castle, South Wall of [ ■ ■ ■ full-page plate, facing 296
Keep from Enclosure J
„ „ Waytemore Castle, Plan . . . . . . . . .298
„ „ Castle Cottage ........... 299
>, „ Piggotts, Back View .......... 300
,, „ „ from the West . . . . . . . . .301
» 1, „ Ground Plan ......... 302
„ „ Church from the South-west ......... 303
Braughing : Rose and Crown ............ 307
„ The Makings 308
„ Upp Hall : Ground Plan . . .312
„ ,, „ Old Barn from the South-west . . . . . . 313
.. .. » ., ., Plan 313
xvii c
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PACE
Braughing: Upp Hill from the West) full- f age plate, facing 3,4
„ Church from the South )
„ Monument to lohn and Charles Brograve) „
Eastwick Church : 1 3th-century Effigy l
Gilston Church from the South-east ........... 322
„ „ Piscina and Credence ...... full-page plate, facing 322
Hunsdon House : Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . -3*4
„ „ from the South-east . . . . . . . . . 325
,, ,, from the North-east . . . . . . . . . .326
„ Church: I yth-century Oak Screen to'South Chapel . . full-page plate, facing 328
„ „ Plan . . . . . . . . . . . -330
„ ,, Tomb of Sir Thomas Foster .... full-page plate, facing 330
„ „ from the North-west . . . . . . . . . .331
Sawbridgeworth : Three Mile Pond F^rm . . . . . . . . .332
„ Hand and Crown Inn . . . . . . . . . 333
„ Tharbies . . . . . . . , . . . -334
„ Bursteads : Ground Plan ......... 34.2
„ „ South-west Front ......... 34.2
„ „ Interior of Great Barn ........ 343
„ Church from the South-east ......... 344
„ The N?.ve looking East ) , ,, , , .
6 - . . . . full-page plate, facing 344
„ l he Chancel )
„ „ Tomb of Sir John Leventhorpe and his Wife . „ ,, ,, 346
Standon : High Street ............. 348
„ The School ............. 349
„ Friars Farm : Old Barn . . . . . . . . . . .350
,, The Hermitage, Old Hall Green ) , „ , , , .
, r, *, V. „ ^,JTrn ^ - • • • • M-page plate, facing 352
„ St. Edmund s College, Old Hall Green )
„ Lordship : West Front . . . . . . . . . . 355
,, Sutes Manor House . . . . . . . . . . . 357
„ Church : The Nave looking East ..... full-page plate, facing 362
„ „ Plan ............ 364
„ ,, Monument to Sir Ralph Sadleir .... full-page plate, facing 364
Stanstead Abbots : Stanstead Bury from the North-west . . . . . . .370
„ ,, Church : South Porch .......... 372
,, ,, Old Church from the South-west
,, „ „ „ The Nave looking East^
Thorley Hall : West Front . . . . . . . . . . . 373
„ Church from the South-east .......... 376
„ ,, The South Doorway ...... full-page plate, facing 376
Thundridge : Wades Mill ............ 378
„ Old Church : The Tower ) , „ , , .
I. . . . . . full-pa^e plate, facing 3 So
Ware Church from the North-east )
.» » P^n 393
„ „ The Font, East Face ) - „ , -. .
,„ _ \ full-page plate, facing 394
„ ,, „ „ West Face)
Wcstmill Church from the South-west .......... 400
„ „ The Nave looking West . . . . . . . . . .401
xviii
\ full-page plate, facing 372
t>
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Widford : Old Gateway in Churchyard Wall
„ Church from the South- east
Hertford : Balls Park from the South-east )
„ „ ,, The Entrance Front )
Great Amwell Church from the South-east
„ Plan .
„ „ „ The Nave looking East
Bengeo Church from the South-east .
„ Plan ....
,, „ Chancel Arch looking from the Nave
Little Berkhampstead Church from the North
Broxbourne Church : The Font
„ „ Tomb of Sir William Say I
„ „ from the North-east
Cheshunt College : Older Part
„ The Great House, Ground Plan
,, „ „ „ Basement Plan
„ ,, „ „ Staircased
„ „ ,. ■> Vault J
:, „ , North End of the Hall
„ Street : Old House ....
„ Waltham Cross ....
„ Goff's Oak
„ Temple Bar at Theobalds Park .
„ The Great House from the North-west
„ „ „ „ from the South-west >
„ Church from the South-east >
„ Almshouses, Turner's Hill
Essendon Church : West Tower
Hertingfordbury : Old Parsonage
„ Church : West Tower
St. Andrew Rural : Panshanger House from the South
Stanstead St. Margaret's Church from the South-west
„ „ „ „ The Chancel
„ Plan
Stapleford Church : North Doorway
Tewin : Queenhoo Hall from the South-west |
„ ,, „ ,, „ North-west '
„ „ „ Ground Plan
„ „ „ First Floor Plan
,, Lead Sundial, formerly at Queenhoo H
„ Church : Plan . . .
,, „ from the South-east
VVormley Church from the North-west
Hertford : Plan of the Town .
„ Old Coffee House Inn )
Old Houses in Bull Plain >
„ 17th-century pargeted House in Fore Street
xix
11 (two view
PACE
4°+
405
full-page plate, facing 4 1 4
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
416
418
•418
424
426
426
428
436
. 43S
. 441
. 442
. 442
full-page plate, facing 442
443
444
444
445
45°
453
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
jull-page plate, facing 454
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
full-page plate, facing
. Jacing
457
461
463
467
47°
472
474
475
479
full-page plate, facing 482
+ S+
4S4
484
4S5
486
4S8
490
full-page plate, facing 492
494
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Hertford : Bayley Hall
Cottage at North-east of St. Andrew's Churchy
Christ's Hospital
in I 6 1 I
Castle : The Gatehouse
Plan
St. John's Church : Plan
Tile from St. John's Church
urchyard )
full-page plate, facing 496
498
,. 500
. 504
.jacing 506
. 508
. 509
LIST OF MAPS
Index Map to the Hundred of Hitchin
„ „ » Broadwater
i, » .. » Odsey
„ „ >■ i> Braughing .
„ Hertford .
1
5*
192
289
407
EDITORIAL NOTE
The Editor wishes to thank the following, who have kindly assisted him
by reading the proofs of this volume and have otherwise helped in
passing the pages through the Press : — the Hon. H. C. Gibbs, M.A.,
Mr. R. T. Andrews, the Rev. Edwin Burton, D.D., Mr. J. L. Glasscock,
Mr. H. R. H. Gosselin-Grimshawe, J. P., Mr. C. E. Johnston, Mr.
William Minet, M.A., F.S.A., J. P., and Major F. Skeet. The
assistance thus afforded has added much to the completeness of the
various parish histories given in this volume.
The Editor desires further to acknowledge the courtesy he has in-
variably received from all those to whom he has applied for information.
He would more especially mention in this respect the Most Hon. the
Marquess of Salisbury, P.C., G.C.V.O., C.B., the Rt. Hon. the Earl
of Lytton, the Rev. Lord William Cecil, M.A., Sir Edgar C. Boehm,
Bart., Mr. W. F. Andrews, the Rev. H. Athill, M.A., the Rev. H. A.
Barker, M.A., the Rev. F. R. Blatch, M.A., the Rev. A. R. Buckland,
M.A., Mr. H. G. N. Bushby, J. P., the Rev. L. C. Chalmers-Hunt,
M.A., Mr. B. L. Cherry, the Rev. C. W. Clarke, M.A., Miss Cotton-
Browne, Mr. Septimus Croft, J. P., Mr. Arthur W. Cross, Mr. R. H.
Gamlen, Mr. Charles Gayton, Mr. T. T. Greg, M.A., F.S.A., J. P.,
Mr. R. T. Gunton, Mr. H. R. Wilton Hall, the Rev. A. C. Headlam,
D.D., the Hertford Corporation, the Rev. A. B. Hobart-Hampden,
M.A., the late Canon H. Jephson, M.A., the Rev. A. G. Langdon,
B.A., the Rev. H. A. Lipscomb, M.A., the Rev. J. Traviss Lockwood,
Mr. C. J. Longman, J. P., Mr. C. E. Longmorc, the Rev. F. W. Low,
M.A., Mr. W. E. Maclean, Mr. V. A. Malcolmson, the Rev. J. Mearns,
M.A., Mr. Walter Millard, the Rev. W. Mitchell-Carruthers, M.A.,
Mr. William Morris, the Rev. R. S. Mylne, M.A., B.C.L., F.S.A.,
the Rev. A. Nairne, M.A., Mr. J. Phillips, J.P., Miss Pollard, Mr. J. R.
Pulham, Mr. F. C. Puller, J.P., the Rev. J. E. I. Procter, M.A.,
Mr. J. H. Round, M.A., LL.D., Mr. Thomas U. Sadleir, Mr. Abel
H. Smith, M.A., J.P., the Rev. E. A. Smith, M.A., the Rev. S. M.
Stanley, M.A., the Rev. W. T. Stubbs, M.A., the Rev. M. S. Swatman,
M.A., the Rev. G. Todd, M.A., Mr. J. Allen Tregelles, Mr. C. J.
Veasey, M.A., and the Rev. P. M. Wathen, M.A.
For illustrations and plans the Editor is indebted to the Marquess
of Salisbury, Mr. R. T. Andrews, the Editor of the Architectural
Review, the Editor and Proprietors of Country Life (for photographs of
Hatfield House, Knebworth House, the Wyck and Balls Park),
Mr. V. A. Malcolmson, Major F. Skeet, and Monsignor Bernard Ward.
A HISTORY OF
HERTFORDSHIRE
TOPOGRAPHY
THE HUNDRED OF HITCHIN
CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF
HITCHIN
ICKLEFORD
IPPOLLITTS
KIMPTON
KINGS WALDEN1
LILLEY
OFFLEY
PIRTON 3
■^■'%s'\
./■
,
xIa
This hundred was generally called the 'half hundred of Hiz (Hitchin),'
its Domesday assessment working out at about 40 hides. During the 15th,
1 6th and 17th centuries it is sometimes
referred to as the hundred of Polettes
(Ippollitts).3
All the places above named are
mentioned in the hundred in 1086 except
Ickleford and Ippollitts ; Ickleford was
then included in Pirton, and Ippollitts is
represented by the manor of Almshoe.
The Domesday Survey also places within
the hundred Westoning (Bedfordshire),
Welei, Wilei, Flesmere, Hexton and
Bendish, a hamlet in St. Paul's Walden.*
Though Westoning was attached by its
tenure to this hundred, its ' wara ' or
place of assessment was in the hundred
of Manshead in Bedfordshire.5 Welei is
possibly Wedelee in Preston, but both
this and Welei cannot be identified with
certainty.6 Flesmere 7 or Flexmere 8
remains unidentified, also Leglega, where
there was 1 virgate of land (although
the latter may possibly be Ley Green to the north of King's Walden) ;
Hexton was transferred to the hundred of Cashio before 1286.9 Bendish
was also added to the same hundred soon after the Survey, probably by the
Abbot of St. Albans, to whom Cashio belonged.10
The hundred of Hitchin appears to have always belonged to the
Crown.11
ft * A
•- .
__- . , , , *—
Index Map to the Hundred of Hitchin
32j
1 St. Paul's Walden is in the hundred of Cashio.
2 According to Population Returns of 1831.
3 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 38 ; (Ser. ii), ix, 67 ; xxxiii, 5 ; Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
4 y.C.H. Herts, i, 302, 304, 316. 6 Ibid. 302*.
6 Ibid. 297. 7 Ibid. 304,2 8 Ibid. 338a.
9 Ibid, ii, 320. 10 Ibid. 480.
11 Pipe R. 21 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 77, &c. ; Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 164 ; Assize R. Herts.
; 325, m. l8d. ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188 et seq.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The three-weekly hundred court13 was probably originally held at
Hitchin, and perhaps later at Ippollitts, judging by the alternative name.
There is also record of ' the full hundred court ' having been held at
Kimpton,13 and a view of frankpledge was held at Oughton's Head in Pirton
in the 14th century.14 The jurisdiction of the sheriff was limited by the
franchises of the lords of various manors within the hundred, including
Hitchin,16 Lilley,16 Offley St. Ledgers,17 Wells in Offley,18, Oddingselles in
Pirton,19 and Dinsley.20
In the 17th century a grant of court leet was made to Ralph Radcliffe,
lord of Hitchin, in Maidecroft, Ippollitts and Gosmore21 and to St. John's
College, Cambridge, in the manor of Ramerick in Ickleford.22
A survey was taken of the hundred as part of the king's possessions in
1 65 1. Within the hundred all waifs, strays, goods of felons and fugitives
belonged to the lord if his bailiff seized them first ; but if they were first
seized by the bailiff of the lord of a manor having a court leet the profits
went to such lord. The lord of the hundred also had the return and
execution of all writs within the hundred. A three-weekly court was held,
and the whole value was ^3.23
12 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 7.
13 Assize R. 340, m. I ; Cal. Pat. 1324-7, p. 13;.
u Chan. Inq. p.m. I 5 Edw. II, no. 4.
15 Plac. de Quo. ifarr. (Rec. Com.), 288 ; HunJ. R. (Rcc. Com.), i, 194.
16 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188. 17 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. ix, m. 35.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 34.
19 Assize R. 325 ; Pat. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. ii, m. 18.
20 Assize R. 323, m. 36, 48 ; Plac, de Quo. U'arr. (Rec. Com.), z?l.
21 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xii.
22 Ibid. 15 Jas. I, pt. xviii, no. 12.
23 Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 2.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
HITCHIN
HITCHIN
Hicche, Hiz (xi cent.) ; Hicche (xiii cent.) ;
Huthe, Huche, Huchine, Hytchen (xiv cent.) ;
Lutchon J (xv cent.). The parish of Hitchin in-
cludes besides the town the three extensive hamlets
of Walsworth on the north-west covering 1,051
acres, Preston, a straggling village in the south, having
an area of 1,1 18 acres, and Langley still further south,
which extends over 1,626 acres.2 The parish of
Ippollitts, which was a chapelry to Hitchin, lies
between the main portion of Hitchin and the almost
detached hamlet of Langley and is inclosed by them
on three sides. The parish of Hitchin exclusive of
its hamlets covers the upper portion of the basin of
the River Hiz, which rises at Well Head just beyond
the south-west border of the parish and flows north-
east. The River Oughton, rising at Oughton Head
on the west, flows north-east, forming the parish
boundary and joins the Hiz. The River Purwell,
which has its source at Nine Springs in the parish of
Great Wymondley, flows across Walsworth Common
and joins the Hiz. The surface of the land near
these streams is only some 190 ft. above the ordnance
datum, but the ground rises to the south, east and
west, gradually reaching a height of 300 ft. on the
north-east border of the parish. The greater part of
Preston hamlet is considerably higher and lies on a
ridge of the Chilterns. In the centre of this hamlet
at its highest part the ground has a height of 507 ft.,
and from here there is a slight incline towards the
south-east which continues through the hamlet of
Langley down to a height of 309 ft.
The soil is chalk,3 and is mentioned by Norden as
' a kinde of chalke which they call Hurlocke, a stonie
Marie more fit to make lime then to soyle the
grounde, yet beeing mixed with a more fragile and
gentle Marie, which also aboundeth there, they find
it very helpfull to their corne fields.' 4 The common
fields of Walsworth hamlet were inclosed in I 766— J,5
and those of Hitchin called Bury Mead and Cock
Mead in 1 877 and 1886,6 but there are several open
fields in Hitchin to this day.
In the 1 6th century a great quantity of malt was
made at Hitchin,7 and brewing is still an important
industry of the town. Corn is the chief product of
the district, and there has been a famous corn market
here for more than 300 years.8 Potatoes, pepper-
mint, and lavender are also much cultivated.
Lavender is grown in the fields to the north of the
town and is distilled by two large firms, Messrs.
Perks & Llewelyn and Messrs. W. Ransom & Son.
Palaeolithic implements have been found in and
near Hitchin,9 and pottery of the late Celtic period
has also been found in the neighbourhood.10 A
barrow of pre-Roman date to the south of the Icknield
Way was opened and found to contain burnt bones,
a blade of copper, and a clay urn.11 Coins of Ofla
have been discovered and Roman objects have been
found.
Place-names which occur in records of this parish
in the 1 7th century are Cleypitts, Conigre, Ladder
Peece, Pattens, Hyover, Toyes, Saffron Close and
Silverstreet Close.12
The original plan of Hitchin followed that usual
in country market towns. It stands on an important
road and clusters around a large triangular market-
place formed by the widening of the road. The
market-place originally extended from the south side
of Tilehouse Street on the south to Bancroft on the
north, and from the east side of Sun Street on the
east to the west side of Bucklersbury and High
Street on the west. The actual market-place is now
restricted to the small middle portion of this area,
the remainder as at St. Albans, Berkhampstead and
elsewhere having been built over at first by perma-
nent stalls and then by shops. These encroachments
began probably in the 13 th or 14th century, but by
1470 we have evidence of continuous tenure here by
the lease of two stalls for forty years.13 By 1603
the market-place had evidently been built upon
for some time,14 the courts being held in one
of the so-called ' stalls.' 15 Facing the market-place
stood the numerous inns which formerly existed in
the town,16 and the houses of the townsfolk with
their back premises extending as now to the river on
the east side and to Paynes Park and Grammar
School Walk on the west. On the east side of the
market-place stands the church of St. Mary with its
large churchyard. The extension of the town along
Bridge Street and Tilehouse Street, and a little later
along what is now Queen Street, is of mediaeval
date, and was possibly made at the time of the
founding of the priory in 1 3 1 7. The town has
been developing rapidly of late years. Houses have
been built on the higher land on the east and south
sides and near the railway station, which lies about
half a mile to the east of the town.
Hitchin is fortunate in having retained so many of
its ancient houses, though most of them have been
refronted and much altered in the 1 8th and 19th
centuries. In Bancroft or Bancroft Street,17 at the
north end of the market-place, are many old houses.
On the west side is a house now known as the Croft,
which was built early in the 15th century, although
since much altered, and was occupied until recently
by the Tuke family. A little to the south on the
same side is ' The Brotherhood,' probably the hall of
the gild of our Lady, founded in 1475. It is a
building of the 15th century, covered with rough-
cast, with a tiled roof. It was originally rectangular
in plan, and the ground floor, which was divided by
1 Cal. Papal Letters, iv, 349.
3 la the 16th century it was said
' Hitchin is a market town and the
parish is dispersed in diverse hamelettes
distant from the parish church 3 miles
some more, some less ' (Chant. Cert.
[Augm. Off.], 27, no. 17).
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, Geol. Map.
4 Norden, Spec* Brit. Pars (1903), 19.
6 Dep. Ketpti s R:p. xxvii, App. 2.
6 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 64.
7 Norden, loc. cit.
8 Ibid.
9 V.C.H. Herts, i, 228, 230, 234.
10 Ibid. 236.
11 Ibid. 244.
18 Add. MS. 16273.
13 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf.
o. 40.
14 Exch. Dep. Hil. 45 Eliz. no. 9.
« Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 22.
16 Besides the inns hereafter mentioned
the following appear in the Hitchin
parish registers: the 'Vine' in 16 17-
18, the 'Bull' in 1645 and the 'Rose
and Crown' in 1652 (MS. marked
Hitchin in Lewis Evans Coll.).
1( This name is found as early as the
15th century (Ct. R. [Gen. Ser.], portt.
177, no. 40).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
transverse partitions, is now used for shops, whilst the
upper floor, which formed the hall 48 ft. by 1 7 ft.,
with a fine open timbered roof, now ceiled, is
divided into rooms. Four trusses of this roof still
remain in position. They are of oak and have
moulded wall-posts with moulded capitals and bases,
wall-plates and purlins, cambered tie-beams and
queen posts, with curved spandrel pieces and wind-
braces. The timbered mullioned windows have
apparently been renewed, as has also a great part of
the outer walls. At the apex of each of the two
gables are terra-cotta figures of a man on horseback,
which have been copied from the originals still
remaining in one of the shops.
On the east side of Bancroft is a large 15th-
century house18 of timber and plaster, with a tiled
three and numbered 86, 87, 88 Bancroft, stands a little
to the south. It was much altered in the I 9th century,
and has now a timber frame filled in different parts
with plaster, rough-cast, weather-boards and brickwork.
It is L-shaped in plan with a hall of four bays about
1 2 ft. each and 20 ft. span, facing the street. The
solar wing lies to the north and has an archway with
a room over. The upper story projects and has
a gable at each end with a modern bay-window
between them. At the north end of the hall is a
panelled canopy of a dais divided into square pan- Is
by ogee-moulded ribs with bosses at the junctions
which are now lost. There is some 17th-century
panelling in the solar, and at the back are some old
buildings, probably of the same date as the house.
Numbers 89 and 90 at one time apparently formed
View in Bancroft, Hitchin
roof. It is L-shaped in plan with a hall in the main
wing facing the street. To the north was a solar
wing, beyond which was a high archway. During
the latter half of the 16th century an upper story
was formed in the hall by the insertion of a floor
projecting on the west front and a gable built at the
north end, the roof being raised to give additional
height. At the same time a chimney-stack was
added at the north end. Nothing beyond one tie-
beam of the oaken hall roof now remains, with
mortise holes for curved angle brackets. A little
further south is the ' Hermitage,' now a portion of
the residence of Mr. Frederic Seebohm, LL.D.,
which mainly consisted of two houses converted into
one in the I 8th century with additions of that time.
Another large 15th-century house, now divided into
18 It is now divided into two and numbered 83 and 84.
one house of a similar type, but were very much
altered and refronted in the I 8th century. Portmill
Lane branches off here to Queen Street. A little
way down is the ' Grange,' a 1 7th-century house
much altered in the next century. Beyond Portmill
Lane stands the church. Lower down, on the north-
east corner of the market-place, to the south of the
church, are the remains of a 15th-century house of
the court-yard plan, now used as a dwelling-house
and shops. The east wing was rebuilt in the 1 7th
century and altered in the I 8th century, but the west
wing of the original building remains. The over-
hanging gatehouse, with an entrance archway having
heavy moulded timbers with curved brackets, still
exists. Traces of the north wing have been dis-
covered, but the south wing has been entirely
destroyed. Sun Street contains on its eastern side
several houses of the 1 7th century and earlier ; they
Hitchin : Old Houses in Bancroft
Hitchin Church : The Nave looking East
HITCHIN HUNDRED
have, however, been mostly refronted in the 1 8th
century. The more important are the Angel Inn,
mentioned in 1632,19 which is of two stories of
timber and plaster and has a tiled roof. It has remains
of mediaeval work, although its appearance has been
much changed by later alterations. It was originally
an L-shaped building facing on to the market-place.
It may have had shops on the ground floor facing the
street and a hall and small chamber over them. In
the 17th century a staircase was added in the angle
between the wings and a small addition made at the
back. The upper story projects both in front and at
the back. An archway of a type usual in old coaching
inns leads into the yard, and is supported on 16th-
century brackets carved with birds and flowers. The
gables at the back have carved barge-boards — the one
more elaborately carved is of the 15th century, and
the other of the early 1 7th century. There is a good
1 7th-century staircase with moulded hand-rail and
turned balusters. A little southward is the Sun Inn,
which was apparently built in the last few years of the
1 6th century and is of brick and plastered timber with
a tile roof. It was refronted in the I 8th century and
later much altered. At the back is a courtyard,
which is approached by an archway from the street.
It was here that the Commissaries' Court was held in
1639,20 when Joseph Wigg of North Mimms refused
to remove his hat upon admonition of the judge,
saying he would put off his hat if the judge would
lend him a cap ; * he knew where he was : in a
place made of wood, stones and other things.' Wigg's
example was followed by John Clarke. A new
assembly room was built at the' Sun' in 1770."
At this inn, too, the courts of the manor of Portman
and Foreign are still held at Michaelmas. Further
on, near to Bridge Street, is an old 1 7th-century
brick house with a tile roof. It is rectangular in
plan ; the windows on the first floor have wooden
mullions and transoms, but those on the ground
floor were altered in the 1 8th century. On the
north side is a three-centred arch leading into a yard at
the back. On the western side of the market-place
there are also many houses of the 17th century or
possibly earlier, but here again they have been
refronted in the 1 8th century. In High Street,
formerly known as Cock Street, is the Cock Hotel,
built of timber with plaster and brick filling of
probably the 1 6th century. It is an L"snaPed building
with a large yard at the back. It is mentioned in the
Hitchin Registers in 1617. In Bucklersbury, which
probably takes its name from a house which is referred
to in the 17th century," is the George Inn, a two-
storied building originally built in the 1 6th century
or possibly earlier, but now much changed owing to
frequent alterations. It has in the middle facing the
street a high archway leading into the yard, with a
high overhanging gable above. The upper story
projects. A little further south is the Hart Inn,
probably of the last few years of the 1 6th century.
It is of two stories of plastered timber with a tiled
roof, and was much altered in the 19th century.
It has a projecting upper story and an archway leading
HITCHIN
into the yard behind, around which are plastered
timbered buildings with projecting stories. At the
front of this archway is a pair of 17th-century gates.
The houses in Bridge Street are mostly of brick,
but there are a few timber and plaster buildings.
No. 2 is a small 16th-century house covered with
rough-cast and having a tiled roof. Its principal
interest is two early 16th-century barge-boar's, one
with a guilloche pattern and the other with dragons
in low relief. On the opposite side Nos. 21 to 23
are interesting old timber and plaster houses with
tiled roofs, which may be of about the year 1600.
The middle house has a bay window and probably
an original door. Nos. 18 and 19 originally formed
one 16th-century house of timber and plaster with a
tiled roof. On the west side the upper story projects
over the river, and on the north over the street. It
has a framed archway to the yard behind. At the
east end of Bridge Street, looking on to what is
called the Triangle, is an interesting timber and
plaster house of the I 5th century, now much altered
and divided into several houses. It is L-shaped
in plan with an archway to the yard at the back.
The upper story overhangs and had originally an
open roof.
Nos. 8 to 11 on the south side of Tilehouse23
Street were originally one house dating from the
early part of the 17th century, but have been much
altered. The Three Tuns Inn with the house
adjoining it, numbered II, formed another house of
the same date, which has the usual archway leading
into a yard. No. 19 is also of the same date and
contains some original panelling reset. On the north
side is the Coopers' Arms Inn, said to have been the
Tilers' Gild Hall. It is built of stone with a tiled
roof and dates back to the middle of the 1 5 th century.
It was originally of the courtyard type, but only the
south and west wings of it now remain. The south
wing, which faces on to the street, contains what
remains of the hall, which had an open timbered roof,
two trusses of which are still in existence. An
additional story, however, was made by the insertion
of an upper floor which projected into the street,
probably in the 17th century. There is an archway
from the street to the yard behind.
The old Free School at the west end of Tilehouse
Street, now a dwelling-house, was built about ^o,84
but has been much altered. It is of two stories of
plastered timber and brick with a tiled roof.
There are many old and interesting houses in
Queen Street, formerly Dead Street and later Back
Lane, with arched entrances into the yards behind.
Amongst them may be specially mentioned No. 6, a
small 1 7th-century house of timber and plaster and
tiled roof, with an overhanging gabled front. Nos.
103 and 104 were formerly one house, probably the
earliest house now remaining in Hitchin. This was
built at the end of the 14th or beginning of the
15th century, and has masonry foundations with a
plaster and timber superstructure and tiled roof.
Originally it had a central hall with a kitchen wing
on the north side, which, together with a part of the
19 Recov. R. East. 8 Chas. I.
M Cal S. P. Dam. 1639, pp.
•53-
21 MS. marked Hitchin in
Evans Cull, at Herts. Co. Mus.
M Recov. R. 21 Jas. I, rot. 12.
33 Brick earth is found at Hitchin, and
146, there were probably tile works here in
mediaeval times. There were brick
.ewis works in the early part of the 19th
century (MS. marked Hitchin in Lewis
Evans Coll.).
« In a MS. marked Hitchin in the
Lewis Evans Coll. at the Herts. Co. Mus.
it is stated that in the wall of the Free
School is a date which seems to be T. H.
1 64 1.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
hall, has been destroyed ; and a solar wing of two
stories on the south, the outlines of which can still he
traced. No early details of the interior remain
except parts of two trusses of the hall roof, of the
hammer-beam type, 19 ft. span, with moulded wall-
plates. The next two houses, which originally formed
one house, are of a little later date, being of the 15th
century. The hall appears to have been in the
upper story which projects over the street. On the
overhanging gable above the archway on the south is
the date 1729 in the plaster, but the posts supporting
the beam of the arch have 15th-century moulded
capitals supporting the curved angle brackets.
The Three Tuns Inn, Tilehouse Street
To the west of Queen Street, near the River Hiz,
are the Biggin Almshouses, built in the early part of
the 17th century. They consist of four wings built
round a small courtyard, on the west side of which is
a wooden colonnade forming a cloister. Each wing
contains a small set of rooms on each floor. They are
of two stories and an attic and are built of timber and
plaster and brickwork. They have been much altered
at different dates.
There is a Corn Exchange in the town, erected in
185 I. The new town hall in Brand Street is dated
1901. This has super;eded an older one built in
I 840. Among other public buildings may be noticed
the Mechanics' Institute and public subscription
library adjoining the old town hall. There is a
large infirmary called the North Herts and South Beds
Infirmary in the Bedford Road, which was erected in
1840. The Home for girls of weak and defective
intelligence, in the Triangle, was built in 1893.
The Girls' Grammar School, which was built at
the cost of _^l 3,000, was opened in July 1908. The
Boys' Grammar School is a continuation of the Free
School founded by John Mattock in 1650 and
removed to new buildings about
twenty years ago.
Among the past inhabitants of
Hitchin was George Chapman the
poet. He is best known as trans-
lator of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey,
but also wrote other poetry and
plays. In Euthymiae Raptus, or the
Tears of Peace, he alludes to having
spent his childhood in the neigh-
bourhood of Hitchin." William
Drage, a believer in astrology and
witchcraft, and Maurice Johnson,
the antiquary, lived here in the
17th century.86 The 19th cen-
tury claims Sir Henry Bessemer,
the inventor of a new process for
making steel, and Robert Bentley,
botanist, who was born here.
James Hack Tuke, philanthropist,
spent a part of his life at Hitchin.
Samuel Lucas, a well-known
amateur artist, belonged to an old
Hitchin family. Good examples
of his art are to be seen in the
town hall at Hitchin and in the
British Museum. Frederick Chap-
man, publisher and originator of
the Fortnightly Review, was born in
Cock Street in a house said to have
belonged to his collateral ancestor
George Chapman the poet.
Hitchin was
BOROUGH undoubtedly an im-
portant manor and
soke before the Conquest, but
there is no evidence from the
entries in the Domesday Survey
that it was a borough. It was
probably not till the middle of
the I 2th century, when the B.iliols
were Jords, that it developed into an inchoate
borough." This was the time when so many such
market towns arose in consequence of the prosperity
of the wool trade, which enabled the townspeople
to purchase rights from the nobles and other land-
owners impoverished by the civil wars. The market
at Hitchin was held by prescription, and the right to
hold a fair was obtained in I22I.'8 By 1268 w^e
have evidence that the borough was farmed to the
burgesses at a rent of 8^ marks." As we find at the
*5 Diet. Nat. Bing. period and ma
26 Ibid. when the town
11 The present church dates from this rights as it had.
1 rebuilding
jch borough
»» Fine R. 6 Hen. Ill, pt. i, m. 9
n Inq. p.m. 53 Hen. Ill, no. 43.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
same time a distinction between tenants of the
borough and those of the manor, we may infer there
was then the borough or portmote court as well as
the manor or foreign court organized in the same
manner as we find them later. A reference to a
fulling mill at this date J9a possibly indicates one
source of wealth of the burgesses, but the position
of the town on the road to the north may give a
more important reason for its prosperity.
Hitchin continued to be called a borough in
137 5— 6,30 and it appeared before the justices in eyre
as other boroughs by twelve jurors apart from the
county in 1 248,31 1287s' and 1341.33 But it was
not a fully developed borough, for we find no evi-
dence of burgage rents ; it never received a charter of
incorporation and never returned a member to Parlia-
ment. It was one of those numerous little manorial
towns which existed throughout England with vary-
ing liberties which bordered upon borough rights.
The town was divided into three wards — namely,
Bancroft Ward, Bridge Street Ward and Tilehouse
Street Ward — and was governed by a bailiff appointed
at the lord's court, and two constables for the town
and two for the foreign and two head boroughs for
each ward. Besides these there were in 18 19 two
ale conners, two leather searchers and sealers, one
bellman, who was also watchman and town crier.34
In 1883 the Crown soli its market rights to the
local authorities for ^4,000, adding the land on
which the market was held as a gift.35 The market
was always celebrated for its corn,36 and it is said
that corn was always free of tolls there.37
A fair, as mentioned above, was granted to the
lord of Hitchin in I 22 I. At the beginning of the
next century another fair was granted to Robert de
Kendale, this fair to be held on the vigil, day and
morrow of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist
(28-30 August).31 In 1475 a grant was made
to the fraternity or gild here of two fairs, each
of three days' duration, with courts of pie powder.
These two fairs were held on Wednesday in
Easter week and the feast of the Translation of
Edward the Confessor (13 October) and the days
immediately preceding and following.39 After the
Dissolution they were granted to Ranulph Burgh and
Robert Beverley.*0 At the end of the 1 6th century
three fairs were held, in Easter week, on St. Edward's
Day, and at Michaelmas." These fairs were leased
to John Fitz Acherley with the mills." By 1 792
two annual fairs only took place, each lasting one
day. The fair days at this time were Easter Tuesday
and Whit Tuesday.'3 Fairs are now held on these
days and on one day following each. There are also
two fairs at Preston held on the first Wednesday in
May and on the Wednesday before 29 October."
HITCHIN
There is record of a water mill in Hitchin in
1248, which was held by William de Lindlegh,'5 and
had been held by William his father. In the 1 6th
century there were two water mills on the demesne
lands there.46 They were called le Shotting Mill
and le Porte Mill, and were leased in I 594-5 to John
Fitz Acherley for thirty-one years," and other leases
were made later.48 There are still two mills known
by these names.49 Shotting Mill seems to have been
known also as Sheekling Mill.60 At the beginning
of the next century there appears to have been
another water mill called ' le Malt-milne,' which was
granted to Edward Ferrers and Francis Phelipps.51
In 1670 a suit arose on account of a windmill
belonging to Sir Edward Papworth in Charlton, built
some thirteen or fourteen years before, which was
said to take away some of the trade from the king's
two water mills." This may have been on the site
of the mill in Charlton, mentioned as early as 1 1 77,"
which in 1329 was held by Walter de Nevill.54 In
the 19th century there was a mill called Grove Mill,
which was previously known as Burnt Mill."
Hitch Wood, in the south of the parish, was once
far more extensive than it is at present. By the end
of the I 6th century the part of this wood near the
town had begun to disappear,56 but it still extended
into Ippollitts, Langley, Minsden and Preston,57 and
its area must have been very considerable, for the
woods and underwoods were then granted to the
copyholders for the large sum of ^266 16;.58
The manor of HITCHIN was the
MANORS head of the group of Hertfordshire
manors held by Earl Harold, to which
William I succeeded after the Conquest. These at
the time of the Domesday Survey were farmed out
together by the sheriff, and treated for some purposes
as one integral manor.59 The manors which belonged
to or ' lay in ' the manor of Hitchin were Wymondley,
Mcndlesdene (Minsden), Welei, Westone, Waldenei
(King's Walden), Wavedene (Wandon), Cerletone
(Charlton), Dencslai (Temple Dinsley), Offley, Welle
(Wellbury in Offley), Wilei, Fbsmere, Hexton,
Lilley, Flexmere, Leglege60 (Ley Green in King's
Walden [?]), assessed in all at a total of some
37^ hides. Of these manors two were attached to
Hitchin by Harold himself. These were Wymondley,
which he stole from the nuns of Chatteris, as the
shire mote testified,61 and Hexton." King's Walden,
Charlton and Offley were attached after the Conquest
by Ilbert Sheriff of Hertfordshire,63 while Dinsley,
Wellbury and Welei were attached by Peter de
Valoines, his successor.61
Hitchin itself was assessed at 5 hides only, although
there was land for thirty-eight ploughs (including the
land belonging to the minster).65 The total value
29alnq. p.m. 53 Hen. Ill, no. 43.
30 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, no. 75.
31 Assize R. 318.
M Ibid. 325. Hitchin is omitted in the
list of township which appeared separately
in I31"!-l6 (ibid. 333).
33 Ibid. 337.
34 Seebohm, Engl. Village Community,
IC, 445.
30 Rep. of Roy. Com. on Markets and
Fair:, xiii (.), ."24.
36 Norden, Spec. Brit. Pan (1903), 4.
3' Seebohm, op. cit. 44^.
38 Chart. R. 11 EJw. II, no. II.
39 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 542.
40 Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
41 Norden, op. cit. 4.
42 Pat. 37 Eliz. pt. xii, m. 28.
43 Rtp. on Markets and Fain, i, 170.
44 Ibid.
45 Assize R. 31S, m. 12.
« Mins. Accts. 24 Hen. VII-
Hen. VIII, no. 61.
*7 Pat. 37 Eliz. pt. xii, m. 28.
48 Land Rev. Misc. Bk. cliii, fol. 16.
49 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 36, 51.
5" Exch. Dep. East. 22 Chas. II, no. 24.
61 Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. xxxiii.
52 Exch. Dep. East. 2 2 Chas. II, no. 24.
53 Pipe R. 23 Hen. II, m. 2.
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill (jet
nos.), no. 53.
55 Seebohm, op. cit. 447, 451.
56 Norden, op. cit. 19.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclviii, 76.
55 Pat. 6 Jai. I, p'. xxiii ; Seebohm,
op. cit. 446.
59 f.C.H. Herts, i, 292, 304*.
m Ibid. 301a, 302, 303, 304, 334.1,
3SJ.
bl Ibid. 301a.
M Ibid. 304I>.
63 Ibid. 302*, 303.
64 Ib'd. 303, 304*.
63 Ibid. 302a.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Hitchin and its appurtenances was £106, whilst
the sokes belonging to the manor were worth X'+o.66
The services known as ' avera ' and ' inward,' rendered
by some of these manors, as due from the sokemen of
the king, point to Hitchin's having been once ancient
demesne.67 The services, which were carrying services
performed with a horse and cart, are distinctive of
the two counties of Hertford and Cambridge, and in
Hertfordshire the inward (inguard) is peculiar to
Hitchin and its sub-manors.68 Extents of the manor
in the 13th and 14th centuries mention the services
as owed by the customary tenants of the manor.69
According to the legend of the foundation of
Waltham Abbey, as related in the 12th-century tract
' De Inventione sanctae Crucis,' Hitchin, or a part
of Hitchin,70 was held with Waltham, co. Essex, in
the time of Canute by Tovi ' Pruda,' staller to
Canute, a man of great importance, ranking second
only to the king. He is said to have granted both
Waltham and Hitchin to the church he founded at
Waltham for the reception of the Holy Cross.71 After
the death of Tovi, however, his son Adelstan, who
succeeded to the lands his father held as staller, for-
feited these possessions, which were granted by King
Edward the Confessor to Earl Harold.73 A grant of
Waltham was made by Harold to his new foundation
there, and confirmed by Edward the Confessor.73 The
charter of confirmation mentions Hitchin as also in
the possession of the abbey, but whether it was given
by Harold at the same time as Waltham is not clear.74
No further trace, however, of any connexion with
the abbey has been found. It is certain from the
Domesday Survey that Earl Harold had held the
manor, but in 1086 it was in the hands of William
the Conqueror.
In the 13th century it was deposed by the jurors
of the hundred that Hitchin
was granted by William Rufus
to Bernard de Baliol.75 Noth-
ing, however, is known of
this Bernard before the reign
of Stephen, and it seems more
likely that the grant, if made
by William II, was to Guy
de Baliol, the founder of the
English house, who is said
to have received lands from
William.76 Bernard de Baliol
was certainly holding before
1153.77 The Bernard de
u
Gules a
n argent.
siege of Alnwick and took William the Lion prisoner,
was apparently his son.78 The younger Bernard was
succeeded by his son Eustace, and Eustace by Hugh,
his son.79 Hugh de Baliol mortgaged the manor to
Benedict, a Jew of London, about 1204.80 It
descended to his son John de Baliol, who died in
1268,81 after which his widow Devorgilda held it in
dower.82 His two elder sons Hugh and Alexander
died without issue before 1 278, and a younger son
John then succeeded to the lands.83 This John was
crowned King of Scotland in 1292. He lost the
kingdom in 1296, and his lands were forfeited.
The manor of Hitchin was shortly afterwards
granted by Edward I to Roger l'Estrange, formerly
justice of the forest for the south of Trent, for the
term of his life.84 In 1 306 the reversion of the manor
was granted to John of Britanny, the king's nephew,
together with the other Baliol lands,85 but two years
later the reversion was granted
to Robert Kendale while John
of Britanny was still living.86
Robert Kendale, who was
Constable of Dover Castle
and Warden of the Cinque
Ports,87 held the manor with
his wife Margaret until his
death in 1330.88 His son
Edward succeeded to the pro-
perty on the death of his
mother in 1347.89 Edward
Kendale died in January
1372-3,90 and was succeeded
by his eldest son Edward, who,
however, only survived his father by about two years,
dying in July 1375.91 Elizabeth his mother and
Thomas his brother and heir both died in the follow-
ing September.92 Elizabeth widow of Edward, who
married Thomas Barre, received dower in one third
of two thirds of the manor.93 Beatrice wife of
Robert Turk was her brother's heir,94 but could
not inherit Hitchin, as it was held in tail-male. The
two thirds of the property therefore reverted to
the Crown and were granted to Alice Perrers, the
king's mistress, for her life.95 She forfeited in 1377
under an Act of the Good Parliament,96 and in 1380
the manor was granted to Hugh de Segrave for life.97
In 1382 he further received a grant of an annual
payment in compensation for the third still held by
Elizabeth widow of Edward Kendale.98 After the
death of Hugh de Segrave the manor was granted in
Kind
ale. Argent*
hL"
t and a label
Baliol, one of the northern barons who raised the 1387 to Edmund Duke of York,99 and confirmed to
66 V.C.H. Hem. i, 304*.
67 Assize R. 325.
68 V.C.H. Hern, i, 269, 271, 273.
69 Cat. Doc. of Scotland, i, 2514 ; Exch.
Proc. bdle. 144, no. 1335 Chan. Inq.
p.m. J Ric. II, no. 30.
70 It is suggested by Mr. Seebohm
that ' Hicche,' owned by Tovi, is the 2
hides which in 1086 belonged to the
'monasterium' of the vill, and which
formed the Rectory Manor (q.v.).
71 Cott. MS. Jul. D. vi.
" Ibid.
73 Kemble, Cod. Dipk deccxiii.
71 See Huyshe, Royal Manor of Hitchin,
8 et seq. 7a Assize R. 323, 325.
76 See Diet. Nat. Biog. s.v. Balliol.
77 See charter, Dugdale, Mon. vii, 820.
This charter is witnessed by Eustace son
of King Stephen, who died in 1 1 53.
78 Diet. Nat. Biog.
79 Ibid.
so See Pipe R. 6 John, m. 3 d. See
also for Hugh Feet of F. Herts. 6
Hen. Ill ; Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Sen),
499. 5°5-
M See Tata de Nevill (Rec. Com.),
266, 280, 281; Chan. Inq. p.m. 53
Hen. Ill, no. 43.
63 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194 ; Exch.
Proc. bdle. 144, no. 133.
83 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Balliol ; Fine R.
7 Edw. I, no. 14.
81 Exch. K..R. Extents, Herts. 396 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 428. .
85 Cal. Pat. 1 301-7, p. 470.
86 Ibid. 1307-13, pp. 79, 133, 139.
A grant for life was changed into one in
tail-male. 87 Ibid. p. 545.
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 26.
89 See ibid. 19 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.),
no. 41 5 21 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 19 ;
Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 187 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (ist
nos.), no. 20 ; Inq. a.q.d. file 340, no. 4.
yl Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pi, i,
no. 74. n Ibid. no. 75.
93 Ibid. 4 Ric. II, no. 34. This was
due to the fact that the elder Elizabeth out-
lived her son Edward, who consequently
never held more than two-thirds of the
manor, the other third being his mother's
dower. 94 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, no. 75.
95 Ibid. 1 Ric. II, no. 30.
96 Pari. R. iii, lib.
97 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 304.
98 Ibid. 1381-5, p. 156.
93 Ibid. ■ 385-9, p. 292 ; Chart. R.
14 Ric. II, m. 13, no. 8.
Hitchin : Coopers' Arms Inn, Tilehouse Street
.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
him by Henry IV in 1399.100 The duke died in
1402, his widow Joan surviving until 1434, "hen the
manor descended to Richard Duke of York, grandson
of Edmund,101 who was killed at the battle of Wake-
HITCHIN
forty years, renewable on the payment of another
quit-rent, but owed no heriots. The woods on the
manor had been granted in 1 61 9 to trustees to the
use of the copyholders for a sum of £266 i6r. The
Edmund Duke of
York. The royal arms
of EDWARD III -with
the difference of a label
argenfwith three roundels
gules on each pendant.
Rich
ARD D
ike of
York
FR .1
NCE
quartert
d with
ENG-
LAND
differenced 'with
the same
label.
Elizabeth of York.
Or a cross gules, for De
Burgh, quartered 'with
Barry or and azure a
chief or -with two piles
between two gyrons
azure therein and a
scutcheon argent over allf
for Mortimer.
field in 1460. His son Edward Duke of York was
crowned King of England in 1461. In the same year
he granted Hitchin to his mother Cicely Duchess of
York for life.'0-* The reversion was granted by
Henry VII to his queen Elizabeth in 1491.103 In
1509 Henry VIII granted the manor to the Princess
Katherine of Arragon on his marriage with her,10' and
in 1534 it formed part of the dower of Queen Anne
Boleyn.105 P»alph Sadleir, gentleman of the King's
Privy Chamber, was appointed steward and bailiff of
the lordship in 1539 in place of William Coftyn
deceased.106 In 1 603 James I granted the manor to
his queen Anne,107 and in 1 6 19 it was conveyed by
the king to trustees for the use of the Prince of
Wales.108 A Parliamentary survey was taken of it in
1650, as having lately belonged to Queen Henrietta
Maria.109 From the survey it appears that quit-rents
were payable to the manor from tenants in Hitchin,
Orney, Walden, Preston and Kimpton. The free-
holders paid for relief one year's quit-rent, but nothing
on alienation ; the copyholders paid half a year's quit-
rents on alienation and were admitted for a term of
golden crowns.
haz-ing
of France. Azur
feurs de lis or.
courts baron and leet were kept in one of the stalls
in the market-place belonging to the lord of the
manor. The common fines, law-day money, head-
silver, and tithing silver paid at the Michaelmas leet
amounted to £1 15s., the fines, &c, from the courts
to £6. In the same year the trustees for the sale
of the royal lands conveyed the manor to Samuel
Chidley.110 After the Restoration the queen mother
resumed possession.111 It was held by Catherine,
queen of Charles II, and after her death was granted
on a lease to Francis Lord Holies for seventy-five
years.1" Leases of the manor continued to be
made down to 1 843, m when the last expired, and
Hitchin has since remained in the hands of the
Crown.
In the 13th century Devorgilda de Baliol claimed
assize of bread and ale, but on what grounds was not
known, as this privilege had previously always been
in the hands of the king.1" Free warren was granted
to Robert de Kendale and his heirs by Edward II in
I3i8.115
In the survey of 1650 the boundaries of the manor
are given as follows : 'The bounds of Hitchin begin
at Altonheade, thence to a place called Burford Ray,
thence to a water-mill called Hide Mill, thence to a
hill called Welberry Hill, thence to a place called
Bosrendell, thence to a water-mill called Purwell Mill,
thence to a river called Ippolletts Brook, thence to
Maiden Croft Lane, thence to a place called Well-
head, thence to Stubborne Bush, thence to Offley
Cross, thence to Fiveborrcwe Hill, and thence to said
Altonheade.'
In the time of Edward the Confessor the manor
of DlNSLEr (Deneslai, xi cent. ; Dineslea, Dines-
lega, xii cent. ; Dunsle, Dynesle, Dinglo, xiii cent. ;
Dyonyse, xvii cent.) was in the possession of Earl
Harold, and in 1086 it was held by King William.116
It was assessed at the time of the Survey at 7 hides.
It had been held of Harold by two sokemen as two
separate manors, but when it came into King William's
100 Pat. 1 Hen. IV, pt. iv, m. 27.
101 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Hen. VI. no. 43.
102 Pat. 1 Edw. IV, pt. iv, m. 1.
Confirmed by Ric. Ill in 1485 (ibid. 1
Ric. Ill, pt. v, m. 14).
103 Ibid. 7 Hen. VII, m. 8.
101 L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 155.
105 Ibid, vii, 352.
106 Ibid, xiv (2), g. 780 (42).
"'Add. MS. 6693, fol. 73 (copy ot
patent).
108 Pat. 17 Jas. I, pt. i, no. 4.
103 Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 22.
110 Partic. for sale of estates of Chas. I
(Augm. Off.), G 9.
111 See Cal. S. P. Dom. 1667-8, p. 89.
112 Land Rev. Misc. Bk». cliii, fol. 16.
113 See Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, iii, 19; Cussans, Hist, of Herts.
Hitchin Hund. 43.
1" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194.
1" Chart. R. 11 Edw. II, no. 11,
m. 4.
116 V.C.H. Herts, i, 303a.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
hands he gave it to Ilbert his sheriff for his term of
office, and he held the two manors as one.117 Each
of these two manors rendered the service of 2 ' averae '
and 2 ' inwardi.' "8 At the end of this time Ilbert
refused to find the customary 'avera' due from the
manor, and it was forcibly taken from him by Peter
de Valoines, his successor, and Ralph Taillebois, who
laid it to the king's manor of Hitchin."9
Dinsley was apparently included in the grant of the
manor of Hitchin made to Guy or Bernard de Baliol
(see above), for in the reign of Stephen Bernard de
Baliol granted I 5 librates of land at ' Wedelee ' (a
name used elsewhere for Dinsley), a member of his
manor of Hitchin, to the Master and Brothers of the
Knights Templars.120 Other grants of land were made
to this order, and together formed the manor of
TEMPLE DINSLET. A grant of free warren there
was made to them in 125 3.131 They also claimed
view of frankpledge, assize of bread and ale and
gallows there.122 In 1 309 Ralph de Monchensey
and John de Kyreton were appointed to report on
the state of the manor K'3 preparatory to the suppres-
sion of the order, which took place shortly after-
W
The Knights Tem.
flaps. Argent a cros
gules and a chief sable.
The Knights Hospi-
tallers. Gules a cross
wards.124 With the other lands of the Templars it
passed to the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem, and in I 3 30 the prior of that order demised
it to William Langford for life.123 The priors held
the manor of the lords of the manors of Hitchin,
Dinsley Furnival and King's Walden by finding two
chaplains annually to celebrate divine service in the
chapel of the manor for the souls of the former lords
of those manors who had been the feoffors of the
Templars.126 At the suppression of the Hospitallers
the manor of Temple Dinsley came to the Crown,
and was granted to Sir Ralph Sadleir in March
1542.127 He settled the manor on his son Edward
Sadleir and Edward's wife Anne.128 Sir Ralph died
in 1587, when it descended to Lee son of Edward,129
the latter having died in 1584.. Anne, widow of
Edw.-.rd, who married Ralph Norwich, retained a
Sadleir. Or a lion
parted fesscwise azure
and gules.
life interest.130 Lee died in 1588, and was succeeded
by his son and heir Thomas,131 from whom the manor
descended to his eldest surviving son Edwin,132 who was
created a baronet in 1661.133
He died in 1672. His son Sir
Edwin Sadleir sold the manor
in I 71 2 to Benedict Ithell of
Chelsea.131 His son Benedict
died without issue in 1758,
when the property passed to
his sisters Elizabeth and
Martha. The former died in
1766 and Martha one year
later. Neither left any chil-
dren, and Martha bequeathed
the estate of Temple Dinsley
to her steward, Thomas Har-
wood, who at his death in
1786 left it to a nephew, Joseph Darton.135 It is
now the property of Mr. H. G. Fenwick.
The manor of MA1DECROFT (Medcroft, xiii
cent. ; Maidecroft, xiv cent.) or DINSLET FVR-
NIVAL was another part of the manor of Dinsley
which is said in the 13th
century to have been granted
by William Rufus to Richard
de Loveceft. In 1268 it was
in the tenure of Thomas de
Furnival, who conveyed to
his younger brother Gerard
de Furnival two parts of the
manor.1 In 1287 Gerard de
Furnival son of Gerard de
Furnival granted the manor
to William Hurst, with re-
mainder in default of issue to
Gerard son of William de
Eylesford and of Christine
Gerard Furnival's daughter, then to Loretta daughter
of Gerard de Furnival, wife of John de Useflet.2 In
1 31 5-16 Gerard son of William de Eylesford3
recovered the manor against John son of William
Hurst.4 Soon after this the manor came into the
hands of the overlord, Robert Ken dale, who in
March 1 31 7-18 received a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands there,5 and it descended with the
manor of'Hitchin (q.v.) until the death of Edward
Kendale the younger in 1375. 6 It then passed to
his sister Beatrice, wife of Robert Turk, as ap-
parently it was not held like Hitchin in tail-male.
Beatrice and her husband conveyed the manor in
the following year to Sir William Croyser, kt., and
Elizabeth his daughter,7 apparently in confirmation
of an earlier grant made by Edward Kendale in
1 372." A life interest in the manor was retained by
Furnival. Argent a
bend between six martlets
gules.
86;.
V.C.H. Herts, i, 303a.
'Ibid.
1 Ibid.
1 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 819-20 5
son, The Knights Templars, 25.
• Cal. C/urt. R. 1226-57, P- 4IS.
! Assize R. 325.
1 Pat. 2 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 4 d.
1 Orig. Mins. Accts. Herts, bdle.
1 Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 531.
Dugdale, Mon. vii, 819.
nd I'. Hen. fill, xvii, g. 220
(48).
»" Pat. 13
Hil. 13 Eli
las Sadleir.
n. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxvi, 7
1. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 35 Eli
19 ; Feet of
F. Herts
was Thor
«9 Cha
130 Cor
m. 2.
131 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
72 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Jas. I.
182 Recov. R. Hil. 1652, rot. 121. .
183 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 66 1-2, p. 84;
G.E.C. Baronetage.
1M Close, 1 1 Anne, pt. v, no. 1 2.
135 Cussans, Hist. Herts. Hitchin Hund.
49.
1 See Dugdale, Baronage, i, 26 ; Feet
of F. Div. Co. 53 Hen. Ill, no. 356. The
His eldest son other third part was doubtless held as
aFeet of F. Herts. East. 15 Edw. I,
no. 198 ; Wrottcsley, Pedigrees from Plea
R. 84.
8 Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R.
541.
* Coram Rege R. no. 60, 7 Edw. II
(Agard's MS. Index).
5 Chart. R. n Edw. II, m. 4, no. 11;
Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 26.
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. HI, pt. i,
no. 74.
7 Feet of F. Div. Co. 50 Edw. Ill,
no. 150. 8 Ibid. 46 Edw. Ill, no. 94.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
Elizabeth widow of Edward Kendale.9 In 1379 Sir
William Croyser received a grant of free warren.10
In 1377 Croyser conveyed the reversion of the
manor to Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthyn." In 1391
John Grey and Elizabeth his wife, on whom apparently
a settlement had been made by Lord Grey,13 granted
the manor to trustees for conveyance of the reversion
after the death of Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Beaufort,
kt., who was created Earl of Dorset in 141 1 and
Duke of Exeter in 1416. He died in 1426, when
the manor passed, according to a settlement, to his
nephew John Beaufort, created Duke of Somerset
000
Grey of Ruthyn.
Barry argent and azure
•with three roundels gules
in the chief.
Bbaufort. FRANCE
and ENGLAND -with
the difference of a border
gjbony argent and azure.
in 1443. " The manor descended to his daughter
Margaret, wife of Edmund Earl of Richmond, and
to her son King Henry VII,14 and thus became vested
in the Crown. In 1524 a lease of the manor was
made to Morgan Morice 15 and afterwards to Henry
Morice, probably his son.16
In 1544 John Cock (Cokke, Cooke) bought the
manor of Maidecroft from the king, and with it a
wood called Weyndon (Wendon Wood).17 John
Cock by his will of 1553 left the estate to his two
sons William and Thomas. A partition was made
after 1558, by which William held the capital
messuage and some of the land, while Thomas had
the residue of the property, including the manorial
rights.18 Thomas conveyed his share of the estate in
1606 to Ralph RadclifFe,19 who ten years later had a
grant of a court leet there.20 From this date the manor
has descended with that of Hitchin Priory (q.v.).
The capital messuage was held by William Cock
at his death in 1610, and probably passed to his wife
Elizabeth, who survived him, and after her death to
her daughter Anne, wife of William Fryer," but this
portion of the estate is not further traceable.
In the time of Edward II there was a park at
Maidecroft which was visited on one occasion by
HITCHIN
Isabella his queen and her daughter the Queen of
Scotland."
The reputed manor of CHARLTON alias MORE-
MEAD was at the time of the Survey in the
possession of King William. Before the Conquest it
had been held by two sokemen of Earl Harold, but
had been attached by the sheriff Ilbert to Hitchin,
in which its soke lay." The history of this manor
is scanty,24 but apparently it came into the possession
of the Knights Templars, who received a grant of
free warren there in 1269." It was probably held
by the Templars :6 and then by the Hospitallers with
the manor of Temple Dinsley (q.v.) until the
suppression of the latter order. The manor subse-
quently came to Edward Pulter, who sold it in 1582
to Ralph RadclifFe," from which time it has descended
with Hitchin Priory 8S (q.v).
The manor of MENDLESDEN, MINSDEN, or
MINSDENBUR1' was a member of Hitchin, and
passed with that manor from Earl Harold to the
Conqueror.89 In the 12th century Minsden seems
to have been held by Guy de Bovencourt, whose
heir (unnamed) forfeited his lands in the reign of
John. It was then granted to Hugh de Baliol,30 the
lord of the manor of Hitchin. After the forfeiture
of John de Baliol (see Hitchin) the manor of Hitchin
was granted to Robert Kendale, and on the strength
of this grant he took possession of Minsden. A
suit in Chancery was brought by the king against
Edward Kendale, his son (to whom the manor de-
scended), who contended that Minsden was not a
separate manor but a hamlet within the manor of
Hitchin.31 The result of the suit seems to have
been that the king recovered Minsden, for in 1366
the king's esquire John de Beverle was holding the
manor and received a grant of free warren.33 He
held it with his wife Amice until his death in 1380,
leaving as heirs his two daughters Anne and Elizabeth."'3
The mother and two daughters appear to have taken
one-third of the manor each. Elizabeth married
John Dauntesey, who died in January 1 404-5. 34
She had died in 1 395,30 leaving a son and heir Walter,
then aged twelve, who on reaching his majority
received his mother's third, which had been given
by the king after John Dauntesey's death to John
Cockayne.36 Anne's husband, William Langford, who
survived her, died in 141 1. Their heir was their
son Robert.3' Amice married as her second husband
Robert Bardolf.33 Probably Dauntesey sold his share
in the manor to Langford, for in 141 9 Robert Lang-
ford died seised of the whole, and was succeeded
by his son Edward.39 At his death in 1474 his son
9 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 687.
10 Chart. R. 3 Ric. II, m. 8, no. 23.
11 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 828. Eliza-
beth Kendale also attorned the reversion
(ibid. C. 2001).
1- Reginald was the eldest son and
heir of Lord Grey.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. VI, no. 56.
14 Ibid. 22 Hen. VI, no. 19.
15 L. and P. Hen. Fill, iv, g. 213
(16).
16 Aug. Off. Misc. Bks. ccxxx, fol.
coi; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (2),
E- 107 (5)-
" Ibid, xix (2), g. 340(21).
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii, 160.
19 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 4 Jas. I ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 4 Jas. I, m. 9.
30 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xii ; Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1611-18, p. 375.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii,
160.
22 Archaeohgia, xxxv, 462.
23 V.C.H. Herts, i, 303a.
« William son of Gerard de Furnivall
was holding land at 'Suckhade' in
Charlton in the 13th century. See
Harl. Chart. 82 H 27.
ffi Chart. R. 53 Hen. Ill, m. 3.
26 See Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. I 3 I.
87 Cussans, Hist. Herts. Hitchin Hund.
48, who quotes ' Carta orig. penes F. P.
Delme Radcliffe, esq.'
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dclxxxiv,
25 ; Recov. R. Mich. 2 Chas. I, rot. 51 ;
Mich. 10 Geo. 1, rot. 327 ; Trin.
II
3; Geo. Ill, rot. 382; Hil. 5 & 6 Geo. IV,
rot. 22.
2'J V.C.H. Herts, i, 302a.
3» Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.),
212 ; Pipe R. 6 John, m. 3 d.
81 Plac. in Cane. no. 52.
83 Chart. R. 39 & 40 Edw. IV, m. 7,
no. 18.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. 11.
"Ibid. 6 Hen. IV, no. 19.
35 Ibid. 13 Hen. IV, no. .'4.
86 Ibid. The two heiresses each had
a third, the remaining third being held by
Amice in dower.
" Ibid. 13 Hen. IV, no. 32.
M Ibid. 4 Hen. V, no. 46.
39 Ibid. 7 Hen. V, no. 3.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Thomas inherited the property 4n and held it for some
twenty years. It passed at his death in 1493 *' to
his son John, who was afterwards knighted. In
I 501-2 he and his wife Katherine sold the property
to William Lytton,43 who died in I 5 1 7, leaving as
heir his son Robert, aged five years." Robert at his
death left three daughters, of whom Ellen wife of
John Crockett bought up the shares of the other
two.43a From this date the manor descended with
the manor of Almshoe in Ippollitts (q.v.).
There was a small religious house in this parish
called NElf BIGGING, belonging to the order of
St. Gilbert of Sempringham.44 This house was
founded by Edward de Kendale before 1363, when
he obtained licence to divert a grant made by his
mother Margaret de Kendale of a rood of land at
Orwell, co. Cambridge, and of the advowson of the
church there to the warden and chaplains of the
chapel of St. Peter within the parish church of Hitchin,
for the benefit of the prior and canons of this house."
In 1372 two chaplains granted to them, probably on
the behalf of Edward de Kendale, certain lands in
Willey and Hitchin.46 The lands of the priory were
valued in 1535 at £13 16s." After the Dissolution
the priory was granted in 1544 to John Cock,
together with a messuage called Barkers Dalles Place
in Bancroft Street and nineteen messuages in Hitchin.43
It apparently descended with his manor of Maidecroft
(q.v.), as this is the last mention of it. In the
17th century the manor-house called the Biggin
was in the possession of Joseph Kemp, schoolmaster,
who in 1654 devised rt for charitable purposes (see
under Charities). There was also a free chapel at
Bigging, of which Robert Turk (lord of the manor of
Maidecroft in right of his wife) died seised in I400.49
In 1 3 17 the king granted
HITCHIN PRIORI' to the Carmelite Friars in
frankalmoign a messuage in
the parish of Hitchin that they might build a
church and house there for their habitation.50
Other messuages and lands were given to this order
by John de Cobham.51 They built a small convent
there which they dedicated to the Blessed Mary.
This they held until the dissolution of their house in
1539." In 1546 a survey was made of the priory
and its whole estate. The buildings of the priory
comprised a mansion house with a frater and dorter
over the cloister, a church, the ' old hall,' the prior's
lodging, and two little chambers for the brothers,
also a kitchen, barn and other premises. There were
also other tenements belonging to it in Bridge Street
and Bull Street, which were leased out with the
convent garden. Except the mansion-house, which
had been repaired since the Dissolution, all the
buildings were in a miserable state of dilapidation,
being 'ruinous both in timber and tile,' and the gardens
were like yards or waste places of ground. The
church too was defaced, the steeple broken down and
decayed by the weather, and all the lead, freestone,
glass and bells gone.53
This survey was evidently made preparatory to a
grant of the site in the same year to Sir Edward
Watson, kt.,54 from whom it
passed seven years later to
Ralph Radcliffe," who died
in 1559, leaving n's estates to
his eldest son Ralph.56 He left
the property to his nephew
Edward, son of his brother Sir
Edward Radcliffe, kt.,57 and
died without issue in 1621.58
In 1660 Edward died also
without issue and left as heir
his nephew Ralph,59 who was
knighted eight years later.60
His son Edward succeeded
him in 1720, and held the
estate until his death in
1727.61 His three sons, Ralph, Edward, and Arthur,
then held it in succession, and after the death of the
youngest in 1767 the property was inherited by their
nephew John son of John Radcliffe. This John died
in 1783, when the priory passed to his eldest sister
Penelope, wife of Sir Charles Farnaby, bart., of
Kippington near Sevenoaks, who assumed the name of
Radcliffe.62 She died without issue in 1 802. Her
sister Anne, who married Charles Clarke of Ockley,
co. Surrey, had issue John Clarke, who died in 1801
leaving no children, and Anne Millicent, heir to her
aunt Penelope ; she in 1802 married Emilius Henry
Delme, who on his marriage assumed the name of
Radcliffe. His eldest son Henry Delme Radcliffe
having predeceased him, the priory devolved at his
Radcliffe of Hit-
chin. Argent a crosslet
gules between two bends
engrailed sable with a
label aaure.
an anchor
Radcliffe. Argent
fwo /tons
a crosslet gules between
three bends engrailed
sable a label azure and
a quarter sable with a
crosslet or thereon.
sable between
passant gules.
death in 1832 upon his second son Frederick H. Peter
Radcliffe, captain in the Grenadier Guards, who was
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 38.
« Ibid. (Ser. 2), \x, 67.
42 Feet of F. Herts. Hit. 17 Hen. VII.
43 Chail. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 5.
43a Ibid, xcv, 199 ; Feet of F. Herts.
Mich. 2 & 3 Eliz. ; East. 6 Eliz.
44 The houses of this order were gene-
rally dual, but this seems to have been
one of the few for canons on!)'.
45 Cal. Pat. 1343-;, p. 569 ; 1348-50,
p. 9 ; Pat. 37 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 37.
46 Inq. a.q.d. file 377, no. 14 ; see
Cal. Papal Letters, iv, 349.
47 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 276.
4S L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 166
(25) ; XX (2), g. 496 (44).
49 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, no. 36.
50 Cal. Pat. 1 31 3-17, p. 662. The
king had obtained the messuage from
Adam le Rous of Hitchin.
51 Inq. a.q.d. file 303, no. 12 (25
Edw. III).
a Dugdale, Mon. Angl. viii, 15-1 ;
L. and P. Hen. rill, V, 751.
53 Rentals and Surv. Herts, portf. 8,
no. 29.
12
54 Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. iv, m. 40.
65 Plac. de Banco Hil. 6 & 7 Edw. VI,
m. it.
x r.C.H. Herts. Fan. 15 ; Feet of F.
Herts. Mich. 17 & 18 Eliz.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dclxxxiv,
25-
*9 Ibid.
« r.C.H. Herts. Fam. 16.
°o Shaw, Knights of England, ii, 243.
61 Burke, Landed Gentry.
63 Recov. R. Trin. 35 Geo. Ill, rot.
382.
Hitch in Church : North Chapel Screen
Church : South Chapel Screen
HITCHIN HUNDRED
succeeded by his fifth but eldest surviving son Hubert
Delme Radcliffe, J. P. He died in 1878, and his
brother Mr. Francis Augustus Delme Radcliffe is the
present owner of Hitchin Priory.63
The present house, which stands on the south side
of the town, incorporates part of the old house of
White Friars. The original structure appears to have
been of flint rubble and clunch, with the priory
church on the south. No visible detail, however, is
earlier than the 15th century, and the remains are
confined to a part of the north, or frater, range of
the west range. The house as it stands at present
was almost wholly built in 1770-1 by John Radcliffe M
of plastered brick, and stands about the four sides of
a courtyard, which represents the old, small, cloister
garth. The roofs are covered with tiles and lead.
In the original building the church was probably to
the south, the frater to the north, the dorter chapter-
house to the east of the garth. The walls of the
courtyard have been much renewed, but in the north
and west wings are many arches, now blocked, of the
original cloister arcade, and part of the inner wall,
showing the cloister to have been 9 ft. wide. The
arches are two-centred and continuously moulded,
with double ogees and chamfers, but the tracery is
gone ; the piers between them are 4 ft. 6 in. wide.
One arch remains open, and forms the principal
entrance of the house, but three at least are visible
inside the wall of the north wing, and two in the
west wing, and others are said to be bricked up and
plastered. The north cloister is now represented by
a loggia with an arcade of the late 1 7th century, set
in place of the bricked-up arcade of the I 5th century.
The cellarage under the north wing represents that
under the frater. The space originally occupied by
the frater, on the first floor of this wing, is now
divided into several bedrooms. The north elevation
was completely altered late in the 1 7th century. The
ground story has an open arcade of five semicircular
arches with moulded imposts, and a frieze of rosettes
between cable mouldings ; the central arch, which is
set in a slight projection, has strapwork in the
spandrels, with a shield of the Radcliffe arms, the
initials r R s, and the date 1679. The windows
above the arcade and the moulded cornice, of which
all the detail is of plaster, are of the 1 8th century.
The arcade in the courtyard belongs to the same
period of reconstruction as the south elevation. The
north elevation is of the late 1 8 th century, and is an
elaborate Palladian design ; the south wing was
completely rebuilt about this time, and contains the
principal rooms. The east wing, which contains the
main staircase, a few rooms and some cellars on the
ground level, presents an elevation patched and much
repaired, like that of the west wing, which contains
the domestic offices, and is much obscured by out-
buildings of different dates. There is some early
1 7th-century panelling in this wing, and in a small
north room is a plaster ceiling of the same date, with
cable and foliate decoration.
The parish church of ST. MART™
CHURCH stands to the north-east of the market-
place and the churchyard is bounded
m V.C.H. Hem. Fam. 15-16; Archato-
logia (Soc. of Antiq.), xviii, 447-8.
64 MS. in Herts. Co. Mus. marked
'Hitchin.'
HITCHIN
on the east by the River Hiz. The church consists
of a chancel,66 nave and aisles, north and south
chapels, west tower, north and south porches and
charnel. It is built of flint rubble with stone dress-
ings and has been heavily cemented. The tower
incorporates some re-used Roman bricks, some
1 6th or 17th-century brick used in repairs, and also
some later brickwork. The roofs of aisles, south
porch and tower are of lead, those of nave and chancel
are slated.
The general exterior character of the building is
that of the 15th century, all the windows being of
that date, and the tower, from which a small lead-
covered spire rises, aisles and south porch, north and
south chapels and chancel having embattled parapets.
The aisles, chapels and chancel are buttressed. The
fabric, however, ranges from the 1 2th to the late
1 5 th century.
The nave, and at least the lower stages of the
tower, are those of the 1 2th-century church, which
probably consisted of chancel, nave and west tower
only. The tower was probably completed about the
middle of the 13th century, when the present tower
arch was inserted and the stair-turret at the south-
east of the tower built. About three-quarters of a
century later first the north and then the south aisle
was built and the arcades of the nave made. Either
at the same time or slightly earlier the chancel was
enlarged to about two-thirds of its present length
and possibly to its present width. In the following
century the chancel was still further enlarged, reaching
its present proportions, and the foundation of the
14th-century east wall was made to form the west
wall of the charnel, which was constructed at the
same time.
The whole church underwent a thorough re-
handling during the 15th century; in addition to
the enlargement of the chancel and construction of
the charnel the north and south chapels were added,
and arcades inserted between them and the chancel
with a clearstory over. The chancel arch was some-
what clumsily raised to a great height, the clearstory
of the nave was added and the north porch built,
while new windows were inserted throughout the
church, which was largely re-roofed. Lastly, the
elaborate south porch was added towards the end of
the century. Later work on the church is limited to
certain 17th and 19th-century repairs, mostly in
brick.
The church is unusually rich in 14th and 15th-
century timber and woodwork, which will be described
in order of its occurrence.
The chancel has a much-restored 15th-century
east window of five lights traceried in the head ; the
centre light is not crossed by the transoms, of which
two divide each pair of side lights.
The north and south sides of the chancel are
15th-century arcades of four bays; the easternmost
arch of each arcade is slightly wider in span than the
rest and is four-centred of two moulded orders, the
inner one springing off carved corbels, the outer one
continuous. The rest are two-centred, of two moulded
orders, and supported on columns with engaged shafts,
65 As late as I $2 1 the dedication was
to St. Andrew.
66 Dimensions : chancel, 71ft. 6 in.
by 19 ft. 6 in. ; north chapel, 22 ft. 6 in.
wide; south chapel, 21 ft. wide; nave,
'3
74 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. ; north aisle, 20 ft.
wide; Bouth aisle, 19 ft. 6 in. wide;
tower, 2 1 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in. ; north porch,
1 1 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 6 in. ; south porch,
14 ft. by 11 ft.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
with foliate capitals and moulded bases. The clear-
story above the arcades is of the same date and has
four modern windows on each side. The roof trusses
rest on sixteen modern richly foliated corbels with
embattled miniature parapets. There are some late
15th-century bench-ends in the chapels. The charnel
beneath the east bay of the chancel is reached by a
winding stair, now replaced by modern brick steps,
and is entered through a moulded four-centred door-
way in the west end of its north wall ; it has been
vaulted with brick in modern times, and has two
barred mullioned windows and a third which is now
a door on the east.
The chancel arch is an ugly piece of 15th-century
are of the 1 5th century and have undergone consider-
able repair. They have moulded principals, purlins,
wall plates, &c, and there are figures of angels at the
foot of the principals, some holding shields. In
the north chapel the roof is flat. In the south
chapel the roof is ridged, with carved bosses at the
intersection of the ridge and the principals, which
run to the wall plates. The wall plates here rest
directly on the moulded and carved half-octagonal
corbels. Both north and south chapels have splendid
I 5th-century wooden screens inclosing them, in the
arches leading to the aisles on the west. That of
the north chapel has five two-light openings with
elaborate tracery, three to the north and two to the
I2H1 Century
I3IS Century
H I4IB Century
1512 Century
Plan of Hitchin Church
alteration. The original mid- 14th-century arch was
supported on half-octagonal jambs, simply moulded at
their heads. On these has been erected a high four-
centred arch with smaller shafted jambs. The outer
order of this is continuous and the inner is stopped
by the mean capitals of the shafts.
The chapels are separated from the chancel by the
remains of 15th-century parclose screens. The north
chapel contains the organ ; it has an original traceried
east window of five lights, and the five windows of
three lights in the north wall are also original. A
small 17th-century communion table is in the vestry.
In the first column of the arcade is a tall moulded
niche of the 15th century, with a low projecting
bracket. This chapel also contains a 15th-century
piscina. The roofs of both the north and south chapels
south of a four-centred doorway, equal in width to
two of the other compartments. The head of this
doorway is continued up into an ogee with rich
crockets, to the lowest string of the heavy moulded
cornice, which has a Tudor-leaf cresting. On either
side of the ogee is tracery similar to that in the
remaining compartments, which are separated from
one another and from the doorway by slender
buttresses with crocketed pinnacles. Between the
north shaft of the arch filled by the screen and the
northernmost buttress of the screen is an extremely
narrow space, with tracery at the head, fitted to the
contour of the capital of the shaft. The panels
below the middle moulding of the compartments
have arches upon them with foliated spandrels, and
cusped trefoils within the arches, with foliated points
14
HITCHIN HUNDRED
to their main cusps, all within a moulded frame.
The two-leaved door of the screen reproduces this
panelling in its lower, solid portion, but with two
panels in each leaf, and has open lights with tracery
above the middle moulding.
The screen of the south chapel is very much
richer. It has two openings of two lights each on
either side of a central doorway nearly equal in
width to two of the openings. In each compartment
the two lights are almost round-headed, containing
cusped and foliated trefoils, the foliations being three-
and four-petalled flowers with berry centres. The
lights have a quatrefoil above and are continued
into an ogee with florid crockets and a finial, with
tracery of two cinquefoiled lights and a quatrefoil
on either side. This scheme is bounded above by a
very narrow embattled moulding, on which stands an
arcade of three traceried two-light arches separated
by extremely slender pinnacled and crocketed but-
tresses, and crowned by double ogee canopies with
carved groining, each ogee being continued into a
tall pinnacle heavily crocketed, with a third pinnacle
of similar pattern between each pair, all reaching to
the level of the lowest moulding of the cornice.
The solid portion of the screen below the middle
moulding consists in each compartment of a panel
divided into two by a moulded frame, having in each
subsidiary panel an ogee containing a re-cusped
trefoil with foliated main cusps. The ogees have
small cusps and finials, and there is tracery in the
spandrels.
When the double doors in the centre compartment
are closed their appearance is almost exactly that of
two compartments of the screen. The four-centred
head of the opening slightly interrupts the line of the
two ogees, and there are two panels, instead of one,
in the solid portion of each leaf of the door ; while
above the embattled moulding the small arcade
consists of five traceried lights, instead of six, the
centre one being slightly wider than the rest.
The compartments of the screen are separated by
slender pinnacled and crocketed buttresses with
moulded bases, which run from the ground to the
level of the lowest moulding of the cornice. This
cornice has a very wide shallow moulding containing
a beautiful frieze of twelve angels, with intercrossed
wings, issuing from clouds and holding emblems of
the Passion, except those on the north and south,
which carry shields. Above them is a simple
moulding.
There is a small space on the south side between
the southernmost buttress of the screen and the shaft
of the arch, but this contains no tracery.
In both chapels the arches towards the aisles are of
two orders with shafted jambs, and the hood moulds
have mask stops.
The arrangement of the windows in the south
chapel is like that of the north chapel, except that
the east window has only four lights. Towards the
east end of the south wall, between the first and second
windows, is a small doorway.
The nave is of four bays ; the 14th-century two-
centred arches with drop mouldings are of two
chamfered orders, on octagonal columns with moulded
capitals. Over the east respond of the north arcade
is a blocked doorway, which formerly led to the
rood loft, now destroyed, and over the chancel arch
is a window of five lights. The 15th-century
HITCHIN
clearstory has on each side five windows of three
lights. The roof is ot 1 5th-century date, much
repaired, and has moulded principals, tie-beams, wall
plates, &c. Its wall-pieces rest on moulded corbels
sculptured with figures of angels, all of modern
workmanship.
The north aisle has four three-light windows with
tracery, and one on the west, all of the 1 5th century,
inserted in the 14th-century wall. The north door-
way is of the same date as the wall and is of two
chamfered orders. It leads to the north porch,
which is of two stories, the upper story being reached
by a polygonal stair turret which opens into the aisle
by a four-centred door. The exterior entrance
door of the porch is two centred, of two moulded
orders. The lower story has two three-light windows,
one on the east and one on the west, and the
window in the north wall of the upper story is also
of two lights. There are the remains of a stoup in
a pointed recess in this porch.
The roof of this aisle, at the western end, is of the
15th century, of the same type as, but plainer than,
those already described ; but that of the eastern end
is a very fine flat roof of 14th-century work; its
dimensions tend to show that it was originally the
roof of the 14th-century chancel, and was moved
here during the general reconstruction of the 15 th
century.
The south aisle corresponds exactly in all its
arrangement to the north aisle, except for a trifling
difference in width, and the south door is of 15th-
century date, contemporary with the south porch,
the upper story of which is approached by an octagonal
stair turret at the north-east angle. The doorway
to the porch still retains its contemporary door with
cusped panelling, but its pointed head has been sawn
off and fixed.
The south porch is of two stories. The entrance
arch is of two shafted orders, an arch inclosed in a
square, with tracery inclosing foliate sculpture in the
spandrels. On either side of the entrance is a deep
shafted and cusped niche with a pedestal, and below
them are cusped panels inclosing shields, one with a
merchant's mark and another with a coat of arms.
Small shafts with capitals at the same level as those
of the entrance, but without bases, meet the frame-
moulding of the lower compartments of the scheme.
On the east and west sides are traceried three-light
windows, having an exterior hood mould with a mask
stop at the southern extremity, and dying into a
buttress on the northern. The ceiling of the entrance
story is elaborately groined, and the interior walls
are panelled below the windows. A string-course
all round the three sides of the porch marks the
level of the upper story, which is plain on the east
and west, and lighted by a small three-light window
on the south, with identical blind lights below, to
the level of the string-course. On either side of
these are pairs of niches with shafts and capitals sup-
porting square heads inclosing pointed arches, with
foliation in the spandrels. Moulded pedestals stand
in the niches on low plinths rising from the sloping
upper surface of the string-course. The whole
scheme of windows and niches is inclosed in a square
frame supported on six slender shafts with capitals
and bases resting on similar plinths. Above is
another string running round the three sides of the
porch, with grotesques at the south-east and south-west
15
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
angle;. Pairs of gabled buttresses at right angles
in two stages run up to the level of the upper string,
at the south-west and south-east angles. Their upper
portions are panelled, the gables are cusped, and
they have small sculptured demi-figures in their
heads. Identical buttresses stand on the east and
west sides of the porch a short distance from the wall
of the aisle. The sides of the central crenelle of the
battlement on the south side are continued down to
the upper string to form a panel w:ith a four-centred
head containing sculpture. There is a small shield
above, and an iron cross inclosing a pierced stone.
Hitchin Church : South Porch
Above the buttresses are pinnacles with crockets and
finials, and tete-beche trefoiled panels on the outer
faces.
The west tower, which is of two stages, is ap-
proached from the nave by an arch of three chamfered
orders, with half-octagonal responds, and moulded
capitals and bases. On the north side is a much-
restored 13th-century lancet window. The upper
stage is lighted by two pointed windows in each wall,
all much restored with brick in the 1 7th and again
in the 19th century. The west door is of the 13th
century and is much decayed. The deep square
buttresses, one — to the north — of the same date and
four of the 14th century, are built against the
remains of 12th-century pilaster buttresses, which
were revealed during recent repairs. The stair
turret at the south-east angle is also of the 13th
century. It is built against the wall, without bond-
ing, and rises above the parapet of the tower. The
lower part is lighted by small lancets, and the upper
part, which with its parapet has been repaired with
I 6th or 17th-century brick, has cross-loops.
The fittings of the church include a richly carved
twelve-sided font, with defaced figures of saints under
elaborate ogee canopies with crockets and finials,
resting on sculptured corbels.
There are small pinnacled but-
tresses on high moulded plinths
between the figures. The tall
cover of 15th-century style is
modern.
The pulpit is an early 16th-
century structure considerably
restored.
The monuments in the chancel
include a slab with the indents
of a priest and a marginal in-
scription with roses at the corners,
and the brasses of a merchant of
the Staple of Calais, 1452, his
wife, four sons and six daughters ;
the inscription containing the
date is imperfect ; there is one
illegible shield, the indents of
four others, and of four square
plates ; a late 15th-century brass
of a priest with a brass of a
wounded heart, and the indent
of another, the indents of two
inscriptions and a small plate,
which was perhaps a sj mbol of
the Holy Trinity ; the brasses
of the shrouded figures of a man
and his wife, three sons and five
daughters ; a shield bears a bend
%■■& m a border engrailed, and there
are the indents of an inscription
and four roses; a late 15th-
century brass of a woman much
worn, with the indents of a man
and of an inscription ; and an
early 16th-century brass of a
civilian and his wife, with the
indents of an inscription and
scrolls.
In the north chapel is a 16th-
century slab with the indents of
an inscription and a shield, re-
used in the iSth century as a gravestone. There is
also here an early I 5th-century Purbeck marble tomb,
with quatrefoiled panels in the sides. In the top
slab is the indent of a marginal inscription, and a
later brass of John Pulter, with a marginal inscrip-
tion and the date 1485. In the floor is a slab of the
14th century with an incised marginal inscription
to Sir Robert de Kendale. This is found not to be
a floor-slab, having its edges moulded to a hollow
chamfer. An indent of William Pulter, 1549, has a
brass inscription and a shield. An altar tomb of
c. 1500 is of clunch, with panelled sides, having a
slab with a contemporary brass of the shrouded
16
HITCHIN HUNDRED
figures of a man and his wife. A late 15th-century
altar-tomb has panelled sides with shields inscribed
G. A. and-r. a., and a slab with the brasses of a civilian
and his wife. The mural monuments are those of
Edward Docwra, 1610, John Skinner, 1669, and
Ralph Skinner, 1697.
The south chapel contains a large 17th-century
monument to Ralph Radcliffe, 1559, Ralph Radcliffe,
1621, Sir Edward Radcliffe, 163 1, and Edward
Radcliffe, 1660, as well as other monuments to
members of the same family.
In the floor is the indent with the brass feet
remaining of John Pulter, 142 1, and his wife
Lucia, 1420, with a square plate, worn smooth, a
much worn and imperfect inscription, and the indents
of two roundels ; the half-figure indent of John
Parker, 1578, with a square plate and brass inscrip-
tion ; the indents of a civilian and his wife, and
inscription brasses of four sons and four daughters of
the late 15th century, partly covered by pews ; and
the brasses of a shrouded woman with four sons and
four daughters, with indents of an inscription
and seven scrolls, undated.
In the two easternmost window sills of the north
aisle are the Purbeck marble effigy of a knight wearing
a mail hauberk with a coif, mail chausses and a long
surcoat, of mid- 13th-century date, and the late 14th-
century effigies of a knight and lady, much defaced.
At the west end of the nave are the mid- 15th-
century brasses of a civilian and his wife, and in the
tower the indents of a woman and two men, and of
a man and a woman, with an inscription, a scroll, and
four roses, of the late 15th century, and much worn.
There is a ring of eight bells, seven of which are
by Joseph Eayre of St. Neots, 1762, and the eighth
by Edward Arnold of St. Neots, 1784.
The plate includes patens of 1625 and 1 634, a
salver of 1635, and two cups and two flagons of
1705.
The registers are in eight books. The first book
contains baptisms, burials and marriages from I 562
to 1653. The book of the civil register from 1653
does not now exist. The second book contains all
entries from 1665 to 1680. On 8 November 1667
William Gibbs, vicar of Hitchin, and nine other
persons certified that ' the registry for Christenings,
Marriages and Burialls in the Parish of Hitchin . . .
through the carelessnes and neglect of former
Regesters is wholly lost for the space of seventeen
years and upwards last past, from Feb. 1, 1648/9 to
Aug. 1, 1665.' The third book contains all entries
from 1679 to 1746, and duplicates the second for
about a year. The fourth includes baptisms and
burials from 1747 to 1800 and marriages from 1747
to 1753. The fifth has baptisms and burials from
1 80 1 to 1 8 12, the sixth, seventh and eighth contain
marriages from 175410 1776, 1776 to 1811, and
1 8 1 1-1 2 respectively.
The church of Hitchin is described
ADVOWSON in the Domesday Survey as the
minster {monasterium) of Hitchin, and
to it belonged as much as 2 hides out of the 5 hides
HITCHIN
at which Hitchin was assessed. The exact significance
of the term minster is not clear, but it would perhaps
seem to imply something more than an ordinary
parish church, and the very large amount of glebe
attached to it is suggestive of this. There is no
evidence that there was here an early monastery, but
there can be little doubt that ecclesiastically, as well
as temporally, Hitchin was the head of a large district.
It was the head of a deanery, and, as appears from
later evidence, was the mother church of the two
Wymondleys, which formed one chapelry, and of the
chapelries of Dinsley and Ippollitts.
At the time of the Domesday Survey the church
probably belonged, like the manor, to the king.67 In
the 1 2th century the church was said to have been
given to the nuns of Elstow by the Countess Judith,
niece of William I, founder of that house, and
charters to that effect from the countess, William I
and William II were produced by the abbess.08 The
countess's endowment of the monastery, however,
took place before 1086, for the lands in Bedfordshire
(Elstow, &c.) which she granted to them are said in
the Domesday Survey to be held by the nuns of her
grant,69 whereas the church of Hitchin is not men-
tioned in connexion with Elstow until the time of
Henry II, who by charter confirmed the lands granted
by the Countess Judith, and granted also the church
of St. Andrew of Hitchin.70 The evidence, there-
fore, points to the grant by the Countess Judith being
fictitious.71 The abbey held the advowson till the
dissolution of this house. Early in the 13th century
a vicarage was ordained, to be supported by the
altarage of the high altar, 2 acres of land and a suit-
able house. Out of the stipend the vicar was to pay
1 3 marks to the monks, but they were to entertain
the archdeacon, while the vicar paid the synodals.
It was said that two chaplains were necessary for the
parish at this date.71a
After the Dissolution Henry VIII granted the
advowson and rectory of this church with that of
Ippollitts (q.v.) to the Master and Fellows of Trinity
College, Cambridge,72 and they have held it ever
since.73
In 1301 the belfry of the church was in such a
bad state as to be dangerous, and the parishioners
were ordered to repair it 74 ; sentence was then passed
against some persons who appropriated some of the
goods left to the church and some of the fabric, which
hindered the restoration.75
In the 1 5th and 16th centuries many bequests were
made to this church. Thomas Pulter 76 and Agnes
Lyndesey77 in 1464, Laurence Bertlott in 147 1,73
left gifts for prayers to be said for their souls. Agnes
Lyndesey also gave 3;. \d. to the great window in
the chapel of St. Edmund,79 and Laurence Bertlott
desired that cloth should be hung about his sepulchre
in the church.80 John Pulter in 1487 left 26/. %d.
for repairs and lights before the crucifix. He also made
the following bequest : ' I bequeath to the paynting
of the He of the north side of the seid paroch church
of Hicchen which I did doo to make after the deceese
of my fader on whoes soule Jhu doo mercy iiijli to
67 V.C.H. Herts, i, 272, 302,1.
88 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rcc. Com.), 8.
89 V.C.H. Beds, i, 353.
70 Dugdale, Man. Angl. iii, 4.13.
71 In the 13th century William II was
the reputed donor (Assize R. 323, m.46d.).
"a Liber Antijiws Hugonh JVelh, 28.
72 Information from Senior Bursar of
Trin. Coll. Camb.
73 See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
7< Line. Epis. Reg. Dalderby, fol.
+4d.
17
75 Ibid. fol. 166.
76 Wills P.C.C. 8 Godyn, 3 Wattys,
77 Ibid. 6 Godyn.
78 Ibid. 3 Wattys.
79 Ibid. 6 Godyn.
80 Ibid. 3 Wattvs.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
have the sowles of my moder Dame Alice Pulter and
Isabel Rych my sister praid for and remembered in
the same werke.' He also left various books to the
church.81
The gild of Our Lady was founded in the church
by licence of King Edward IV in 14.75.82 It was
to consist of a master, two wardens, brethren and
sisters, and was to provide two chaplains to celebrate
mass for King Edward IV, Queen Elizabeth and the
brethren and sisters of the fraternity. At the same
time a grant was made to the brotherhood of two
annual fairs of three days' duration each, one to be
held on the Wednesday in Easter week and the other
on the feast of the Translation of St. Edward the Con-
fessor and the days preceding and following each of
these.83 At the time of its dissolution in the reign
of Edward VI the gild apparently found two priest*,
one to serve the chantry and the other to serve the
church in conjunction with the curate.84 It owned
a tenement called le Swanne, five stalls in the market-
RuiNS OF MlNSDEN ChaPEL, HlTCHIN
place, a Brotherhood House and other property, also the
profits of the fairs.85 In 1548 the king granted the
gild and Brotherhood House, the Swan and the fairs to
Ranulph Burgh and Robert Beverley.86 The chantry
house was granted the next year to Thomas Stevens.87
In Minsden are the remains of a chapel which
has long been in ruins.88 The earliest mention of a
chapel here is in 1 487, when John Pulter left
p. \d. to the chapel of St. Nicholas.89 The only other
record is of 1 5 1 7, when a like sum was left to this
chapel.90 A marriage is said to have been celebrated
in it in 1738.90*
There was also a chapel at Preston in the manor
of Dinsley which is said to have been included in the
grant of the church of Hitchin (to which it was
appurtenant) to the Abbess and convent of Elstow.91
After the manor of Dinsley came into the hands
of the Templars an agreement was made by them
with the Abbess of Elstow by which the nuns were to
find a chaplain to hold service in the chapel on
Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday, unless it should
happen that feast days fell on other days in the week,
when these feast days should count among the three
days. The Templars were to continue to pay tithes
from any lands cultivated by them from which the
church of Hitchin or the chnpel of Dinsley had been
used to receive them. The duty also of finding two
chaplains to celebrate mass for the donors of their
lands was obligatory on the Templars by their
tenure,92 and afterwards on the Knights Hospitallers.
Among the expenses of the latter enumerated shortly
before their suppression is that of wax for a light in
the chapel and the
wages of a chaplain
to celebrate divine
service daily.93 The
obligation of the
Abbess of Elstow
,-eems to have been
then commuted for
a pension of I \s. 4^-d.94
In 1540 John
Docwra, farmer of
the estate, had to find
a chaplain to cele-
brate in this chapel.9*
Alter the suppression
of the Hospitallers
the rectory of Dinsley
was granted to Ralph
Sadleir with the
manor (q.v.).
The church of
HOLT SJFIOUR^
in Radcliffe Road was
built in 1865 after
the designs of William
Butterfield and at the
cost of the late Rev.
George Gainsford, the incumbent. A district chapelry
formed out of the parish of Hitchin was assigned to it.
Almshouses in the Radcliffe Road, built in I 870, were
made in connexion with this chapelry.
The Roman Catholic chapel of our Ladylmmacu-
late and St. Andrew, a plain building of red brick,
was built in 1 901.
The first record of Dissent in Hitchin dates from
1 666, when ' unlawful meetings ' were held in a
private house.97 In 1672 licence was given to
Presbyterians to hold their meetings,98 and under the
Toleration Act many places were certified for worship
81 Wills P.C.C. 8 Godyn, 3 Milles.
83 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 54.2.
83 Ibid.
si Chant. Cert. 20, no. 72 ; 27, no. 17.
85 Ibid. For bequests to the gild see
the following P.C.C. wills : 46 Milles,
2 Moone, 18 Dogett, 19 Vox, 7 Ayloffe,
13 Maynwaryng, 33 Bodfelde, 31 Hogan.
66 Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
"Ibid. 3 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 17.
88 Hens. Gen. and Anna, ii, 288a
96 ; KC.H. Herts, i, 302*7.
89 P.C.C. Will, 3 Milles.
90 Ibid. 31 Holder.
901 North, Ch. Bells of Herts. 200.
91 Assize R. 323, m. 46 d.
m Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vii, 819.
93 Mins. Accts. bdle. 865, no. 13.
M Cf. Misc. Enr. Accts. L.T.R. no. 1 i
m. 51.
18
95 Mins. Accts. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII,
no. 114, m. 36 d.
96 This perhaps took the name from
the Gilbertine Priory of St. Saviour which
stood near here (Cal. Papal Letters, iv,
349 ; Index to Lond. Gax. 1830-S3,
pp. 825-6).
97 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rcc), i, 183.
98 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 640 ;
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1672, p. 292.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
for various dissenting sects.'19 An Independent chapel
was built in Back Street in 1690,100 which is now
represented by one in Queen Street. The Baptists
began to meet in Tilehouse Street in 1 669,"" and
built a chapel there in 1 692, l01a which was rebuilt
in 1838. los In the middle of the 19th century
the Particular Baptists built Mount Sion Chapel
in Park Street 103 and Bethel Chapel in Queen
Street.'01 In 1850 a dwelling-house was used by
the Baptists,105 and in 1 869 they built a chapel in
Walsworth Road.106 About the same time Salem
Chapel was built for this same denomination.'07
There are other modern churches and chapels in
the parish.
The first record of Quakers in Hitchin, where they
now form an important part of the community, is of
1657. It is said that they then held a firm footing in
the town.108 John Bunyan used to preach in Wain
Wood, where there is still a dell known by his name,
and a service has been yearly held at this spot in
commemoration.109
Educational Charities : The Free
CHARITIES School founded by John Mattocke
and subsidiary endowments,110 the
Girls' Charity School,1" the Charity School in Back
Street."3
Elizabeth Ann Lucas's Educational Charity,
founded by will proved at London 8 June i860,
consists of £187 14/. $d. Bank stock and _^3, 156
I zs. 6d. India 3 per cent, stock, held by the official
trustees. By a scheme of the High Court (Chancery
Division) 8 August 1894 the income, amounting to
£112 a year, or thereabouts, is applicable in the
advancement of the education of children, in exhibi-
tions and prizes, in providing evening classes, and in
iubscriptions for the benefit of a public elementary
school. See also under the Eleemosynary Charities.
Hailey's Educational Foundation, founded by will
af Elizabeth Hailey proved at London 7 January
1864, consists of £878 Great Western Railway 4^
per cent, debenture stock, in the names of trustees, pro-
ducing £39 10/. a year, which is applicable for the
education of children residing in or near Walsworth.
See also under Charities for Nonconformists.
In 1894 Robert Curling by a codicil to his will,
proved at London 21 March, bequeathed .£454
London and North Western Railway 3 per cent.
debenture stock (with the official trustees), the
dividends amounting to £13 izs. \d. to be applied
in gifts for children attending St. Andrew's School
for good conduct.
The Parochial Charities have under a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners, 19 June 1908, been consoli-
dated under the title of the United Charities.
I. The almshouse Branch comprises : —
(a) The almshouses, founded by will of John
Skynner 4 June 1666, consisting of eight houses in
Silver Street, erected on land known as Benn's Mead
given in 1670 by Sir Thomas Byde, and endowed
with certain lands producing £80 a year or there-
abouts.
In 1675 Ralph Skynner gave £82, which was laid
HITCHIN
out in land known as Benn's Mead. The official
trustees also hold £50 consols.
In 1743 Sarah Skynner Byde by deed conveyed
to trustees 6 a. 2 r. in Hill Grove Field, the rents to
be divided between these almshouses and the alms-
houses founded by Ralph Skynner. The land is let
at £5 a year.
In 1768 Richard Tristram by deed gave land in
Ippollitts, the rents to be divided between the same
two almshouses. The land was sold in 1904 and
the proceeds invested in £221 12/. zd. consols.
I" '755 Jonn Whitehurst by deed gave land at
Hexton, the rents to be divided between the inmates
of J. and R. Skynner's Almshouses and the Girls'
Charity School. The land has been sold and the
proceeds invested in £1,617 5s- consols, of which
one moiety, £808 12/. 6d. consols, belongs to the
Girls' Charity School.
In 1788 Hannah Wilson by will bequeathed £100
for the poor of Hitchin, now £100 consols, applied
for the benefit of the almshouses of J. and R. Skynner.
In 1794 John Davis bequeathed £300 for the
augmentation of the same two almshouses, now
represented by £450 consols.
In 1 802 Dame Penelope Farnaby Radcliffe, by
will proved in the P.C.C., 24 July, bequeathed £200
for poor widows, now £235 \s. consols, applied for
the benefit of the same almshouses.
In 1824 Elizabeth Whittingstall by will bequeathed
£1,000 stock, now £1,000 consols, to be equally
divided between John Skynner's, Ralph Skynner's,
and Daniel Warner's almshouses.
(i) The almshouses, founded by will of Ralph
Skynner 19 May 1696, consist of eight almshouses
contiguous to John Skynner's almshouses, and are
endowed with 39 acres in Kelshall producing £27 15/.
a year.
In 1794 John Pierson by will bequeathed £100,
now £133 6s. 8d. consols, for these almshouses.
In 1795 Joseph Margetts Pierson by deed gave
£100 consols, the dividends to be applied in repairs.
For other land and stock given for the joint benefit
of John and Ralph Skynner's almshouses see above.
(c) The six almshouses near the churchyard known
as Daniel Warner's almshouses, originally parish
houses, were rebuilt in 1 76 1 by Daniel Warner 'for
the warmer and better comfort of the poorer widows
or ancient couples of his town.' These almshouses
were endowed by the before-mentioned John Pierson
with £200 consols, by Joseph Margetts Pierson with
£940 consols, and with £333 6s. Sd. consols under
the will of Elizabeth Whittingstall (see above).
(d) The scheme further provides that the building
known as ' The Biggin ' (see Joseph Kemp's Charity
below) should, together with two cottages in Tilehouse
Street, be used for the residence of almspeople being
members of the Church of England. See also
Elizabeth Simpson's almshouses under Charities for
Nonconformists.
II. The Eleemosynary Branch, Sec. :—
In 1 59 1 Simon Warren by will charged two houses
in Tilehouse Street with £1 a year.
99 Urwick, Nonconformity ,
643-4. "0 Ibid. 649.
101 Baptist Handbook, 1908.
loia Urwick, op. cit. 646.
102 Index to Lond. Gaa. 1830-i
'°3 Urwick, op. cit. 855.
Herts. 1°4 Ibid. ; Index to Lond. Gaz. 1830-S3, 108 Ibid. 637-8.
p. 82;. 109 Ib'd. 641.
105 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 460. "° See article
106 Baptist Handbook, 1908, p. 70. Herts, ii, 94.
p. 825. 107 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. "> Ibid. 100.
855. '" Ibid, toil
19
on Schools, P'.C.H,
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1609 Mrs. Elizabeth Radcliffe purchased land
for the poor, which now consists of z acres at Standhill
Common and 2 acres called Cromer's Close, producing
£-j a year, and £61 16s. zd. consols, representing
accumulations of income.
In 16 1 3 Thomas Whittamore by will left £zo
for the poor, which was laid out in 1619 in the
purchase of 2 a. 3 r. 6 p. called Pierwell Field, of which
24 p. was sold to the Great Northern Railway
Company, and the proceeds invested in £70 4.1. 4^.
consols. The land produces £8 I 3/. 6d. yearly.
In 1625 Edward Radcliffe gave two houses in
Tyler's Street for the poor.
In 1635 James Huckle by will devised his house
and land in Winkfield, Berks., for the poor. The
trust property now consists of three tenements and
pasture land in Winkfield producing £55 a year, and
£1,237 2S- l id- consols, representing sale of land in
1867 and accumulations of income.
In 1653 William Guyver by his will gave a
perpetual annuity of £4 out of land at Hitchin for
putting apprentice a poor boy. This charity also
possesses £49 14/. ~jd. consols, representing accumula-
tions of income.
Joseph Kemp, M.A., schoolmaster, of Hitchin, by
his will dated 17 July 1654, devised his manor-house,
commonly called 'The Biggin,' and his copyhold and
freehold land in Hitchin for ten disabled women,
apprenticing, and other charitable uses. The trust
property now consists of ' The Biggin ' (directed by
the scheme to be used as an almshouse), and 5 1 acres
and eight cottages in Biggin Street, of the annual
rental value of £ I 50 or thereabouts, and £959 or. 6d.
consols, arising in part from sale of land and in part
from accumulations of income.
In 1660 James Carter by will bequeathed certain
leasehold houses in Houndsditch, London, with the
rents of which a house and land at Starling's Bridge
were purchased. This property was sold in 1870,
and the proceeds with accumulations are represented
by £285 Js. 6d. consols.
In 1673 William Chambers by his will gave two
cottages for the poor, now three cottages in Queen
Street, producing £z I yearly.
In 1693 Joseph Kinge by his will left £25 for
bread for the poor, which was laid out in I 7 1 6 in
the purchase of 2 acres at Kelshall now let at £1 10s.
a year.
In 1697 Edward Draper by his will devised a
perpetual rent-charge of £$ out of a messuage in
Angel Street — now Sun Street — zos. thereof to be
paid to the minister for a sermon on Easter Monday
in commemoration of benefactors of Hitchin, twenty
poor to receive 2/. 6d. each and a 6d. loaf, and zos.
for a dinner to the trustees.
In 1705 Ralph Skynner Byde by will charged his
lands and tenements within the precinct of Walshoe
and Walsworth with an annuity of £5 4/. for the
poor in bread.
In 1713 Sir Ralph Radcliffe by will charged his
land in Ippollitts with 40/. a year for bread.
In 1 716 John Turner charged his messuage in the
churchyard with 30/. a year for the poor.
In 1729 William Dawes by will charged land in
Great Wymondley with an annuity of £5 for poor
housekeepers.
In 173^ Robert Tristram by his will, proved in
the court of the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, devised
10/. yearly for the poor, payable out of tenements
and land at Great Wymondley.
In 1739 Mrs. Mary Arriss by will charged land
at Hitchin with £5 yearly, to be applied as to £\
for poor housekeepers, I or. to the minister for a sermon
on the day of her death — 2 September — and I or. to
the trustees. In 17S0 Mary Godfrey, testatrix's
niece, by deed gave the lands charged to the poor,
which consist of 12 acres or thereabouts, let at
£\o i8r. a year. This charity is also possessed of
£493 gs. Sd. consols, arising from sale of land in
1900 and accumulations of income.
In 1780 Elizabeth Ewisdin left £50 for the poor,
which was invested in the purchase of 3 r. I 3 p. situate
in Burbushes, which is let with the property belonging
to the preceding charity.
The parish is also in possession of half an acre at
the south end of the town let at £3 y. a year, the
donor of which is unknown.
In 1 8 1 3 John Crabb by his will directed his
executors to purchase so much Government annuities
as would produce £c, a year for fuel for the poor.
The legacy is now represented by £105 consols
standing in the names of trustees.
The official trustees also hold £30 ijs. \ld.
consols arising from accumulations of income of this
charity.
In or about 1837 Mrs. Frances Leckie by will left
a legacy for the poor, now represented by £zij 10/.
consols.
Elizabeth Ann Lucas's charity for the poor (see also
under Educational Charities) consists of £1 87 14/. $d.
Bank stock, £3,156 lzs. 6d. India 3 per cent, stock,
and £185 8s. zd. consols, producing in the aggregate
£\lj a year or thereabouts. The several sums of
stock, unless otherwise stated, are held by the official
trustees.
The scheme for the United Charities provides,
inter alia, that a sum of not less than £30 a year out
of the income of the charity of Elizabeth Ann Lucas
shall be applied in aid of any dispensary, hospital, or
institution ; that the yearly income of William
Guyver's charity, and £20 yearly out of the income of
Joseph Kemp's charity, shall be applied in apprentic-
ing ; that the residue of the income of Lucas's charity
and a yearly sum of £100 shall be provided out of
the remaining charities in augmentation of the endow-
ments of the almshouses ; and that the remaining
income (after satisfying the trusts for ecclesiastical
purposes) shall be applied for the benefit of the poor
generally, including subscriptions to provident clubs,
outfits for children, in maintenance of a reading-room
or working-men's club, &c, or in pensions.
The almspeople are entitled to receive not less
than 5/. per week.
In 1720 Jacob Marson conveyed a messuage in the
market-place to trustees upon trust that the profits
should be applied in putting out poor fatherless boys
apprentices to freemen of the City of London. The
said messuage, which is now a public-house called the
' Rose and Crown,' is let for £40 a year, and there
is a sum of £601 i8r. zd. consols with the official
trustees producing £15 os. 8d. a year. The charity
is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
19 October 1909, whereby the trustees of the United
Charities are appointed the trustees. The premiums
are to be not less than £10 or more than £25,
payable in not less than two portions.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
Ecclesiastical Charities not included in the United
Charities : —
In 1696 Ralph Skynner by his will bequeathed
^200 in augmentation of the benefice, which sum
was invested in a rent-charge of £<) payable out of
land in Ickleford.
Oliver Clement by his will (date unknown) gave a
rent-charge of £6 13/. ^.d. yearly out of houses in
the parish of St. Nicholas, London, in augmentation
of the vicarage. The annuity is received from the
Clothworkers' Company.
William Joyce gave a rent-charge of £2 10s.
charged on a house in Cock Street, Hitchin, to the
vicar for preaching six sermons annually in the church
on the six Sunday mornings next before the feast of
St. Michael. (See also under the United Charities.)
In 1901 George Brown Collison by will left £50,
the interest to be applied in repair of the churchyard
of Hitchin, and the testator expressed a hope that his
grave would be maintained in good order. The
legacy was invested in £5 J 14/. \d. consols with the
official trustees, producing £1 8/. 8^. yearly.
Nonconformist Charities : The almshouses in
Biggin Lane, founded in 1 773 by Elizabeth Simpson
for five poor persons being Protestant Dissenters
attending the Independent Meeting House in Back
Street, and endowed by the founder's will proved
in the P.C.C. 3 January 1795, are endowed a>
follows : —
£448 12/. id. consols, Elizabeth Simpson's gift.
^300 consols, bequeathed in 1 81 5 by will of
Nathaniel Field. £400 I Js. 6d. India 3 per cent,
stock, derived under the will of Mrs. Elizabeth
Harley, proved at London 7 January 1864. £450
stock of the Hitchin and District Gas Company,
derived in 1876 under the will of Mary Carter.
The trustees also hold a sum of £79 gs. \d. Bombay,
Baroda and Central India Railway stock, producing
in the aggregate about £55 a year. In 1908 each
of the five inmates received £8 10/. and I ton of
coal.
The above-mentioned Elizabeth Simpson likewise
bequeathed a sum for the minister of the Meeting
House in Back Street and £300 for poor members
ICKLEFORD
of the congregation. William Crawley likewise by
his will dated in 1788 bequeathed 2zo° f°r the
minister. The three legacies are now represented by
£1,115 Js. 6d. consols in the name of the trustees,
the annual dividends of which, amounting to
£z-j js. Sd., are applied proportionately between the
minister and the poor of the congregation.
The trustees of the Meeting House also hold a
sum of £407 1 is. zd. India 3 per cent, stock and
£%o 15/. lod. stock of the Bombay, BaroJa and
Central India Railway Company, derived under the
will of Mrs. Elizabeth Harley, proved at London
7 January 1864, the annual income of which,
amounting to about £15, is applicable for the
minister. The same testatrix bequeathed £150 for
the Meeting House and school at Walsworth. The
legacy is now represented by £173 14/. 3^. India
3 per cent, stock and £34 8/. Sd. stock of the same
Indian railway, producing £6 10s. a year or there-
abouts. Any part of the income which in any year
is not required towards the expenses of a Meeting
House at Walsworth is to be applied for the benefit
of the school at Walsworth. The same testatrix
further bequeathed £350 for pensions for the poor.
The legacy was invested in £307 Great Western
Railway 4^ per cent, stock, producing £13 16s. \d.
yearly, which is applied in the payment of £1 14/. a
quarter to two pensioners.
Hitchin St. Saviour's : The Almshouses and
Orphanage was founded by the Rev. George Gains-
ford, by deed 14 August 1869, whereby 3 roods of
land were conveyed to trustees for the purpose of
building thereon almshouses and an orphan home
for girls. In 1879 the founder transferred to the
official trustees a sum of ^1,000 consols for the
support and maintenance of the institution, which was
subsequently augmented by gifts of Francis A. D.
Radcliffe, Mrs. A. E. Moreton and Mrs. Burbidge
and others. The endowment fund now consists of
£1,307 16s. id. consols, producing £32 13/. Sd.
yearly.
The Orphanage is supported by voluntary con-
tributions, which, with the dividends on the stock,
amount to about £300 a year.
ICKLEFORD
Hikleford (xiii cent.) ; Ikelingford, Ikeleford
(xiv cent.) ; Icklesford (xvi cent.).
Ickleford is a long and narrow parish of 1,036 acres,
running northwards from Hitchin, from which parish
it is divided by the River Oughton. The average
level of the land is only about 180 ft. above the
ordnance datum. The parish lies in the valley of the
River Hiz, which forms its boundary on the east,
parting it from Bedfordshire. The parish is entirely
agricultural. In 1 905 the arable land was estimated
at about 800 acres, permanent grass at about 200 acres,
while woodland was only 10 acres.1 The soil is
chalk.
In the middle of the village is a triangular green
called the Upper Green, to distinguish it from the
Lower Green, which lies at the north end. Around
the Upper Green stand, on the south-west the parish
1 Statistics from Bd. of Aerie.
church, to the north some cottages and the school,
and on the east Pound Farm with a moat supplied
with water from the River Hiz. The village extends
to the south-west along the Icknield Way and a road
leading south to Bearton Green. At the junction of
these roads is Ickleford House, the residence of
Mr. David Simson. On the road to Bearton Green,
about a quarter of a mile from the church, is an old
two-storied timber-framed house, on a brick founda-
tion, covered with rough-cast and with a tiled roof.
At each end are gabled wings only slightly projecting
beyond the central part ; one wing has an oriel
window, over which is the date 1599. The upper
story is overhanging. The village continues northward
along the west side of the road, the east side being on
low land adjoining the Hiz. The Icknield Way runs
through the south of the parish.
Old Ramerick, a moated manor-house, lies 2 miles
to the north of the church, and is a two-storied house
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of L-shaped plan. The main block is 18th-century
work of brick, the wing is of the 17th century, and
is built of clunch with brick quoins. The moat has
almost disappeared.
The Bedford branch of the Great Northern rail-
way passes through the parish, but the nearest station
is at Hitchin.
Field-names of the 1 6th century which occur in
this parish are Callouse Peece, Whesell Dytch and
Hambridge Peece.
There is no mention of Ickleford in
MANORS the Domesday Survey. It is evident
that it was then included in the manor
of Pirton and that the manors which subsequently
appear were formed from that manor by subinfeuda-
tion.'
The manor oUCKLEFORD was held in the 13th
century of the lords of Pirton as a quarter of a
knight's fee by the family of Foliot.3 Isabel widow
of John Foliot appears in 1285 as holding part of
the estate of Thomas de la Sale, a felon.4 In 1287
John Foliot, then a minor and possibly son of Isabel,
claimed view of frankpledge in Ickleford.4 By 1303
this quarter of a fee was in the hands of John Fitz
Simon,6 and in 1346 Hugh Fitz Simon was holding
it with several coparceners.
One of these was Simon
Francis of London,7 into
whose family the manor seems
subsequently to have passed.
Ralph Francis (Fraunceys)
son of William died seised of
the manor in March 1 532-3,
leaving as heir his son
William, aged six years.8 This
William was holding in I 556.°
In 1585 Richard Francis (of
Ticknall, co. Derby), appa-
rently his son,10 mortgaged
the mansion or manor-house
of Ickleford, together with certain lands, to Thomas
Ansell or Aunsell," and two years later Francis
released the manor to Ansell,12 excepting the manor-
house and closes called Conygers, Dovehouse Close,
Pennes, the Old Orchard, the New Orchard, Dun-
croft and Earles Close and a water mill called Newe
Mill (probably because Ansell already held these).
Ansell died in 1606, leaving three sons, William,
Thomas and Edward, between whom, by his will, the
estate was divided. Thomas and Alice his wite
received the chief part, William, the eldest, having
only one messuage, and Edward and his wife Susan a
Francis. Party bend
tisterwiu sable and or
lion counter coloured.
tenement and the water mill called Westmill.13 The
manor descended in the family of Thomas Ansell,"
and came to another Thomas Ansell, who was holding
in I7I4,15 and apparently to a third Thomas, who
suffered a recovery in 1740.16 His widow Elizabeth
was holding in I 763, with reversion to her daughter
Mary and her husband Thomas Goostrey,17 who were
in possession in 1776.18 In that year they conveyed
the manor to Charles Loundes and John Dashwood
King, probably for a sale to Thomas Whitehurst.19
He in 1788 sold it to Thomas Cockayne, who died
in 1809, leaving a son and heir Thomas.80 At his
death he left an only child Marion Charlotte Emily,
who married the Hon. Frederick Dudley Ryder, third
son of the first Earl of Harrowby His son, Captain
Dudley Ryder, R.N., died in 1898, and the manor
was bought by Captain C. J. Fellowes, R.N. After
his death it was purchased in December 19 10 by
Mr. David Simson, who is the present owner.81
The manor of RJMERICK (Rznewick, Ramward-
wike, Ramardewick, Ramorwyk, xiii cent. ; Ran-
worthewyk, xiv cent.) was also held of the manor of
Pirton as a quarter of a knight's fee.'2 The first
tenant of whom there is record or tradition is Richard
Reincourt, whose daughter Margaret is said to have
married Robert Filliot and to have had a son RLhard
Filliot.23 Richard Filliot's daughter and heir Mar-
gery2' brought the manor by marriage to her husband
Wiscard Ledet.23 Wiscard's daughter and heir
Christine married Henry de
Braybrok,26 by whom she had
two sons, Wiscard and John.
Wiscard and his son Walter
both died before Christine.'7
Walter left two daughters,
Alice and Christine, who
married two brothers, William
and John Latimer.28 The
manor remained with Chris-
tine, who held it by sub-
feoft'ment from her sister.89
It descended to her second
son John,30 who took his
mother's name of Braybrok
and held the property with his wife Joan.31 Gerard
de Braybrok, possibly their son, was assessed for
this fee in 1303.3' In 1333 a grant was made to
Gerard de Braybrok, son of the above Gerard,33 of
free warren in his demesne lands of Ramerick,34 and
two years later he (then Sir Gerard) and his wife
Isabel settled the estate on themselves for life,35 with
remainder to their son Gerard, with a further
Br
"»««• Argent
seven
•voided lozenges
gules.
8 See Feud. Aids, ii, 428, 439, 449.
8 Ibid. 42S.
* Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Edw. I, no. 87.
5 Assize R. 325.
« Feud. Aids, ii, 428. 7 Ibid. 437.
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lvii, 4.
9 See Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 2 & 3
Phil, and Mary.
10 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 55.
11 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 27 Ic
28 Eliz. m. 6.
12 Ibid. Hil. 29 Eliz. m. 8, 42 ; Feet
of F. Div. Co. East. 29 Eliz. ; Com. Pleas
Recov. R. Mich. 28 & 29 Eliz. rot. 42.
yi Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii,
146.
" See Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 22
Jas. I ; Herts. East. 32 Chas. I.
16 Ibid. Hil. 14 Geo. II, rot. 166.
lr See Feet of F. Herts. East. 3 Geo.
III.
18 Ibid. Trin. 16 Geo. III.
19 See Cussans, Hist. Herts. Hitchin
Hund. 26.
s" Ibid.
21 Inform, from Rev. J. W. Tilt.
» See Feud. Aids, ii, 428. Alan de
Limesi, lord of Pirton, gave a mill at
' Ramordwick ' to the Prior and convent of
Hertford (Add. Chart. 15476).
83 Harl. MS. 807, fol. 79.
'* Ibid.
85 See Feet of F. Herts. 13 John, no.
124.
22
20 He afterwards took the name of
Ledet (Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, 259).
Christine's second husbjnd was Gerard
Furnival (Assize R. 323 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 8 Edw. I, no. 37).
" Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, 259, 308.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. I, no. 37 ;
G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 31.
30 Assize R. 325 ; Harl. MS. 245, fol.
22.
81 See Harl. Chart. 46 E. 10.
88 Feud. Aids, ii, 42S.
33 Harl. MS. So-, fol. 79.
34 Chart. R. 7 Edw. Ill, m. 7, no. 33.
34 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 9 Edw.
HI ; Harl. Chart. 47 B. 9.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
remainder to their second son Henry.36 Sir Gerard
held till his death in I 359 37 and was succeeded under
this settlement by Gerard, his son,38 who married
Eleanor de St. Amand. His only son and heir
Gerald died in 1 428, leaving by his wife Parnel a
daughter Elizabeth,39 who married first Sir William
Beauchamp, kt.40 (summoned to Parliament as Lord
St. Amand from January 1448-9),41 and secondly
Roger Toocotes. Her second husband forfeited
the estate early in the reign of Richard III as a
rebel, and it was granted to Thomas Meryng, one
of the king's servitors,42 but was restored to Roger
Toocotes some seven years later.43 Elizabeth died in
1 49 1 44 and her husband a
year later.45 The manor was
inherited by Richard Beau-
champ, kt., Lord St. Amand,
son of Elizabeth by her first
husband. Richard was at-
tainted in 1483, but restored
two years later by Henry VII.
He died in June 1508 with-
out legitimate issue,40 having
bequeathed all his estates to
his natural son Anthony
Wroughton alias St. Amand,
who conveyed the manor in
I 520-1 to St. John's College,
Cambridge.47 This grant caused some trouble
between the college and Geo:ge Brooke, Lord
Cobham, who claimed the manor as heir to Richard
Beauchamp, being descended from Reginald brother
of Sir Gerard Braybrok, who married Eleanor de
St. Amand.48 The master of the college appeared
against Brooke in a Star Chamber suit for having
in February 1529-30 incited various persons to
come with weapons at three
o'clock in the morning to
break into the manor of Rame-
rick. According to the master,
these brought ladders 6 or 7 ft.
high and broke the wall of
the house and thus entered it
and kept possession, refusing
admission to a justice of the
peace.49 Lord Cobham pleaded
that he was seised in demesne
as of fee of the manor and
lived there peaceably until
unjustly disseised by the
college.50 A few years later
the dispute was brought to a close by the surrender
by Lord Cobham to St. John's College of his interest
in the manor.51 In 161 7 the college received a
grant of court leet and view of frankpledge in Ickle-
St. John's College,
Cambridge. The arms
of Lady Margaret
Beautort, the founder.
ICKLEFORD
ford.53 The manor has remained in their possession
until the present day.
The priory of Wymondley had lands in Ickleford,
by whose grant does not appear. A certain Thomas
de la Sale, who was imprisoned for felony in the
reign of Edward I, held a messuage and I2| acres of
land of the prior.53 The monastery also had a mill
called Hyde Mill,54 which at the time of the Disso-
lution was held by the convent of Elstow, co. Bedford,
at a rent of 30/. The mill and the rent were granted
by Henry VIII to James Nedeham in February
I 542-3. 55 They descended to John Nedeham, who
died seised in I 591, leaving a son and heir George.56
In 1566 John Brockett and Ellen his wife con-
veyed an estate, under the name of the manor of
Ickleford, to trustees for a settlement.57 Edward
Brockett some years after alienated this to Edmund
Knott.58 A messuage in Ickleford, the residence of
Daniel Knott, is mentioned as part of the manor of
Ickleford in 1607,59 and Edmund Knott, yeoman,
died seised of a capital messuage there in 161 8,
leaving a son and heir John.6"
The parish church of ST. K.4THE-
CHURCH RINE, standing in the middle of the
village, is of stone, entirely covered with
plaster. It consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle
and south chapel, north vestry, west tower and south
porch.61
The earliest part of the church is the nave, dating
from the middle of the 1 2th century. The chancel
and west tower were built early in the following
century, and the south porch was added about the
middle of the 15th century. In 1859 the church
was restored and the south aisle, south chapel and
north vestry were added.
The chancel windows are all modern except a
1 3th-century lancet in the north wall. A modern
door opens to the north vestry. The piscina, with a
broken bowl, is of the 1 5th century. Above it is
some 15th-century tracery, possibly the remnants of
a rood screen.
In the north wall of the nave are two windows,
one on each side of a blocked 12th-century doorway,
which, although it is much decayed and repaired with
cement, has a well-preserved cheveron moulding on
the rear-arch. The eastern of the two north windows,
of the 14th century, is of three cinquefoiled lights
with tracery in a square head, and the western, of the
15 th century, is of two cinquefoiled lights, also with
tracery, in a pointed head. Both are much repaired
with cement. At the east end of the wall is a rood-
loft staircase. A much broken piscina is of the
1 5th century, probably moved from its original
position. The roof is of the 15th century, supported
on grotesque stone corbels. The south arcade and
36 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 9 Edw. Ill ;
Harl. Chart. 47 B. 9.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 31 ; Add. Chart. 15473 i Feud,
/lids, ii, 437.
38 Harl. Chart. 46 F. 35 ; Feud. Aids, ii,
449-
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. VI, no. 40.
40 Wrottesley, Fed. from Plea R. 345 ;
Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 16 Hen. VI.
41 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
a Pat. 2 Rio III, pt. iii, m. 1.
48 Close, 7 Hen. VII, m. 10 d.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vii, 49.
45 Ibid, viii, 96.
46 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
47 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 173.
48 G.E.C. Peerage. His father Thomas
Lord Brooke had also claimed the manor
(Harl. Chart. 46 H. 49).
49 Star Chamb. Proc. Hen. VIII, bdle.
8, no. 66-7; Harl. Roll C31.
50 Star Chamb. Proc. Hen. VIII, viii,
no. 66-7; Harl. RoU C 31.
51 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 27 Hen.
VIII ; Harl. Chart. 44 B. 44.
52 Pat. 15 Jas. I, pt. xviii, no. 12.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 3 Edw. I, no. 87.
23
34 Cf. for a field called La Hide, Harl.
Chart. 51 B. 45 and 45 F. 62.
55 L. and P. Hen. VUI, xviii (i), 226
(54 , ' ..
M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxn,
63.
37 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Eliz.
58 Ibid. Hil. 15 Eliz. ; Pat. 22 Eliz.
pt. ix.
09 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, 146.
60 Ibid, ccclxxi, 138.
61 The dimensions are : chancel, 19 ft.
by 14 ft. ; nave, 53 ft. by 17 ft. ; tower,
1 o ft. 6 in. square.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
clearstory of the nave are modern, the latter having
three circular lights with roll-ended cusps, surmounted
externally by a moulded roll. The modern south aisle
has three pairs of pointed lights, with shafted external
jambs and drop mouldings with sculptured stops.
In the south wall is a 12th-century doorway with
a semicircular arch of three moulded orders, the two
shafts on each side having leaf-carved capitals and
moulded abaci. The original bases have disappeared,
and the doorway has been repaired with cement.
This door leads to the south porch, which is em-
battled, with a central niche over the two-centred
entrance arch of two continuous orders. Above the
arch is a much decayed string course. To the west
of the south door is a 1 5th-century two-light window
with tracery, much repaired with cement. The west
with a canopy, dates from the end of the 1 6th or
beginning of the 17th century, and is of foreign
workmanship.
The bells are five in number : the treble and
second are by John Warner & Sons, 1857, the
third is by Richard Chandler, 1680, the fourth by
Miles Graye, 1650, and the fifth by Thomas Russell
of Wootton, 1726.
The plate consists of a cup of 1 796, presented by
Thomas Cockayne in 1 807 and modern paten and
flagon, the former made from two old silver patens.
The registers consisted down to 1830 of three
books. Since then the first, containing baptisms, burials
and marriages from 1653 to 1748, has disappeared ;
the second book contains baptisms and burials from
1749 to 18 1 2 and marriages from 1749 to 1753 ;
IcKLEFORD CHURCH FROM THE SoUTH
tower is of two stages with heavy buttresses, those at
the north-west and south-west angles being diagonal.
The low pyramidal roof is of lead. The tower arch,
which is two-centred, and a small lancet on the south
side, are probably original. The west window and
the two-light belfry windows are of the 15th century
and are repaired with cement.
In the nave is a brass of about 1380 of Thomas
Somer and his wife Marjory. The figures are half-
length and the inscription is imperfect. There is in
the church a 6-in. stone slab measuring 5 ft. by 2 ft.
on its upper face and with edges moulded to a large
hollow chamfer. An oak chair in the chancel,
the third book contains marriages from 1756 to
1812.
The church of Ickleford was a
ADFOWSON chapel to Pirton62 (q.v.), and the
two livings were held together until
divided by order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
in I 847. The advowson was purchased by Thomas
Wilson in 1868.63 It was conveyed before 1875 to
the Rev. T. I. Walton, and now belongs to the Rev.
C. A. Walton, his son.
There was also a chapel at Ramerick attached to
the church of Pirton in the 13th century,M but there
seems to be no further trace of it.
62 See Line. Epis. Reg. Wells, fol. 10 ;
Bokingham, fol. 357, and references given
under Pirton.
68 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hitchin Hund.
24
64 Line. Epis. Reg. Wells, fol. 10 ; Add.
Chart. i<;470.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
In the 1 8th century two houses were registered for
meetings of Protestant Dissenters, and another was
certified in 1824.66 There is now a Wesleyan chapel
in Ickleford.
In 1657 Edward Ansell by his
CHARITIES will gave 40*. a year for the poor
charged on 2 acres of land, exchanged
under the Ickleford Inclosure Act for a close of
IPPOLLITTS
3 acres in Ramerick Farm, now belonging to St. John's
College, Cambridge.
In the Parliamentary returns of 1786 it is stated
that a donor unknown gave a rent-charge of 20J. to
poor widows, which is paid out of West Mill in the
parish of Shillington (Beds.).
The annual sum of 60/. is distributed to about
thirty recipients.
IPPOLLITTS
Hippolitts, Polettes (xvi cent.) ; Appolyttes,
Epolites (xvii cent.).
The parish of Ippollitts, which is 2,935 acres in
extent, lies to the south of Hitchin and has an
average height of some 250 ft. above ordnance datum,
but it rises on the south-western border to nearly
500 ft. Ippollitts is
not mentioned in the
Domesday Survey,
the earlier settlement
having been at Aim-
shoe, where is still
the site of a church.1
When the church of
St. Ippollitts was
built in the nth
century (see church)
it was attached as a
chapel to the neigh-
bouring church of
Hitchin. The little
village and church
lie to the east of the
Hitchin and Hat-
field high road,
which runs through
the parish north and
south. A mile to
the west of the
village is a small
group of houses,
which constitute the
hamlet known as
Gosmore, a name
which is found from
the 1 4th century on-
wards.2 There is here an old inn built of brick, dating
possibly from the end of the 17th century. A little
further on is Maydencroft, a two-storied farm-house
of the early 17th century, built of brick and timber.
It is L-shaped in plan and was originally surrounded
by a moat, which has nearly disappeared. The ceiling
beams of the hall (which now has a partition dividing it
into two rooms) are supported by a pillar dated 1615.
The large barn and stable, of timber and brick, are
contemporary with the house.
The Wyck, standing about three-quarters of a mile
south-east of the church, is a house of 17th-century
layers of roofing tiles, only the rectangular panels
having brick. The upper story is partly in the roof,
which is tiled. The walls were raised some feet and
underpinned at the end of the last century. Internally
some of the roof trusses and also some ceiling-beams
of the ground-floor rooms appear to be original, and
The Wyck, Little Almshoe, Ippollitts
old timber has been used for the framing of some
fireplaces, but the doors and windows are modern.
Other hamlets in the parish are New England, on
the London Road to the north-east ; Ashbrook, about
a mile to the north-west ; and St. Ibbs and Little
Almshoe to the south.
Further south still is Almshoebury and the site of
the old chapel. It was at the park here that Isabella
wife of Edward II and her daughter are said to have
hunted on one occasion.3 A small stream called
Ippollitts Brook, rising near Little Almshoe, flows
northwards through a pond in the park. It is joined
date, formed out of five two-roomed cottages. It is by another stream called Ashbrook, and further on
timber-built, most of the framing being filled with flows into the River Purwell. There are about
6S Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts.
652.
1 This was probably a small church and
manor-house settlement formed at a com-
paratively late date from Hitchin ; cf. the
pre-Conquest tenure.
> Abbre-v. Koi. Orig. (Rec. Com.), iii,
310; Pat. 13 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 19; 19
25
Eliz. pt. v, m. 7 ; Sets. R. (Herts. Co
Rec), i, 37 ; Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xii
m. 8.
s Arch, xxxv, 462.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
1,600 acres of arable land in Ippollitts, 66 1 of grass
and I g of woodland.4 The chief wood is Wain Wood,
in the south-west of the parish. The main crop grown
here is corn, the soil and subsoil being chalk. ''
Ippollitts Common was inclosed under an Act of
181 1.6 Field-names occurring in the 1 6th century
which may be noted are Hermitage and Lampland.'
The main line of the Great Northern railway runs
through the extreme north-east of the parish, but the
station is at Hitchin, 2 miles away.
William Lax, a mathematician and astronomer ot
some note, held the living of Ippollitts and built a
small observatory there. He died in 1836.
At the time of the Survey the Bishop
MANOR of Bayeux held 1 hide of land in
ALMSHOE* (Almeshou, xi cent. ; Aim-
shoe, Almesby, Almeshobury, xiv cent. ; Almyssho,
xv cent. ; Almeshoebury alias Ansibury, xvii cent. ;
Anstyebury, xix cent.), which before the Conquest
had been held by Edmund, a man of Earl Harold.
Under the bishop this land was held by Adam Fitz
Hubert, brother of Eudo Dapifer.9 After the bishop's
forfeiture it was held of the king in chief, and pro-
bably passed from Adam to his brother Eudo Dapifer,
and after the latter's death in 1 1 20 to his sister
Albreda wife of Peter de Valoines.10 Through
Gunnora, daughter and heir of Robert de Valoines,
grandson of Peter de Valoines, the manor came to
the Fitz Walter family.11 They sub-enfeoffed early
in the 13 th century. The overlordship descended to
Robert Fitz Walter, who died without male issue in
143 1. Elizabeth his daughter and heir married Sir
John Radcliffe, and their son John was summoned to
Parliament as Lord Fitz Walter. Robert son of John
was created Earl of Sussex in 1529.12 His great-
Fitz Walter. Or a
/esse between two che-ve-
rons gules.
RADCLirrE. Argent a
bend engrailed sable.
grandson Robert Earl of Sussex died in 1629 without
surviving issue.13
Under the Fitz Wallers the manor was held in
1 241 by Simon Fitz Adam, who settled it on his
wife Fyne on their marriage in that year.14 Simon's
heir was his son Sir fohn Fitz Simon, who was
succeeded by his son John. This latter John married
Parnel daughter of Henry Graponell 15 and had two
sons, Edward his heir and Hugh.11" At John's death
in 1303-4 Parnel retained land in Almshoe as her
dower and afterwards manied John de Benstede.17
Edward Fitz Simon apparently died without issue
before 1328.18 Hugh survived his mother and was
alive in 1346.19 Edward son of Hugh succeeded,
but died without issue, and the manor passed to his
brother Nicholas Fitz Simon,2" who with his wife
Elizabeth granted it in 1398 to John and Ida Cokayn
for life,21 with remainder to Edward Fitz Simon,
their son, and his wife Cecilia, who was daughter ot
John and Ida Cokayn.-- Elizabeth survived her
husband and married John Sapurton, holding a third
of the manor in dower. This, however, she quit-
claimed in 1400 to John and Ida Cokayn and Cecilia,
whose husband Edward was dead,23 having left two
daughteis — Elizabeth, who married William Asshe,24
and Christine wife of John Muslee.2S They seem to
have held one moiety each. Elizabeth and William
left an only daughter, Elizabeth 2l1 wife of Thomas
Brockett, who inherited her parents' share of the pro-
perty,27 and eventually seems to have become possessed
also of Christine's moiety.2" Thomas Brockett died
in 1477 29 and his wife four years later.30 The
manor passed by will to Thomas's brother Edward,
who died in 1488, having left a moiety to his wife
Elizabeth, with remainder to his eldest son John.31
John died in 1532, when the manor became the
property of his grandson John,32 subject to the life
interest of his uncle Edward Brockett.33 John (knighted
in 1547) died seised of the reversion in 155 8,34 and
was succeeded by his son Sir John Brockett, who at
his death in 1598 left five daughters — Margaret,
Anne, Helen, Mary and Frances — and a grandson
John Carleton, son of another daughter Elizabeth,
who had died six years previously.35 The portions
of Margaret and Anne were severally conveyed to
Helen and her husband, Richard Spencer,36 who may
also have acquired some of the other shares,37 for
their property is called the manor of Almeshoe.
Sir Richard Spencer at his death in 1624 was suc-
ceeded by his son John,38 on whom the property
had been settled in tail-male with remainder to his
brother Brockett. John, who was made a baronet in
1627, held the manor until his death in 1633, when
he left an only child Alice,39 so that the property
4 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
5 V.C.H. Herts, i, Geol. Map.
6 Blue Bk. Inel. A-wards.
7 Pat. 19 Eliz. pt. v.
8 V.C.H. Herts, i, 308*.
9 Ibid. ; V.C.H. Northants, i, 363.
10 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 441 ; Monasti-
con, iii, 345.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. I, no. 107.
,a G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
13 Ibid. See Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
liv, 5, 29. The overlordship is incor-
rectly given in Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 7 Edw. IV,
no. 47, and Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
iv, 30.
14 Cussans (Hist, of Herts. Hitchin
Hund. 113) quoting from MSS. in posses-
sion of Sir John Spencer of Offley.
16 Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R. 14.
no. 84.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 56.
Ibid. 16 Edw. Ill, no. 30.
1 See Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Edw. Ill,
(Radwcll) ; Feet of F. Div. Co. 5
1. Ill, no. ioi.
1 See Feud. Aids, ii, 436 (Radwell).
' See Add. MS. 28789 ; Close, 2
II, m. 36 d. ; Agard, Indexes, vii,
it, no. 27.
Feet of F. Herts. 21 Ric. II, no. 185.
1 Ibid.
1 Ibid. 1 Hen. IV, no. 9 ; 2 Hen. IV,
14.
' Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 100.
' See Feet of F. Herts. 1 1 Hen. IV,
Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 30.
Feet of F. Herts. 1 Edw. IV, no. 4.
' The other half disappears from this
26
date, and Elizabeth's holding is called the
manor of Almshoe.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 47.
39 Ibid. 21 Edw. IV, no. 46.
31 Ibid. (Ser. 2), iv, 30 ; Will, P.C.C. 21
Milles. 32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),liii, 29.
33 Will, P.C.C. 20 Thower.
34 Ibid. Noodes 18; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), cxvi, 83.
35 Ibid, eclvii, 42 ; eclviii, 76.
36 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 41 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. East. 2 Jas. I, rot. 72.
87 Frances with her husband Dudley
Lord North conveyed her share to Sir
Rowland Lytton (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser.
2], ccclix, 114).
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii, 95.
89 Feet of F. Herts. East. 5 Chas. I ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiv, 4.
HITCHIN HUNDRED
passed to Sir Brockett Spencer.40 The manor passed
Spencer. Argent
quartered 'with gules
fretty or and a bend sable
over all ivith three jleurs
de lis argent thereon.
eventually through Brockett's eldest daughter Elizabeth,
IPPOLLITTS
In 1 6 1 6 Ralph Radclifte, lord of the manor of
Hitchin, had a grant of court leet in Ippollitts and
Gosmore.46
The parish church of ST. H1PPOLT-
CHVRCH TVS, in the middle of the village, consists
of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles,
north and south porches and west tower. It is built
for the most part of flint with dressings of limestone
and clunch. The tower is partly covered with
cement, and the south porch is of brick, with a timber
south front.'1'
The original church, of the late I lth century,
consisted of a chancel and nave, to which north and
south aisles were added about I 320, when the chancel
was rebuilt. The south aisle was built first and then
the north, and the west tower was begun immediately
after the completion of the aisles. The 1 5th-century
alterations consisted of the widening of the chancel
Ippollitts Church from the South-east
wife of Sir Humphrey Gore41 (see OfHey), to their
only child Elizabeth, who married Sir Henry Penrice.42
They left an only child, Anna Maria wife of Sir
Thomas Salusbury. He died in 1773,43 leaving the
property to his second wife Sarah, who at her death
bequeathed the manor to a distant cousin, Sir Robert
Salusbury, bart.,44 who entered into possession in
1804 on the death of Sarah.45 The manor has
descended from this time with the manor of Offley
(q.v.). Mr. H. G. Salusbury Hughes is the present
owner.
Almshoebury, which is now a farm, is built on
the site of the old manor-house.
arch and the erection of the north and south porches.
In 1879 practically the whole of the church, with the
exception of the tower, was taken down and rebuilt
from the foundations, but the old materials were
replaced with great care, so that the history of the
original building can be followed with ease. In the
course of this restoration the north aisle was widened
from 6 ft. to 9 ft.
The chancel has a modern window in the east wall,
one north and two south windows, all of two lights
with tracery. They are of the 14th century and
have been much repaired. There is a piscina com-
bined with a credence of the 14th century, and in the
40 Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chas. I, rot. 47 j
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 10 Chas. I, m. 5.
41 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Geo. I.
42 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Hern, iii, 97.
43 Ibid. " G.E.C. Baronetage.
43 Clutterbuck, Herts, iii, 94 ; Cussans,
Hist, of Herts. Hitchin Hund. 114.
46 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xii.
27
47 Dimensions : chancel, 26 ft. by 13 ft.;
nave, 29 ft. by 20 ft. ; north aisle, 9 ft.
wide 5 south aisle, 6 ft. wide ; tower,
15 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 6 in.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
north wall are two lockers. The modern screen has
a central bay of the 15 th century.
The nave has two 14th-century arches on either
side, inserted in the earlier wall, about 4 ft. apart.
They are of two chamfered orders, of which the
inner springs from carved corbel heads, some of
them modern. The labels also with their mask
stops, and parts of the arches, are modern. A
rood-loft door with a four-centred head opens from
a stair turret at the former level of the loft.
The remains of an original round-headed window
built of tufa are visible in the wall above the south
arcade.
The north aisle has modern windows, but the north
doorway is of the early 1 4th century, restored, and
the rear arch is modern. The doorway opens into
the north porch, which is of stone, repaired with
cement, and has a pointed entrance arch in a square
head, with tracery in the spandrels ; on either side of
the entrance is a roughly executed niche with a
trefoiled head, and a canopied niche of the 15th
century is over the centre.
In both the north and the south aisles are piscinae
of the 14th century. The east and south windows of
the south aisle are of the 14th century ; the former is
a narrow pointed window of two lights with simple
tracery, and the latter a square-headed window of two
lights, repaired. The west window is modern. To
the west of the south window is the south doorway,
dating from about 1320, of moulded clunch, opening
into the south porch, which has brick sides and a
timber framing. The four-centred entrance arch has
two lights on either side, plain open timber-work in
the gable and moulded barge-boards. The timber-
work is of the 15th century and the brick is a
17th-century repair.
The west tower is entered from the nave by a plain
arch with modern abaci. The west window is of the
14th century and has three lights, with tracery ; it
has been slightly repaired. The second stage of the
tower is lighted by loops and the bell-chamber has
two-light windows, which have been repaired with
cement. There is a stair turret at the north-west.
The tower is embattled, with a string-course
immediately below the battlements, but is otherwise
plain. It has square angle buttresses, and the low
pyramidal roof is tiled and surmounted by a tall
leaded post.
The font, an octagonal bowl standing on a stem
with engaged shafts, is of 14th-century date
The monuments consist of two brasses, one in the
north aisle of Robert Poydres and Alice his wife,
1401, with an incomplete inscription, and the other
in the chancel of Alice wife of Ryce Hughes, 1594,
a single brass bearing kneeling figures of a man, a
woman and children, and an inscription ; and of a
14th-century recess in the south aisle with the
recumbent effigy of a priest.
The bells are modern.
Among the plate is a silver cup of 1634 and
a paten of 1639.
The registers are in three books, the first all
entries from 171 I to 1 7 50, the second baptisms and
burials from 1750 to 1812 and marriages from 1750
to 1753, and the third marriages from 1754 to 18 12.
The church of Ippollitts was
ADVOWHQN a chapel to Hitchin, and is found
with that church in the possession
of the nunnery of Elstow, Bedfordshire, at the time of
the Dissolution.'8 Both churches were appropriated
by the monastery. After the Dissolution the tithes
were granted with the rectory of Hitchin (q.v.) to
Trinity College, Cambridge. No mention is made
of the advowson, so the church was evidently then
served from Hitchin, although later the Institution
Books show that separate presentations were made for
Ippollitts. In March 1685-6 the benefice was
united by the Bishop of Lincoln with that of Great
Wymondley, another chapelry of Hitchin, of which
the college had the patronage.49 The joint living
is still in the gift of Trinity College, Cambridge.
In 161 2 Thomas Bibsworth by
CHARITIES deed conveyed certain lands and
cottages in the parish to trustees, the
rents and profits to be applied in the relief of the poor.
Upon the inclosure of the common lands under the
Act of 181 l,so 2 a. I r. 28 p. in Bow Street Common
were allotted in lieu of 3 a. in the common fields.
The property was sold in 1863 and the proceeds
invested in ^844 1 gj. ~;d. India 3 per cent, stock with
the official trustees, producing £25 Js. yearly. A sum
of \s. yearly is also received by the trustees in respect
of a rood of land in a field called Bobwell, Little
Wymondley Farm.
In 1623 John Welch by his will gave 6s. 8/
yearly to the vicar and 10/. to the poor, payable out
of Red Coats Farm in Great Wymondley.
In 1642 George King by deed gave 40/. yearly
out of land at Luton for the poor. The annuity is
paid by the owner of Luton Hoo estate.
These charities are administered together; 147
bread and coal tickets of the value of 3/. <)/i. each
were in 1907 distributed to the poor.
In 1653 William Guyver by his will devised an
annuity of £4 for apprenticing a boy or girl. The
rent-charge is paid by the owner of St. Ibbs estate
and is applied as required.
In 1729 William Dawes by his will gave a yearly
sum of j£5 out of his property near Hitchin for
distribution to the poor on St. Thomas's Day. The
annuity, less land tax, is paid out of land called
Lower Brook Field, and distributed in money doles.
4S Dugdale, Man. Angl. iii, 416.
A'} Information froi
of Trin. Coll. Camb.
the Senior Bursar
50 Loc. Act, 51 Geo. Ill, cap. 192.
28
Ifpollitts Church : Ti/e South Porch
Ippollitts Church : The Nave looking East
HITCHIN HUNDRED
KIMPTON
KIMPTON
Kamintone (xi cent.) ; Kymitone, Kymbton,
Kumynton (xiv cent.) ; Kympton (xv cent.).
Kimpton is a parish of 3,677 acres, lying on the
Bedfordshire border, north of the Ayots and west of
Codicote. The northern and southern parts reach
a height of 450 ft., but the rest is some 100 ft. lower.
The surface is undulating, and the village lies in the
lower parts, being built along a road running east and
west. The street has several 1 7th-century houses
and cottages which retain many of their ancient
features. It is about a mile long, including the
hamlet of Kimpton Bottom. There are many hamlets
and outlying farms and cottages in the parish. Skegs-
bury Lane lies to the west, Ansells End to the north-
west and Percy Green with Peters Green further to
the north-west of the parish.
Bury Farm, the residence of Mr. John Barker, lies
to the east of the village ; Kimpton Grange, the
residence of Mr. C. F. Parr, lies to the west ;
Lawrence End House, with extensive grounds, the
seat of Mr. George Oakley, J. P., lies in the north-
west part of the parish. Stoneheaps Farm, lying a
little less than a mile to the south-west of the church,
is a two-storied house of the |_ lYPe> °f plastered
timber and brick, built early in the 1 7th century.
Tallents Farm, Rumeridge, Kimpton Hall and Kimp-
ton Mill Farm are farm-houses in the parish built
at about the same date, but they have all undergone
much alteration, external as well as internal.
The little River Mimram or Maran flows through
the north-east of the parish, and adjoining it are osier
beds. The soil is chalk. Nearly the whole of the
parish is given up to agriculture, 2,506 acres being
under the plough ; 682 acres are permanent grass,
and some 168 acres are woodland,1 including Cuck-
oldscross Wood, Dovehouse Wood, Park Wood and
Leggatts Spring.
Some Roman and Celtic coins have been found
near Prior's Wood in the south-east.
In the 14th century the hundred court of Hitchin
was held at Kimpton."'
In the time of King Edward JElveva,
MANORS mother of Earl Morcar, held KIMPTON.
In 1086 it was assessed for 4 hides and
formed part of the possessions of Odo Bishop of
Bayeux, of whom it was held by Ralf de Curbespine.3
Ralf was of the same family as Gilbert Maminot,
Bishop of Lisieux (who was son of Robert de Curbes-
pine), and his lands afterwards descended with the
Maminots,* of whose Dover-Castleward barony Kimp-
ton was held as two knights' fees.5 Through Alice
sister and heir of Walkelin de Maminot this barony
passed to the family of Geoffrey de Say, her husband,
and the overlordship then descended with the barony
of Say.6
Under the Says Kimpton was held by three sepa-
rate tenants as the manors of Hockinghanger, Park-
bury and Leggatts.
HOCKINGHANGER (Hokenhangre, xiv cent. ;
Hokynanger, xvi cent.). As early as 1 23 5-6 Baldwin
de Vere, a member of the Northamptonshire family of
Vere, was holding this manor and demanding customs
there from a certain William de Bikkeworth.7 He was
succeeded by another Baldwin, probably his son, who
died before 1303, when his widow Matilda was
assessed for three-quarters of a fee in Kimpton held
of William de Say.8 This descended to John de
Vere, probably his son, and his widow Alice was
holding in I 346.' In 1 35 1 Robert de Vere made a
settlement of his land, under the name of the manor
of Hockinghanger, on himself and his wife Elizabeth
in tail.10 The manor descended in this family until
1493, when Henry de Vere of Great Addington,
co. Northants, died seised, leaving four daughters,
Elizabeth, Ann, Constance and Audrey.11 Eliza-
beth married John Lord Mordaunt " ; Ann married
Sir Humphrey Browne, kt., of Roding, co. Essex ls ;
and Audrey married John Browne, a nephew of
Sir Humphrey." These three daughters with their
husbands each held one-third of the property. In
1556 Audrey, after her husband's death, conveyed
her third to John Lord Mor-
daunt." These two thirds
descended to his son John
Lord Mordaunt and to the
latter's son Lewis Lord Mor-
daunt.16 Sir Humphrey
Browne, husband of Ann,
died in 1562, leaving the
third which had fallen to his
wife to his three daughters —
Mary, who afterwards married
Thomas Wylforde ; Christine,
later the wife of John Tufton,
and Katherine.17 Mary and
Katherine seem to have both
conveyed their shares to Christine and John Tufton,13
who in Hilary Term 1581-2 conveyed this portion
to Lewis Lord Mordaunt,19 who thus acquired the
whole.
In 1 596 Lord Mordaunt sold the manor to Thomas
Hoo of St. Paul's Walden.20 He was succeeded by
Mordaunt. Argent
a ckeveron between three
stars sable.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190;).
2 Assize R. 340.
s V.C.H. Herts, i, 310A. The tenant
is given in Domesday as ' Ralf,' but the
descent of the manor with the Maminots
shows that he was Ralf de Curbespine ;
cf. West Fairbourne, Thornham and
Waldershare in Kent.
4 Possibly Hugh Maminot (temp.
Henry I) was his son.
5 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 710,
721, 617. There seems no doubt that
the place -'pelt here Kenintone, Revintone
and Kenntune is Kimpton (Kemitone) ;
cf. spelling in Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
6 Feud. Aids, ii, 429 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), xxxi, 97.
7 Close, 19 Hen. Ill, m. 2d.
8 Feud. Aids, ii, 429 ; Excerfta e Rot.
Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 509.
9 Feud. Aids, ii, 438.
10 Feet of F. Div. Co. 25 Edw. Ill,
no. 67.
11 Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 292,
no. 1.
12 Harl. Soc. Publ. xix, 41-2.
18 Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii),
166.
14 Ibid. The fourth daughter Constance
does not appear again.
29
15 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2 & 3 Phil,
and Mary.
»6 Ibid. Hil. 24 Eliz.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), exxxv, 75 ;
Recov. R. East. 5 Eliz. rot. 1068. His
son George died immediately after his
own death.
1* Recov. R. Trin. 18 Eliz. rot. 11 20 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 18 Eliz. In
1577 John Tufton had licence to alienate
his third for the purposes of a settlement
(Pat. 20 tliz. pt. iii, m. 17 ; Feet of F.
Herts. East. 20 Eliz.).
19 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 24 Eliz.
»" Ibid. East. 38 Eliz.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
his son William Hoo, on whose death in 1636 the
manor descended to his son Thomas.21 Thomas died
in 1650, his son Thomas having predeceased him,
and Hockinghanger passed with Hoo in St. Paul's
Walden to his daughter Susan wife of Sir Jonathan
Keate, bart.22 It descended to their son, Sir Gilbert
Hoo, Quarterly sable
and argent.
Kkate. Argent three
cats passant sable*
Hoo-Keate, who was succeeded by his son Sir Henry
Hoo-Keate.23 He sold the manor in 1732 to Mar-
garet Brand of the parish of St. James's, Westminster,
widow of Thomas Brand,2' from whom it passed suc-
cessively to her son and grandson, both named
Thomas.25 The son Thomas married in 1 77 1
Gertrude daughter of Henry Roper Lord Teynham,
who, on the death of her brother Charles Lord
Dacre, became Lady Dacre in her own right.
Her son Thomas Brand succeeded his mother as
twentieth Lord Dacre, from whom the manor passed
in 1 85 1 to his brother Henry Otway, who took the
name of Trevor. His two sons Thomas Crosbie
William Trevor, Lord Dacre, and Henry Bouverie
William Brand, Lord Dacre, created first Viscount
Roper, Lord Dacre.
Six pieces azure and or
with three hart? heads
1 Viscount
Azure tivo
crossed swords argent
•with their hilts or be-
tween three scallops or.
Hampden in 1884, successively inherited the estate,
and it passed from the latter to his eldest son Henry
Robert Brand, second Viscount Hampden and twenty-
fourth Lord Dacre, the present lord of the manor.10
The manor of PARKBURY was held under the
Says in the 14th century by the family of Brok as
one half and one half of one quarter of a knight's
fee.2? In 1303 Laurence de Brok was assessed for
it.28 He was dead by 1330, when the manor was
held by his widow Ellen de Brok for life, with
reversion to her son Ralph, and she received a grant
of free warren in that year.29 Before 1 346 the
manor had passed to Nigel de Loreng, kt.,30chamberlain
to the Black Prince, who had a large estate at Chalgrave
in Bedfordshire." He was in possession in 1384-5,
when he conveyed it to trustees.32 Probably the
trustees conveyed to John Fray,33 who was assessed
for the same fee in 1428. 34 In 1436 John Fray and
Agnes his wife sold the manor under the name of
Parkbury to Richard Hungate and Elizabeth his
wife.35 After Richard's death Elizabeth married John
Gunter, and they held it for life with reversion to
John Suliard and his wife Agnes daughter and heir
of Richard Hungate.36 Edward Suliard died seised
of the manor in 1516, leaving as heir his son William,3'
who died in March 1539-40, having settled the
property on his brother Eustace.38 From Eustace it
passed to his son Edward,39 who in Hilary Term
1579-80 conveyed the property to John Knighton
and George his son.40 John Knighton, of the Inner
Temple, died in 1599." His son George must have
predeceased his father, for his brother George Knighton
of Bayford was his heir.42 George was knighted in
1603.43 He settled the property in 1603 on himself
and his wife Lady Susan for life, with remainder to
their son John, who succeeded in 1613.44 At John's
death in 1635 the manor passed to Knighton Ferrers,
son of his sister Anne, who had married Sir John
Ferrers of Markyate.45 His daughter and heir
Katherine married Thomas Viscount Fanshawe.46
In 1665 Basset Cole and his wife Anne47 sold the
property to Sir Jonathan Keate, bart.,48 after which
it descended with Hockinghanger (q.v.).
The manor of LEGGATTS was held in 1303 as
half a knight's fee and one-eighth of a fee of Lord
William de Say by Roger Wyscard.49 It passed shortly
afterwards to the family of Leggatt, from whom it
took its name. In 1346 Robert Morlee, a feoffee of
John Leggatt, was assessed for it.50 John's son Edward
Leggatt, who was in gaol for felony in 1 369,51 died
seised of the manor in 1 396." The estate consisted
of a messuage and garden, a dove-house, 242 \ acres
of land, 1 acre of meadow, rents of 42/. i\d. and a
fishery.63 His cousin John was his heir.54 John
possibly left co-heiresses, for in 1409 a certain John
21 Berry, Herts. Gen. 158 ; Recov. R.
East. 1 3 Chas. I, rot. 5.
22 Recov. R. Mich. 8 Chas. II, rot.
16; ; Hil. 12 Chas. II, rot. 3.
28 See ibid. Trin. 10 Geo. I, rot.
280.
24 Ibid. 6 Geo. II, rot. 191 ; Close,
6 Geo. II, pt. xiv, no. 17.
85 Recov. R. East. 1 1 Geo. Ill, rot.
55-
26 Berry, Herts. Gen. 44 et seq. ; G.E.C.
Peerage.
27 Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
28 Ibid.
29 Chart. R. 4 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no.
18.
^ Feud. Aids, ii,438.
31 Diet. Nat. Biog.
82 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 8 Ric. II,
no. 28.
83 See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 10
Hen. IV, no. 74.
34 Feud. Aids, ii, 449.
35 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 14 Hen. VI,
no. 77.
36 Close, 37 Hen. VI, m. 31.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxi, 97.
89 Ibid, lxiv, 88.
89 Ibid, lxxxvi, 99.
40 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 22 Eliz.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclviii,
77-
42 Ibid.
48 Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 1 1 6.
3°
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii,
143.
40 Ibid, cccclxxvi, 129.
46 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Fanshawe ; see
Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1651.
47 Chauncy calls the wife Lady Amy
Mordaunt, and says Bhe had bought the
48 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 16 & 17
Chas. II.
49 Feud. Aids, ii, 429. 5U Ibid. 438.
51 Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. ii
(2nd nos.), no. 3A.
62 Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 34.
63 Ibid. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. ii (2nd nos.),
no. 36.
54 Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 34.
Kimpton : Stoneheaps Farm
Kimpton Church from the South-west
HITCHIN HUNDRED
Chertsey conveyed a moiety of the manor to John
Fray," from whom it passed with Parkbury to
Hungate,56and the two manors subsequently descended
together.
Besides the three manors which formed the holding
of the Says in Kimpton there was another manor
called BIBBESIl'ORTH (Bybesworth, xiv cent.),
which was held of the manor of Pirton,57 from
which it was evidently formed by subinfeudation.
It gave its name to, or took its name from, a family
of Bibbesworth, who held it under the lords of
Pirton.58 In 1277 Walter de Bibbesworth was
holding the manor, and received a grant of free
warren in January of that year (1276-7).59 William
de Bibbesworth settled it in 1303 on his son Hugh
de Bibbesworth and Emma his wife.60 Later Hugh
granted half a hide of his estate to the monastery of
St. Albans.61 He was succeeded by his son John de
Bibbesworth,68 who died in 1361,63 having previously
settled the property on his son Hugh and Amice his
wife.61 In 1402 they settled the manor on their son
Edmund.65 After his death it was held by his widow
Goditha,6l> she outliving her son John, who died in
1448,67 leaving a son Thomas, a minor. Thomas
entered into the property on attaining his majority
in 1467.68 He died without issue in 1485, his heirs
being his cousins, Joan wife of Thomas Barlee and
John Cotys of Hunningham, co. Warwick.69 The
manor of Bibbesworth was assigned to Joan and
Thomas Barlee.70 At his death in 1524 Thomas left
a son Robert," who was succeeded by his son
Francis.78
In 1 560 the manor was owned by Richard Barlee,73
probably son of Francis. Richard died in I393,
leaving as heir a son Thomas,'4 who became a lunatic
in 1603, but seems to have held the manor till some
four years later, when his heirs are returned as his
three sisters, Dorothea Osburn, Anna Lady Dacres
and Maria Wiseman.75 Apparently, however, he
had a daughter Grace (perhaps born after this date),
the wife of Cressy Tasburgh, who suffered sequestra-
tion as a recusant in 1650, but obtained restoration
of his lands in 165 I.76 In 1 659 Robert Barlee and
William Wiseman, probably their trustees, conveyed
to Sir Jonathan Keate,77and the manor remained with
his descendants78 together with Hockinghanger (q.v.).
LITTLE BIBBESWORTH was another estate
formed out of the manor of Pirton. John de Limesi,
lord of that manor in the latter part of the 1 2th
KIMPTON
century, granted 8 acres in Bibbesworth to Richard de
Puteo, who gave them to the monastery of St. Mary,
Hertford (to which Ralph de Limesi [see Pirton]
had made a grant of tithes and of pannage in his wood
there), to the use of the kitchen.79 In 1 29 1 the
priory had lands valued at £z 13/. %d. in Kimpton.™
After the Dissolution this estate was granted under
the name of the manor of Bibbesworth in February
1537-8 to Anthony Denny and Joan his wife.8'
They conveyed the manor in 1543 to Nicholas
Bristowe and his wife Lucy.88 In the inquisition
taken on his death in I 584 the manor is called Little
Bibbesworth.83 He was succeeded by his son Nicholas,
who died at Ayot St. Lawrence in 1626.84 His son,
also Nicholas, died in July 1634, and Robert his
brother inherited the fee simple of the Bristowe
estates.85 After this time it seems to have descended
with the advowson (q.v.).
A reputed manor called PL UMMERS** was con-
veyed in 1596 by Thomas Hoo to Edward Sibley,87
and the next year was acquired from the latter by
Thomas Halsey alias Chambers.68 The farm of
Plummers is now occupied by Mr. Robert Avery.
Another reputed manor of LEIGH or Ll'GH was
held by Sir Edward Benstede, kt., at his death in
1 5 1 8. John Ferrers, his kinsman and heir, succeeded/9
In 1547 the manor was conveyed by Francis Ferrers
to John Brockett and his wife Margaret.90 Edward
Peade was holding it in 1 5 89, when he alienated it
to Thomas Cheyne.91
The parish church of ST. PETER
CHURCH JND ST. PJUL stands at the nonh
end of the village. The church consists
of a chancel, nave, south chapel, north and south
aisles, west tower of three stages with leaded spire,
south porch of two stages with an octagonal north-
west stair turret, north vestry and organ chamber."
It is built of flint rubble with freestone dressings.
The existing nave is probably of the same plan as
that of the original 12th-century building, which
consisted of an aisleless nave and chancel. About
1200 the north and south aisles were added, and at
the same time, or perhaps a little later, the chancel
was enlarged to its present size. There are traces of
14th-century alterations in the chancel, but it was
not until the 15th century that any further addition
was made, when the south chapel was built, the
south aisle probably partly rebuilt, the clearstory of
the nave was made, and the south porch and west
55 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 10 Hen. IV,
no. 74.
56 Close, 37 Hen. VI, m. 31.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, no. 44 ;
(Ser. 2), ccxli, 107.
53 See Dugdale, Man. iii, 300, 301.
'9 Chart. R. 5 Edw. I, no. 70.
60 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Edw. I, no. 386 ;
Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 1.
61 Cott. MSS. Nero, D vii, fol. 92.
68 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 27 Edw. Ill,
no. 91 5 Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 1.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, no. 44.
M Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 27 Edw. Ill,
no. 496.
65 Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 1 ; Feet
of F. Div. Co. Hil. 3 Hen. IV ; Add.
Chart. 1990.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. IV, no. 22.
67 Ibid. 27 Hen. VI, no. 35.
68 Ibid. 7 Edw. IV, no. 59.
69 Ibid. (Ser. 2), i, 75. Joan was
daughter of Thomas Bibbesworth's father's
sister Joan, and John Cotys son of another
sister Agnes.
70 Close, 1 Hen. VII, no. 103.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xl, 101.
7a Ibid, lvi, 42 ; Visit. Essex (Harl.
Soc. xiii), 1 ; Court of Wards, exxix,
fol. 207 d.
73 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 2 Eliz.
74 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxli, 107.
74 Ibid, ccxcviii, 72, 82. This is an
inq. de lunatico inquirendo, not an inq. p.m.
76 Cat. Com. for Comp. 2235.
77 Close, 6 Geo. II, pt. xiv, no. 17.
78 See Recov. R. Trin. 10 Geo. I, rot.
280.
79 Dugdale, Mon. iii, 301 ; Campb.
Chart, x, 12.
80 Pofe Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 5.
81 Pat. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. ii, m. 19.
8» L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (1), g. 226
(82).
31
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvi, 12.
84 Ibid, ccccix, 66.
85 Ibid, cccclxxiv, 6. See under advow-
son.
86 For John Plomer or Plummer, who
with his wife Agnes, widow of Richard
Nash, held lands in Kimpton in her right
about the same date, and from whose
family this manor probably took its name,
see Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 286,
no. 39.
87 Feet of F. Herts. East. 38 Eliz.
88 Ibid. Mich. 39 & 4.0 Eliz.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiv, 35.
9° Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Edw. VI.
" Ibid. Mich. 31 & 32 Eliz.
92 Dimensions : chancel, 36 ft. by
1 5 ft. ; south chapel, 32 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in.;
nave, 64 ft. by 18 ft.; north aisle,
12 ft. 6 in. wide ; south aisle, 1 3 ft. 6 in.
wide; west tower, 12 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft.;
south porch, 9 ft. by 10 ft. 6 in.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
tower were added. In 1 86 1 the church was rather
drastically restored, the north aisle being completely
rebuilt, the windows and doors much repaired and
altered and the north vestry and organ chamber
added.
The chancel has an east window of three lights, in
which traces of early 14th-century work remain, but
the bulk of it is modern. On either side of it the
remains of a 13th-century lancet window are visible
with traces of contemporary paintings of figures of
angels on the remaining splays. The chapel arcade
on the south side is of the 15th century, of three
bays with columns of four clustered shafts and
moulded arches. Between the chancel and south
chapel are parts of a mid- 15th-century parclose
screen, much repaired, with traceried panels and
moulded stiles and cornice. There are six poppy-
head bench ends of the 15th century in the chancel,
also much restored. The north wall of the chancel
is modern.
The south chapel has an east window and three
century and has a continuous moulding, and a label
with grotesque stops. It opens to the south porch, of
the same d.ite, which is of two stories, and originally
had a window opening into the south aisle from the
second stage ; this is now blocked. The pointed
entrance arch is plain and has a label with carved
stops. There are square-headed windows on the
east and west. The second stage is approached by
an octagonal stair turret rising above the porch, at
the north-west, at the angle of junction with the
aisle, and is lighted by a two-light traceried window
with a pointed head. Both the porch and the turret
have embattled parapets above string-courses. The
west tower is of two stages with strongly projecting
buttresses, an embattled parapet and a lead-covered
needle spire. At the north-east corner is a project-
ing stair turret. The tower arch is of the 1 5 th century,
and is four-centred, of two moulded orders with flat
jambs. The west door is so much restored as to be
practically modern, and the same is true of the
window above it. The windows of the upper stage
I12XENT
U3tENT
H14*CENT'
»5*CENT
□Modern
Scale or Tect
Plan of Kimpton Church
square-headed south windows. The openings are
original, but all the tracery is modern, and the south
door is much restored. There is here an early 13th-
century piscina, which has been reset. The mid-
I 5th-century screen at the west of the chapel has a
vaulted canopy. It is much restored throughout.
The nave has arcades of six bays, of the end of the
1 2th or early years of the 13th century. The arches
are two-centred, and of two moulded orders, with
drop labels facing the nave. The columns are
circular with moulded bases ; some of the capitals
are scalloped and some foliate. The clearstory
windows are three on the north and four on the
south. They have two lights, and the westernmost
on the south side has a wooden head.
The north aisle is entirely modern. The south
aisle, which is much restored, has four three-light
windows, of which the jambs and rear arches only
are old. The roof of this aisle is of late I 5 th or early
1 6th-century date. It has moulded ridges, purlins and
wall-plates and cambered trusses resting on corbels
carved as angels. The south doorway is of the 15th
of the tower are of two trefoiled lights ; they also are
much restored.
The earliest monument is an early 15th-century
brass in the chancel, with the figure of a woman wear-
ing her hair loose, having no inscription. There are
mural monuments to Susannah wife of Sir Jonathan
Keate, 1673, to Judith Orlebar, 1690, and to Sir
Jonathan Keate, 1700.
There are six bells : the first and third are by
Robert Oldfeild, 1636 ; the second is by John
Waylett, 1728; the fourth is by John Saunders,
and dates from the middle of the r6th century ; the
fifth is probably by William Burford, of the middle
of the 14th century, and the sixth is by Robert
Oldfeild, with the date 1638.
The plate includes a cup of 1635.
The registers are contained in three books, the
first containing baptisms and burials from 1559 to
1777 and marriages from 1559 to 1753; the
second contains baptisms and burials from 1 77.7
to 1 81 2, and the third marriages from 1777 to
181 2.
32
Kimpton Church : The Nave looking East
Kimpton Church : The South Aisle looking East
HITCHIN HUNDRED
The advowson of the church of
JDf'OirSON St. Peter and St. Paul of Kimpton
was granted, probably by one of the
Says, to the priory of Austin Canons of Merton,
in Surrey.93 A vicarage was ordained there previous
to 1 29 1,94 and between 1363 and 1397 the vicar
and Prior of Hertford (who had a grant of tithes of
pannage from Ralph de Limesi, see above) arranged
an allotment of tithes.95 In February 1542-3 the
king granted the advowson to John Williams and
Anthony Stringer,96 who alienated in the same year to
Nicholas Bacon and Henry Ashfelde.97 Nicholas
Bacon conveyed the property in 1543 to Nicholas
Bristowe,98 who died in 1 5 84, leaving as heir his son
Nicholas.99 Five years later the advowson was granted
to Richard Branthwayte and Roger Bromley,100 who
were possibly acting as trustees or were merely ' fishing
grantees.' Nicholas son of the above Nicholas came
into possession at his father's death.101 He was suc-
ceeded by his son Nicholas,102 who held the property
until 1634, when he died, leaving to his daughters
Elizabeth and Anne a twenty-one years' interest in
the estate, which was to revert at the end of that
time to their uncle Robert Bristowe.103 In 1663
Robert Bristowe and his son Nicholas conveyed the
advowson to Sir Jonathan Keate, bart.,104 and it
then descended with the manor of Kimpton 106 to
Viscount Hampden, the present patron.
In the 15th century Edmund atte Hoo left in his
will a bequest to the fabric of the church of Kimpton.100
A letter has been preserved, written by the Prior of
Merton to the Bishop of Lincoln, asking permission
for the construction of a private oratory without a
bell-tower. The request was apparently made on
behalf of Lady Ellen, formerly wife of Robert
de Vere. The chapel was to be used by her
household and guests alone, and the chaplain was to
KING'S WALDEN
make amends to the vicar of the mother church of
Kimpton if he gave the sacrament ; while the vicar
could suspend the celebration if the mother church
suffered by it.107
The rectory was granted by the king in 1543 to
Nicholas Bristowe and Lucy his wife for their lives.108
In 1567 it was regranted to Nicholas Bristowe, their
son, on lease for twenty-one years.109 A grant to
Richard Branthwayte and Roger Bromley in 1589 no
was probably in trust for Richard Spencer,111 whose
son Sir John Spencer of OfHey, bart. (so created in
1627), died seised in 1633 under a settlement made
by his father.112 At Sir John's death the rectory
passed to his brother Brockett Spencer,113 and after-
wards descended in the family of Salusbury 114 with
the manor of St. Ledgers in OfHey (q.v.).
There is a Wesleyan chapel in Kimpton.
William Barford, D.D., Preben-
CHJR1TIES dary of Canterbury, Fellow of Eton,
and vicar of this parish, by his will
proved in the P.C.C. 31 January 1793 bequeathed
20/. yearly for the poor. The legacy is now repre-
sented by £33 6s. 8</. consols with the official trustees,
and the annual dividends amounting to I 6s. %d. are
distributed equally among eight poor persons.
John Bassill by his will, proved in the P.C.C.
1 February 1 8 16, gave .£120 stock, the dividends,
subject to keeping in repair the testator's vault, to
be applied every three years as to one-third for
dinner to the resident clergyman, one-third among
six poor families, and remaining one-third in prize
money for games among young people, first deduct-
ing 40/. for a dinner for the church ringers and parish
clerk.
The legacy is now represented by X'92 os- S^.
consols with the official trustees, producing £4. 16s.
yearly.
KING'S WALDEN
King's Walden is a parish 4,392 acres in extent,
lying on a spur of the Chilterns at a height of some
450 ft. above the ordnance datum. The surface of the
land is slightly undulating, the subsoil chalk,1 on which
corn is largely grown. Arable land covers 2,755
acres, while the grass land extends over only about
one-quarter of this area, and the woodland 1 37 acres.2
The original settlement seems to have been of the
Saxon type, having the church of St. Mary adjoining
the manor-house of King's Waldenbury and the
village near, the whole being off the road, as is usual
in this type of settlement. At a later date the in-
habitants migrated to the road, where the market
would naturally be held, and eventually deserted
the original settlement. Thus the village became
established where we find it to-day, nearly a mile from
the church and manor-house. It is uncertain when
a market was first granted, possibly in the 13th cen-
tury, when so many grants of market were made, but
in 1795 a market was held here on Saturdays.3 The
village consists of two irregular lines of cottages.
Scattered over the parish are many farm-houses and
cottages, and there are three small hamlets, Wandon
End4 and Wandon Green on the western and
southern borders of the parish, and Ley Green 6 to the
north of King's Waldenbury Park. The Inclosure
Act is dated 1 796— 7,6 and the common was inclosed
by an award of 1 802.7
93 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 245.
94 Pope Nkh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 4?.
95 Line. Epis. Reg. Bokingham, fol. 338.
06 L. and P. Hen. VIU, xviii (1), 226
(79).
97 Ibid, xviii (1), g. 226 (87).
98 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvi, 1 2 ;
Add. Chart. 1991, 1997.
99 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvi, 1 2.
100 Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 27.
101 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxlix,
66. 102 Ibid.
103 Ibid, cccclxxiv, 6.
104 Recov. R. Mich. 1 5 Chas. II, rot.
52 ; Close, 6 Geo. II, pt. xiv, no. 17.
105 See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
106 Wills, Archdeaconry of St. Albans,
Stonehaven 31.
107 Cott. MS. Cleop. C vii, 144.
108 Add. Chart. 1997; L. and P.
Hen. VUJ, xix (1), 644.
109 Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 27.
110 Ibid.
111 Branthwayte and Spencer were
connected by marriage ; Branthwaite's
daughter Margaret married Spencer's
33
nephew Thomas. See G.E.C. Baronetage,
i, 69 ; ii, 10.
112 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxii, 4.
118 Recov. R. Mich. 15 Chas. I, rot. 56.
114 Ibid. 45 Geo. Ill, rot. 17.
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, Geol. map.
2 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190;).
3 Verulam MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), i,
159.
4 V.C.H. Herts, i, 303a.
5 Ibid. 3044.
6 Local Acts, 1 Geo. I-37 Geo. III.
7 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
From before the time of the Domesday
MANORS Survey two manors were in existence in
King's Walden. Each was estimated at
i hide, and in the time of Earl Harold both were
held of him, one by Leueva, the other by Asgar's
widow. At the time of the Survey the former was in
the king's hands, the latter was still held by Asgar's
widow, of the king.8 These two manors, both
known by the name of King's Walden, existed as
separate manors till the middle of the 15th century,9
when they seem to have become united.
One manor of KING'S WALDEN, afterwards
called DUXJf'ORTH, was granted at an early date to
the family of Delamare,10 who were holding in the
neighbouring parish of Offley. Early in the 13th
century Robert son of Osbert Delamare n held King's
Walden by the service of one knight's fee.12 Robert
forfeited his lands in 1224 as an ally of Falkes de
Breaute, but they were afterwards restored to his wife
Alice for herself and her heirs.13 Her son John
inherited his mother's estate14 and held it till his
death about 1276, leaving as heir his grandson John,
a minor,15 who was assessed for the fee in 1303.16
It was then extended at a messuage and 60 acres of
land, 2 acres of pasture, 2 acres of wood and rents of
assize. In this year he alienated it to John de
Dokesworth or Duxworth,17 who settled it in 13 16
on himself and his wife Parnel and their heirs.18
John died in 1 338,19 leaving a son William, who held
the manor20 till his death in 1362, when he was
succeeded by his son Elias.21 He about 1380
alienated King's Walden to John Bixen and Walter
Pulter, who enfeoffed John Wylkyn of the same.22
John Wylkyn was convicted in July I 38 I of felony and
treason and forfeited his lands, which were granted in
fee farm to Hugh Martyn, one of the king's servitors.23
It would appear that Hugh lost his possessions about
1395 by his outlawry,24 and they reverted to the
Crown. The king made a fresh grant of them to
Reginald Lord Cobham of Sterborough, who held a
court in 1401.25 The manor descended to his son
Reginald Lord Cobham,26 who died in 1446. His
granddaughter Margaret (daughter of his eldest son
Reginald), who succeeded him,27 died without issue
about 1460, and her husband Ralph Earl of
Westmorland in 1485. The manor came to Anne
daughter of Thomas second son of Reginald Lord
Cobham, the wife of Sir Edward Burgh, and it
descended to their son Thomas Lord Burgh, who
died seised of King's Walden in 1551.28 His son
Hale of King's
Walden. A%ure acheve-
ron or battled on both
sides.
William Lord Burgh29 conveyed it in 1576 lo
Richard Hale.30 He died in 1621, having settled
the property on his second son Richard and his heirs.
The estate, however, came eventually to William, the
eldest son.31
William Hale died in 1633, leavinga son William,
whose heir at his death in 1643 32 was his brother
Rowland,33 from whom the
manor passed to his son
William.34 It descended in
this family to Paggen Hale,
who was holding in 1 742. 35
He left no issue, so that at
his death the property passed
to a cousin, William Hale,30
and from him to his son
William, who was holding in
1815.3' After the death of
Charles Cholmondeley Hale
in 1 884 the property was pur-
chased by Mrs. Hinds, and in
1 89 1 it was bought from her
by Mr. Thomas Fenwick
Harrison,38 who is the present lord of the manor
and lives at King's Waldenbury.
The other manor of KING'S WALDEN men-
tioned in the Survey 39 extended into the hamlet of
Wandon End. It was apparently granted at an
early date to the family of Valoines, of which barony
it was held as one knight's fee.40 On the death
(before November 1220) of Gunnora wife of Robert
Fitz Walter, daughter and heir of Robert de Valoines,
the manor descended to her daughter Christine, who
married, first, William de Mandeville Earl of
Essex, and, secondly, Raymund de Burgh, and died
without issue in 1233. King's Walden then went
to Isabel wife of David Comyn, one of the heirs
of Christine.41 In I 3 10 it was granted by Edmund
Comyn to John de Dokesworth,42 lord of the other
manor of King's Walden (q.v.), and the overlordship
remained with his successors in that manor.43
This fee, together with other lands held of the
Delamares' manor of King's Walden, was held in the
first half of the 1 3th century by John de Nevill.44
He was succeeded by John de Nevill, who was holding
in 1259.45 He died in 1286, leaving a son John,45"
who with his wife Denise held the estate 46 till his
death in 13 13. 47 A windmill and a water mill are
mentioned in the extent of the manor at this date.
Walter, John's son, succeeded him.48 He obtained a
8 V.C.H. Herts, i, 302A.
9 Feud. Aids, ii, 449.
10 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 266.
11 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 499.
18 Testa de Nevill, 279A ; Red Bk. of
Exch. 499.
18 Close, 8 Hen. Ill, pt. i, m. 20.
M Excerfta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
186 ; Testa de Nevill, 266, 272A.
15 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edvv. I, file 14,
no. 5; file 17, no. 16; Fme R. 4
Edw. I, m. 3.
16 Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
17 Inq. a.q.d. file 42, no. 8 ; Cal. Pat.
1301-7, p. 118.
18 Inq. a.q.d. file 113, no. 82 ; Cal. Pat.
I1I1~17> P- 481; Feet of F. Herts. 10
Edw. II, no. 242.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Edw. Ill, no. 20.
30 Feud. Aids, ii, 438.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. TII) no. 53.
22 Inq. a.q.d. file 397, no. 3 ; Cal. Pat.
1377-81, pp. 620, 624.
23 Pat. 5 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 7.
24 Cal. Pat. 1 391-6, pp. 202, 560.
2a Add. R. 35932.
20 Close, 10 Hen. IV, m. 32 ; Fetid.
Aids, ii, 449.
27 See Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 33
Hen. VI, no. 53.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xciii, 105.
39 See Recov. R. Hil. 5 & 6 Edw. VI,
rot. 517 ; Add. R. 35989, 35990, 35993,
35996.
311 Feet of F. Herts. East. 18 Eliz. ;
Add. R. 35997.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
no ; Add. R. 36021.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxxvi, 148.
33 Ibid, dcxcviii, 65 ; Add. R. 36055.
31 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Anne ;
Add. R. 36036 ; Burke, Landed Gentry.
34
3b Recov. R. Trin. 16 Geo. II, rot.
'S3-
36 Ibid. Mich. 11 Geo. Ill, rot. 1S5.
37 Ibid. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 24S ; Burke,
Landed Gentry.
38 Information from Mr. T. F. Harrison.
39 V.C.H. Herts, i, 302*.
49 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 271a j
Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
41 See Ancestor, no. xi, 1904.
0 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 223 j Feet of
F. Herts. 4 Edw. II, file 54.
43 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
44 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 271.
45 Feet of F.Herts. Mich. 43 Hen III,
no. 514.
45rl Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. I, no. 9.
48 See Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3
Edw. II, no. 47 ; Add. R. 35925, 35928.
47 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. II, no. 26.
48 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, m. 17, no. 72.
V'v"
Kimpton Church : Old Desk in the Chancel
King's Walden Church : The Nave looking East
1267074 HITCHIN HUNDRED
grant of free warren in 1 3 1 8 J9 and died in 1329,
leaving as heir his daughter Agnes,50 who married
Thomas Fytlyng.51 They apparently had no issue.
The reversion of the third of the manor held by
Katherine widow of Walter de Nevill was granted
by them in 1356 to Reginald de Cobham,5' on whom
evidently a settlement of the other two parts was also
made, for the manor subsequently descended with
Duxworth, and the two manors became amalgamated.
In 1 61 3 a messuage called WANDE MEADE,
probably situated in the hamlet of Wandon End, was
held by Thomas Rudd, who died in that year." His
son Thomas, who succeeded him, held it till his death
in 1636, when he left a son Thomas, aged four
years." This last Thomas was holding in 1657.55
Among the possessions of the Crown enumerated
in Domesday Book is ' Leglega.' 56 The extent was
1 virgate, and it was held by three sokemen." This
estate may possibly be the lands called LTE, which
in the 1 5th century were held by the family of
Brograve,59 and the name may survive in Ley
Green.
In 1540 there was a RECTORT MANOR in this
parish attached to the church which had formed part
of the possessions of the priory of Old Malton,
Yorkshire.59 There is no previous record of this
manor, which had probably been granted to this
priory by Walter de Nevill with the advowson of
the church.60 After the Dissolution it was granted
in 1 5 50 by the king to Ralph Sadleir,61 and from that
date was held with the advowson of the vicarage (q.v.).
The parish church of ST. MAR]',
CHURCH lying to the west of King's Waldenbury,
is faced with flint ; the dressings are of
stone. The chancel and north vestry are tiled, and
the rest of the church is roofed with lead. The nave
and tower have embattled parapets. The church
consists of a chancel, nave and aisles, south porch,
north vestry and west tower.
The original church, dating from the late I Ith or
early 1 2th century, probably consisted of a nave and
chancel only, now represented by the present walls of
the nave, in which the nave arcades were inserted
and the aisles added about 1 190. The chancel as it
now stands probably preserves the plan of that which
was built in the 1 3th century, but has been very
much altered. About 1380 the west tower was
added, and in the 15th century the clearstory was
made and the aisles were partially or wholly rebuilt.
The north vestry, of brick, was built early in the
17th century, and the south porch is of the 19th
century, when the walls of the whole church were
refaced externally and the chancel and aisles were
partly rebuilt.
All the windows in the chancel have been renewed.
There are a few 15th-century stones in the east
window and in the west window of the south wall.
Both these windows are of three lights with tracery.
There are possibly also a few original stones in the
east window of the south wall, which is a lancet. In
the chancel is a double piscina of the I 3th century.
The screen is 15th-century work, with two two-light
KING'S WALDEN
upper panels with tracery on each side of the central
opening. It has a cornice and ' Tudor-flower '
cresting. The whole screen is much patched and
thickly painted.
The chancel arch is of the early 14th century, and
has two chamfered orders and half-octagonal responds,
moulded capitals and half-octagonal jambs. The
nave arcades are of three bays, of late 12th-century
date, with two-centred arches of two chamfered
orders. The columns are circular and have capitals
of scalloped, trefoil and water-leaf designs. The
clearstory has three three-light windows with low two-
centred heads on either side, of which the tracery is
restored. At the level of the responds of the chancel
arch the door to the former rood-loft opens in the
east end of the north wall, and is now partly
blocked. Two large carved corbels which support
the eastern truss of the roof are of the 15 th century.
The north aisle has three windows — one at each
end and one in the north wall. The last is of three
lights and has a four-centred head. The west window
is a single trefoiled light. Almost the whole of the
exterior stonework and the windows themselves have
been renewed. The north door, to the west of the
north window, is of the 14th century much restored.
The difference between the height of the bases of
the north and south arcades, and the position of the
steps from the doorway, indicate that the floor of this
aisle has been lowered.
On the east wall, to the north of the east window,
is an image bracket, much defaced. On the north
wall, at the north-east, is a piscina with a square
head. A few 1 5 th-century timbers remain in the
roof.
The south aisle extends eastwards beyond the line
of the chancel arch and formerly communicated with
the chancel by a doorway at the north, which is now
blocked. The east window and the south-east
window are of three lights, of the 1 5th century,
much restored, and the south-west window, of the
same date, and also much restored, has two lights.
The south door is also of the 15 th century, and has a
four-centred arch in a square head with tracery in
the spandrels. It is of two moulded orders. At the
east end of the aisle, in the north spur wall, is a
locker, with a rebate for a door. There is also a late
14th-century piscina, with a cinquefoiled head, in
the south wall at the east end. The roof of the
aisle is of the 15 th century.
The north vestry, of early 17th-century date,
has Gothic wooden window frames. It contains a
17th-century oak chest.
The west tower is of three stages, with an em-
battled parapet and a projecting stair-turret at the
south-east corner. It has buttresses, very badly
weathered, at the angles, in pairs at the north-west
and south-west, and single at the north-east, at the
junction with the nave. The tower arch is of the
end of the 14th century, and has two chamfered
orders. It is two-centred and the jambs are shafted.
In the west doorway is an old door. The west
window and the four bell-chamber windows are all of
49 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, m. 17, no. 72.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 53.
61 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
» Feet of F. Herts. 23 Edw. Ill,
no. 392 ; 30 Edw. Ill, no. 452.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser
"43-
04 Ibid, dcxxxvi, 98.
55 Add. Chart. 35508.
56 V.C.H. Herts, i, 304*.
67 Ibid.
35
2), ccccxi, 5S Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 155,
no. 34.
"Mins. Accta. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII,
R. 178, m. 9.
60 FeetofF.Mich.43Hen.III.no. 514.
61 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 21.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
two lights, of the late 14th century, with tracery
and pointed heads, and all are repaired.
The monuments in the chancel are : a brass, con-
sisting of an inscription only, is to Sybil wife of
Robert Barber, 1614, and a mural monument in
alabaster, dated 161 3, to Timothy Sheppard. In
the north aisle are two mural tablets, one to Roland
Hale, 1688, and one to Richard Hale, 1689.
The bells are six in number, and of these three —
the first, fourth and fifth — by an unknown founder
are dated 1627. The second is dated 1629. The
third and sixth are by John Warner & Sons.
The plate consists of a silver cup of 1638-9, a
modern plated cup, two plated salver-shaped patens,
and a tankard of 1736.
the advowson of the church to John, Prior of Malton
in Yorkshire.62 It remained in the possession of the
priory of Malton, who appropriated the church, until
the Dissolution.63 In 1550 the king granted the
rectory and advowson to Ralph Sadleir,64 who con-
veyed them in 1570 to his brother Edward Sadleir
and Anne his wife, reserving a life interest.65 They
held till 1582, when they conveyed them to Richard
Hale,66 in whose family they descended with the
manor (q.v.) till 1884, when they were purchased by
Mrs. Hinds. She sold in 1 891 to Mr. Thomas
Fenwick Harrison, the present patron.67
In 1506 Thomas Pyrden of King's Walden left in
his will bequests to the High Rood Light and the
Low Rood Light, to Our Lady's Light, St. Thomas's
King's Walden Church from the North-west
The registers are contained in four books, of which
the first includes baptisms from 1558 to 1720 and
burials and marriages from 1559 to 1721; the
second contains baptisms and burials from 1722 to
1 78 1 and marriages from 1722 to 1753 ; the third
contains baptisms and burials from 1782 to 1812
and marriages from 1754 to 1 796 ; the fourth
contains marriages from 1796 to I 81 2.
In the middle of the I 3 th century
ADVOWSON Walter de Nevill, then holding the
manor of King's Walden, granted
Light and St. Katherine's Light in the parish
church.68
In 1616 Richard Hale, citizen and
CHARITIES grocer of London, by his will charged
land known as Holland's Farm at
Codicote with an annuity of £5, of which £1 was
payable to the vicar for sermons on certain Sundays
and £<\. to be distributed amongst the neediest
inhabitants.
William Smith — as appears from a deed of appoint-
ment of trustees dated in 1 77 I — by his will devised
68 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 43 Hen. Ill,
Do. CI 4.
153 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, R. 178,
m. 9 ; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 277.
w Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 21.
65 Ibid. 13 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 19.
SG Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 25 & 26
Eliz.
67 Information of Mr. T. F. Harrison.
65 Wills P.C.C. 8 Adeane.
36
HITCHIN HUNDRED LILLEY
to trustees 2 a. 2 r. in the parish of Studham in the These charities are administered together under
county of Bedford, the rents thereof to be applied — the provisions of a scheme of the Charity Commis-
subject to the payment of 5/. to the poor of Studham — sioners, 2nd September 189S.
for the benefit of the most necessitous and distressed In 1910 the sum of £6 7/. 6d. was distributed in
poor of King's Walden. The land is let at £3 a year. money to forty-six recipients, chiefly widows.
LILLEY
Linlei (xi cent.) ; Linlea, Linlega, Linlegh, Linlee
(xiii cent.) ; Lynleye, Lyngeleye (xiv cent.) ; Lylly,
Lynley (xv cent.) ; Lyndley alias Lylle (xvi cent.) ;
Lilley (xvii cent.).
Lilley is a small parish of 1,795 acres on the
western border of Hertfordshire, adjoining the county
of Bedford. The parish lies on the Chilterns on a
slightly inclined plane rising from about 400 ft. above
the ordnance datum in the south to 602 ft. at
Telegraph Hill in the north. There is a small detached
portion of Lilley to the south of the main part of the
parish and entirely surrounded by the parish of OfHey.
The land is now, as at the time of the Domesday
Survey, chiefly arable, the soil being chalk.1 In
1905 there were 1,062 acres of arable land, 201
acres of permanent grass, and no woodland,2 but
there are a good many trees scattered about the
parish.
The village lies in the south of the parish, and,
including a few outlying cottages in the north, extends
about a mile along a branch road here called Lilley
Street running north-west from the Luton and Hitchin
highway to the Icknield Way, which forms part of
the parish boundary in the north. The church of
St. Peter lies on the west side of the road, and Lilley
Park is on the west side of the village. The parish
was inclosed by an Act of 1 76s,3 but there is still a
large open common called Lilley Hoo 4 to the east of
the village.
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANOR the manor of LILLET was held of Earl
Harold by Leueva, and a sokeman, a man
of Harold's, held 34 virgates of land in it for which
he rendered a carrying service (avera) in Hitchin or 3 \d.
By 1086 Lilley was in the possession of Geoffrey de
Bech. We learn also from the Survey that Ilbert as
sheriff attached to this manor the manor of Wellbury
in Offley.5 At the beginning of the 13th century the
manor was in the tenure of William Malet of Gerard-
ville, who held it until the separation of England and
Normandy, when he remained in Normandy.6 It
then escheated to King John, and was granted in
1204 to Matthew de Lilley.7 A few years later it
was in the possession of Pain de Chaworth,8 having
been granted to him to hold at the king's pleasure
by the service of one knight.9 He was still holding
it in 1223, 10 but forfeited before 1227, when the
Chaworth. Burelly
rgent and gules ivith an
rle of martlets sable.
manor with all liberties and customs was granted
to Richard de Argentein, to be held by him until
the king should restore the lands to the heir of
William Malet 'of his free
will or by a peace,' with the
proviso that in that event the
king should make to Richard
a reasonable exchange in wards
or escheats.11 In 1233 the
manor was restored to Pain
de Chaworth, with all goods
and chattels found by inquisi-
tion to have been on the
property when Richard en-
tered it.12
In or before 1238 the
custody of the manor was
granted to John Earl of Lin-
coln, who committed it with the king's consent to
his nephews Roger and Geoffrey de Pavilly 13 ; but
in 1 24 1 Roger, being called upon to prove his claim,
instead of evidencing the earl's grant as title, claimed
it by hereditary right through his grandmother
Theofania, William Malet's sister. She was said
to have held the manor by gift from Geoffrey, her
brother,14 and to have been disseised by Pain de
Chaworth, whom she had impleaded, the action
however having been stopped by her death. On
the king's side it was stated that William Malet
had been in seisin of the manor after Geoffrey's death,
and had forfeited as a Norman, and that Theofania
was not his heir because William had left children.
The king therefore took the manor as escheat.15 In
1243 an extent of the manor was taken,16 and it was
granted to Paul de Peyvre,17 who held it by the service
of half a knight's fee.18 In his time the manor is
said to have been withdrawn from the sheriff's tourn
and the hundred court.19
The manor descended to Paul de Peyvre's son John,
and to John son of John, who died in 1316.20 The
manor was held for life by his widow Mary, on
whose death in 1333 Nicholas, her grandson (son of
Paul son of John), was the heir.21 Nicholas con-
veyed it in 1359, two years before his death, to
Henry Green,22 Anne, apparently wife of Nicholas,
retaining a third part as dower.23 Henry Green,
chivaler, died in 1369. The manor descended in
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, Geol. Map.
* Statistics from Bd. of Agnc. (1905).
8 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards.
4 Exch. Dep. Mich. 5 Geo. II, no. 4.
5 V.C.H. Herts, i, 304a, 334a.
6 Rot. Norman. 129 ; Wrottesley, Pedi-
grees from the Plea R. 490.
7 Rot. Norman. 129.
« Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 176,
499, 804 ; Close, 18 John, pt. i, m. 4 ;
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 272a, Z79A.
9 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 265*,
269/', 2796.
!° Close, 8 Hen. Ill, pt. i, m. 19.
11 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, PP- 57. 85,
140.
12 Cal. Close, 123 1-4, pp. 179, 190- 1.
18 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 226.
14 Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R.
490. I5 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 1 14.
16 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 392.
1? Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 276.
18 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188, 194 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
19 Assize R. 325, m. 29 d. ; Hund. R.
(Rec. Com.), i, 188.
37
20 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II,
no. 55.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 33.
23 Chan. Inq. a.q.d. file 335, no. 6;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, pt. ii (1st
nos.), no. 42. At this time there was no
land in demesne and no manorial site, but
there was underwood containing about
10 acres, the whole residue of the manor
being in the hands of tenants, some hold-
ing in bondage, some at will, and other*
in fee.
23 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 40 Edw. III.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the family of Green 24 to Sir Thomas Green of
Boughton and Wood's Norton, co. Northants, who
died in l5o6,leaving two daughtersand co-heirs, Anne,
who married Nicholas Lord Vaux of Harrowden,
Green of Boughton.
A^ure three harts passant
Vaux of Harrowden.
Cheeky or and gules.
and Matilda wife of Sir Thomas Parr.25 In I 5 1 2 the
manor was settled to the use of Lord Vaux and Anne.26
In I 523, on the death of Lord Vaux,27 it passed to their
son Thomas Lord Vaux, who conveyed it in 1 556 to
Thomas Docwra of Temple Dinsley in Hitchin.28
In 1602 Thomas died, leaving the property to his son
Thomas, on whom it had been previously settled.29
He received a grant of free warren in Lilley, Put-
teridge, Hockwell and Pirton in 1616.30 Periam, his
son, succeeded him in 1620,31 and held the manor till
his death in 1642.32 The
manor passed to Periam's son
Thomas,33 who settled it in
1 710 on his grandson and
heir - apparent Sir George
Warburton, bart., of Arley,
co. Chester (son of his
daughter Martha, who mar-
ried Sir Peter Warburton),
on his marriage with Diana
daughter of William Lord
Alington.34 Sir George War-
burton sold it in February
1729-3010 the Right Hon.
Charles Cavendish.35 In 1738
Lord Charles Cavendish sold
it to Sir Benjamin Rawling,
kt.36 Since he left no children, the property was
divided at his death in 1775 between his relatives
and co-heirs, descendants of his father's sisters
Sowerby of Putte-
ridge. Barry sable and
gules a che'veron between
three lions argent ivith
three rings gules on the
che'veron.
Rebecca Nicholson and Sarah Corney.37 Thirteen
years later these co-heirs sold the whole manor to
John Sowerby of Hatton Garden,38 from whom it
has descended to the present owner Captain Thomas
George Sowerby,39 who resides at Putteridge Park.
The parish church of ST. PETER,
CHURCH which stands in the village, was origi-
nally built in the 1 2th century. It was,
however, wholly rebuilt in 1 87 1, a few portions of
the old church and some fittings being retained in
the new building.
The chancel arch, of tufa, of the 12th century, has
been reset in the north wall of the chancel, and there
are some 15th-century stones in the south doorway.
There is a piscina in the chancel, possibly of the 1 5th
century, with a four-centred head and an octagonal
bowl and shelf. It is covered with modern paint.
The font, of the 15th century, is octagonal and of
clunch. There are mural tablets in the porch to
Thomas Docwra, 1602, and to Daniel Houghton,
1672. The pulpit is made up of old oak, with linen
panels having traceried heads, brought from St. John's
College, Cambridge.
There is a ring of three bells ; the treble may be
by William Knight of Reading, and is of 1580;
the second is by George Chandler, 1703 ; and the
tenor by T. Mears, 1 82 1.
The plate includes a cup of 1 689, paten of 1 776-7,
a pair of cruets and brass almsdish.
The registers are in two books, of which the first
contains burials and baptisms from 1711 to 1812 and
marriages from 1 7 1 1 to 1752, and the second marriages
from 1754 to 1 812.
The earliest record of theadvowson
ADVOWZON of the church of Lilley is in the year
121 3, at which date it was in the
king's hands, with other property of the Normans,40
so that it had probably belonged to the Malets.
Soon afterwards it was granted to Paul de Peyvre,41
and descended with the manor (q.v.) until 1730,
when Sir George Warburton conveyed it to Lord
Charles Cavendish,42 who sold it the following year
to the Master and Fellows of St. John's College,
Cambridge, who are the present patrons.43
Dwelling-houses were certified for worship for
Protestant Dissenters from early in the 17th century.44
There is now a Wesleyan chapel in Lilley.
There are no endowed charities in this parish.
84 Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. i,
no. 48 ; 1 5 Rio II, pt. i, no. 24 ; Feud.
Aids, ii, 443 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V,
no. 39 ; Feud. Aids, ii, 449 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 12 Hen. VI, no. 20 ; 2 Edw. IV,
no. 7; 4 Edw. IV, no. 21; Close,
22 Edw. IV, m. 15.
!a Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlii,
97-
36 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3
Hen. VIII.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlii, 97.
28 Close, 2 & 3 Phil, and Mary, pt. iv,
m. 36 ; Recov. R. Hil. 2 & 3 Phil, and
Mary, rot. 427 ; Feet of F. Herts. East.
2 & 3 Phil, and Mary ; Mich. 1 & 2
Eliz.
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
122.
30 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xi, no. 7.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
122. 32 Ibid, dxxxvii, 97.
33 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17;
Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 21 Chas. II.
34 Exch. Dep. Trin. 8 Anne, no. 7 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 9 Anne, rot. 178 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Trin. 9 Anne.
35 Close, 3 Geo. II, pt. xvi, no. 8. The
purchase is made in the name of William
Lord Manners and others.
86 Close, 12 Geo. II, pt. xvii, no. 23.
37 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antij. of
Herts, iii, 84 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin.
19 Geo. Ill ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin.
19 Geo. Ill, m. 167.
38 Ibid. 28 Geo. Ill, m. 196.
39 V.C.H. Herts. Fatn. 17.
*« Sot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), ii, 101 b.
« See Assize R. 318, m. 25.
42 Close, 3 Geo. II, pt. xvi, no. 9.
43 Title-deeds at St. John's Coll.,
Camb. ; information given by Mr. R. F.
Scott, Bursar.
44 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts.
659.
38
HITCHIN HUNDRED
OFFLEY
OFFLEY
OfFanleah, Offanlege (x cent.) ; Offelei (xi cent.) ;
Offellei, Offelegh (xiii cent.) ; Offeleg, Doffeleye
(xiv cent.) ; Offeley (xvi cent.).
Offley parish covers 5,569 acres. It lies on the
Chilterns, and has an average height of 400 ft. above
the ordnance datum, but drops in the east to 224 ft.
The Icknield Way separates it on the north from the
parish of Pirton. There are two distinct villages,
called Great and Little Offley. The latter is about
I J miles to the north-west of Great Offley, which is
in the centre of the parish. It is on the main road
to Hitchin, the nearest town, which lies 3 miles to
the east. Wellbury is about l£ miles to the north
of the village.
The church of St. Mary Magdalene and Offley
Place lie together off the high road, and they with
the houses to the south probably formed the site of
the original settlement. The part of the village
which has sprung up along the road from Luton to
Hitchin is, we may suppose, of a later date. In the
village are several timber and plaster cottages with
tiled roofs of the 16th and 17th centuries, and also
some of brick of the latter date. The Green Man
Inn is a 16th-century house of timber covered with
rough-cast. It was originally an |_-shaped type of
house, but has been much altered. Offley Place with
its park is the property of Mr. H. G. Salusbury
Hughes, J. P. It is a three-storied building of brick.
The north wing is of the 17th century, but the
remainder of the house was rebuilt about 1770.
Great Offley Hall lies to the south and Offley Hoo a
little further on.
Westbury Farm, a quarter of a mile from the
church, is a plastered timber house, originally of the
H type, which seems to have been built in the 1 6th
century. It underwent considerable alteration in the
1 8th and a wing was added in the 19th century.
The hall, with a chamber above, fills the main block ;
the two wings were occupied by the kitchen and
the solar respectively. A 1 7th-century dove-cote,
timber framed with brick nogging, stands near the
house.
The house called Little Offley, lying 2 miles to the
north-west of the church, is a two-storied brick house
of the H type, the main block built early in the
1 7th century, the wings apparently almost a century
later. The date 1695 appears on a rain-water head
on the north side. There is a fine carved wooden
overmantel in a room on the ground floor. Offley
Grange is a mile to the north-east.
The soil is chalk.1 There are 3,388 acres of plough-
land, 1,126 acres of permanent grass, and woods and
plantations cover 600 acres.8 The parish was inclosed
by an award under an Act of 1807.3 The nearest
station is at Hitchin, on the Great Northern railway.
The manor of Offley, afterwards
MJNORS known as DELAMERS, was at the time
of the Survey of considerable extent,
being estimated at 8 hides 8 acres. It had been held
before the Conquest by Alestan of Boscumbe ; in
1086 it was part of the possessions of William de
Ow, and was held under him by William Delamare
(de Mara).4 William de Ow forfeited under Henry 1,
and the overlordship then seems to have become
attached to the manor of Hitchin (q.v.).
The first record of a tenant after 1086 is in 1 198,
when Geoffrey Delamare was indicted for making a
ditch to the injury of the free
tenement of Thomas Dela-
mare.5 Robert son of Osbert
Delamare,6 who held early in
the 1 3th century, forfeited as
an ally of Falkes de Breaute
in 1 2 24/ but the king ordered
the sheriff to restore Offley to
Alice his wife for the main-
tenance of herself and his
heirs.8 This Robert may be
the Robert Delamare who
was murdered about 1230.9
He was apparently succeeded
by his son John,10 who died seised of Offley about
1276, his grandson John, aged sixteen, being his heir.1'
Peter Delamare, son of John (probably the elder John),
seems to have been in possession shortly afterwards.12
He died seised of the manor in 1292, leaving a son
and heir Robert.13 Robert died in 1308. The
extent of the manor then included a capital messuage,
620 acres of arable land, 30 acres of wood, but no
meadow or pasture.11 Peter son of Robert received
a grant of free warren in 1318.15 He held the
manor until his death in 1349,16 when it descended
to his son Robert, who died in I 382-3. 17 His son
Peter, then aged thirteen years, presumably died
before his mother Matilda, as he never inherited
the property, the manor being held after Matilda's
death by her daughter Wilhelmina wife of Sir John
Roches.18 She left two heirs, her daughter Elizabeth,
wife of Walter de Beauchamp, and John Benton, son
of another daughter Joan.19
In 141 2 Walter Beauchamp and Elizabeth his
wife made a conveyance of the manor of Delamers to
John Ludewyk, chaplain, and others 20 either for a
settlement or alienation. After this date there is no
trace of this manor under the name of Delamers
until 1 740, but it is perhaps the same as the manor
Delamare. Gules
Pwo leopards argent.
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, Geol. Map.
a Statistics from Bd. of Agric (1905).
3 Private Act, 47 Geo. Ill, Sess. 2,
cap. 25.
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, 328a.
5 Rat. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 157.
See also Add. Chart. 35500. This
Geoffrey must be the ' G. ' son of Amice
who gave the advowsoD (q.v.) to Braden-
stolce.
6 See RedBk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 499.
7 He was one of the * familia ' of
Falkes de Breaute who were excom-
municated with him, and who after the
rebellion accompanied him to North-
ampton when he was conducted there by
the Archbishop of Canterbury to receive
absolution (Cal. Pat. 1216-25, p. 461).
8 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 3A.
9 Cal. Pat. 1216-25, p. 461.
10 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 625 1 ; Excerpta
e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 186.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. file 17, no. 16
(5 Edw. I).
39
12 Add. Chart. 24062, 24065.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw.
39-
" Ibid. 2 Edw. II, no. 68.
15 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, no. 70.
16 Feud. Aids, ii, 437 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 23 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, no. 143.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Ric. II, no. 40.
18 Ibid. 6 Hen. IV, no. 3.
19 Ibid. 12 Hen. IV, no. 38.
20 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 13 Hen. IV,
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of H'ESTBURT alias GREAT OFFLET,21 which at
the beginning of the 15th century seems to have
been in the possession of Roger de Sapurton, as his
daughter and heir Elizabeth Venour, widow of
William Venour," was holding it in 1464,23 and in
1468-9 settled it on herself and her second husband
Robert Worth.24 Robert died seised in 1502, leaving
a son and heir Humphrey, aged sixteen. 2j In 1537
the latter made a conveyance to John Sewster and
James Randall, probably in trust for John Bowles,26
who in 1543 acquired Westbury Wood from George
Ackworth,27 and in the same year died seised of the
manor called Westbury alias Great Offley. 2S His heir
was his grandson Thomas, who conveyed the manor
in 1564 to Robert Ivory.29 William Ivory was
holding in 1618,30 and in 1642 John Ivory.31 From
this date no further record is found of the manor
until 1778, when Thomas Hope Byde was holding
the manor of Great Offley 32 and at that date suffered
a recovery of it.33 In 1785 it appears he was again
dealing with it.31 Later it was acquired by Dame
Sarah Salusbury from John Hope Byde, and descended
with the manor of Offley St. Ledgers35 (q.v.) to
Mr. Herbert George Salusbury Hughes, M.A., J. P.,
the present owner.
The origin of the manor of OFFLEr ST.
LEDGERS is somewhat obscure. It was said in the
14th century to be held of the Mortimers of Wig-
more,36 but this overlordship may only have been
assumed at a late date. It seems possible that the
manor was originally part of the manor of Delamers.
A Geoffrey de St. Ledger had some interest in the
church, which was appurtenant to' the manor of
Delamers (see advowson), and William de St. Ledger,
probably his son,37 in confirming the title of the Prior
of Bradenstoke to the advowson in 1 238, calls himself
great-grandson and heir of Amice Delamare.
In 1265 Geoffrey de St. Ledger, possibly brother
of the William mentioned above,3* had a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands of OfHey.39 The annals
of Dunstable record that in 1267 the steward of the
Earl of Gloucester came to Geoffrey's manor at Offley
and burnt it,10 but the reason of this animosity does
not appear. In 1 301 the grant of free warren was
confirmed to his son John and Isabel his wife.41
John, their son,42 succeeded them, and left at his
death in 1326 a daughter Isabel, aged seven.43 The
extent of the manor at this date included a capital
messuage, 320 acres of land, of which 96 lay in
St. Ledger. Axure
fretty argent with a chief
severalty and 204 in common, pastures called Le
Launde and Sonehull, and 41 acres of wood. Two
parts of the manor were taken into the king's hands
during the minority of the
heir,44 the other third being
dower of the mother. In
1 33 1 the king confirmed a
grant by Roger de Mortimer,
overlord of the manor, to
Richard de St. Ledger, a
younger brother of John, of
the custody of the manor
during his niece Isabel's
minority.45 Isabel married .
Thomas de Hoo, who held
the estate in right of his
wife.46 They settled it in
1 342 on their son Thomas,
with remainder to his brother William.47 Thomas
the son died before 1377, when Thomas and Isabel
granted the manor to William and his wife Isabel.48
In 1398 John de Hoo, a brother of William, con-
ceded to him all his claim in the estate.49 William
was succeeded by his son Thomas,50 and he by
his son, also Thomas, who married first Elizabeth
Wickingham and secondly Eleanor daughter of Leo
Welles, kt., on whom he settled the manor in 1445.51
In 1447 he was created Baron of Hoo and Hastings.52
He died without male issue in February 1454-5.
His brother of the half-blood, Thomas Hoo, succeeded,
but died without issue in i486
The manor descended to Sir William Boleyn, kt.,
son of Geoffrey Boleyn and Anne eldest daughter
of Lord Hoo and Hastings.53 His second son and
eventual heir Sir Thomas Boleyn, with Elizabeth
his wife, daughter cf Thomas Howard Duke of
Norfolk,54 sold the property in 1518 to Richard
Fermour (Farmer).55 Fermour forfeited his lands
in the next reign under the Statute of Praemunire,
but the grant of OfHey was confirmed by King
Edward VI in 1550,56 and again by Queen Mary
m 1553, to Richard's son John.57 He conveyed
the manor in 1554 to Thomas Spencer and
Edward Onley 5S to the use of Sir John Spencer of
Althorpe, co. Northants, who died seised of it in
1586.59 He left it to his fourth son Richard, who
was knighted in 1603.™ Sir Richard and his wife
Helen, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Brockett,61
settled the property on their son John on his marriage
21 There must be some continuity in the
manors, as Putteridge, which had been
held of the Delamares, is said after this
date to be held of Westbury.
23 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 512.
23 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 13.
44 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 8 Edw. IV,
no. 65 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV,
no. 14.
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xvi, 102.
26 Feet of F. Herts. East. 29 Hen. VIII.
27 Ibid. 35 Hen. VIII.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), lxviii,
14.
n Recov. R. Mich. 1564, rot. 1541.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxviii,
144 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 16 Jas. I.
31 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
85 This manor is at this date confused
with Delamers in Great Wymondley.
33 Recov. R. Mich. 19 Geo. Ill, rot.
436.
34 Ibid. 25 Geo. Ill, rot. 256 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Trin. 25 Geo. III.
35 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hitchin Hund.
100.
36 Feud. Aids, ii, 428 ; Inq. a.q.d. 20
Edw. II, no. 23 ; Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
37 See Cal. Pat. 1231-4, pp. 149, 296.
38 Ibid. p. 149.
39 Chart. R. 49 Hen. Ill, m. 4.
« Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 246.
41 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, no. 50 ; Cal.
Pat. 1388-92, p. 403.
42 Add. Chart. 28728.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, no. 23.
44 Exch. L.T.R. Enr. Accts. no. 2.
43 Pat. 5 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 23.
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. Ill, no. 21.
47 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 16 Edw. III.
48 Add. Chart. 28724 ; Feet of F.
Herts. 1 Ric. II, no. 2.
49 Close, 21 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. i8d. ;
Add. Chart. 28797.
40
58 Ibid. 28721 ; Feet of F. Hil.
6 Hen. V ; Feud. Aids, ii, 449.
51 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 24
Hen. VI ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii (1),
273'
52 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Hoo.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ii, 5 ;
G.E.C. Peerage, loc. cit.
54 Visit. Norfolk (Harl. Soc. xxxii),
52-
55 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 10 Hen.VIII.
56 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. ix, m. 35.
57 Ibid. 1 Mary, pt. xi, m. 19 j Visit.
Shrops. (Harl. Soc. xxviii), 183.
58 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 & 2 Phil,
and Mary.
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxv, 258 ;
see Recov. R. Mich. 30 & 31 Eliz. rot.
77-
60 Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 104.
61 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
165.
Offley Church from the South-east
Offlev Church : The Nave looking East
HITCHIN HUNDRED
with Mary6' daughter of Sir Henry Anderson, kt.
John and Mary succeeded at Sir Richard's death in
1624. 63 John was made a baronet in 1627,64 and
died in 1 6 3 3 ,65 leaving a daughter Alice, then fifteen
years old. The manor having been settled in tail-
male passed to his brother Sir Brockett Spencer,66
bart. (so created in 1642). He was succeeded by
his son Sir Richard Spencer, and Sir Richard by his
son Sir John Spencer, who died without issue in
1699. His uncle and heir Sir John Spencer also
died without issue in 1712.67 The manor then
descended to Elizabeth daughter of Sir Humphrey-
Gore of Gilston, co. Herts., and Elizabeth eldest
daughter (and the only one having issue) of Sir Brockett
Spencer. She married in 1 7 14 Sir Henry Penrice,Gb
judge of the High Court of Admiralty. Their
daughter and heir Anna Maria, wife of Sir Thomas
Salusbury, succeeded to their estates.69 She died in
1759. Her husband survived her and died in 1773,
leaving the property to his second wife Sarah, with
remainder to a distant relative, Sir Robert Salusbury,
bart., for life. He entered into possession in 1 S04 on
the death of Sarah. Sir Robert and his son Thomas
Robert jointly sold the property in 1806 to the
trustees of Sarah's will, and they conveyed it to the
Rev. Lynch Salusbury,'0 a younger brother of Sir
Robert, who assumed the name of Burroughs. He
left an only child Elizabeth Mary, who could not
legally inherit, as the property had been left in tail-
male by Sarah Salusbury, but acquired the estate
by purchase from the heir male Charles thirteenth
Marquess of Winchester.
Elizabeth Mary married her
cousin Sir Thomas Robert
Salusbury, second baronet,
who died in 1835. Having
no children, she adopted as
her daughter and heir a cousin
Anne Salusbury Steward, who
married George Edward
Hughes, brother of Thomas
Hughes the author, who
wrote a biography of George
Hughes. Mrs. Hughes entered
the manor in 1867 on the
death of Dame Elizabeth
Mary.71 The property is now in the hands of Mr.
Herbert George Salusbury Hughes, M.A., J. P., who
succeeded his father George Edward in 1872/2 and
is the present lord of the manor.
The manor ofCOCKERN HOE (Qukerno, Cokern-
hohalle, Cokernho, xiv cent. ; Kokernhoo, xv cent.)
Hughes. Sable a
fesse cotised between three
lions' /leads razetl argent.
OFFLEY
on the south of the parish is an estate which was held
with the manor of Offley by the St. Ledger family.
It is mentioned as ' an oxhouse called Qukerno ' in
an extent of the manor in 1326,73 but later docu-
ments always call it a manor. Its descent is identical
with Offley till 1813 (although it is not always
separately mentioned), when, according to Cussans,
it was sold to Richard Oakley of Hitchin.7'
The manor of WELLES (Welle, xi cent.; Welbery,
xiii cent.; Wellys, xiv cent.) was held at the time of
the Survey by a sokeman of King William and was
then assessed at I hide. In the time of Earl Harold
it had belonged to Leueva. It was attached by Ilbert
the Sheriff to the manor of Lilley, but after Ilbert
was deprived of his office of sheriff Peter de Valoines
and Ralf Taillebois took this manor from him and
attached it to Hitchin," to which the overlordship
henceforth pertained.76
The early history of this estate is difficult to
trace. It may, perhaps, be the hide in ' Weelberia '
which Henry de Tilly granted in 1200 to his brother
William.77 In 1 309 the manor was in the posses-
sion of William de Goldington and Margaret his
wife. They in that year conveyed it to William
Tuchet and Ellen de Danarston.78 William died in
February 1327-8, his brother Richard being his
heir.79 Ellen remained seised for life. Shortly after-
wards Isabel widow of Richard de Welles brought
an action against Ellen de Danarston for a third of
the manor which she claimed in dower and of which
she recovered seisin.80 As Ellen called to warranty
John son of William de Goldington, possibly the
inquisition quoted above, which gives William's
brother Richard as his heir, is incorrect. The heir,
whether Richard or John, apparently conveyed the
manor to Giles de Badelesmere, who died seised in
1 3 38, leaving as heirs his four sisters Margery, Maud,
Elizabeth and Margaret.81 Maud and her husband
John de Vere Earl of Oxford took this manor.
John de Vere died in January 1 3 59-60 88 and his
wife about six years later.83 Their son Thomas suc-
ceeded her.84 He died in I 37 I, leaving as heir his
son Robert,63 who held the manor till his attainder in
February 1387-8.86 In 1393 the reversion of this
manor, after the death of Maud widow of Thomas,
was granted to Thomas Duke of Gloucester,87 and
two years later he granted it to the master, warden
and chaplains of the college which he had founded
in the church of Pleshey, co. Essex.88 It remained
with the college until its dissolution and was then
granted in 1546 to Sir John Gates.89 He was
attainted in the next reign as a follower of the
63 Or Sarah as in Visit, of Herts.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii,
95-
61 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1627-8, pp. 89, 91.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiv,
14.
66 See Recov. R. Mich. 15 Chas. I,
rot. 56. Alice, however, seems to have
had some interest in the manor which
she probably released to her uncle (Feet
of F. Herts. Trin. 12 Anne).
67 G.E.C. Baronetage, ii, 201.
69 See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Geo. I.
69 See Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 25*26
Geo. II.
70 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
71 Cussans, Hist, of Hens. Hitchin Hund.
72 V.C.H. Herts. Fa,n. 14.
73 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, no. 23.
74 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hitchin Hand.
99.
75 V.C.H. Herts, i, 303*.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 47 ; 34 Edw. Ill, no. 84 ;
16 Ric. II, pt. ii, no. 34.
77 Chart. Norman. 2 John, no. 33.
78 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 Edw. II,
no. 32.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 47.
8» De Banco R. 277, m. 187. If the
judgement given in this action was right
and Richard de Welles held the manor,
William de Goldington must have
acquired it from him. For deeds of
41
the family of Welles see Duchy of Lane.
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 369, 377.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. Ill,
no. S4«-
83 Ibid. 34 Edw. Ill, no. 84.
83 Ibid. 40 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 38.
M See Feet of F. Div. Co. 45 Edw. Ill,
no. 80.
Si Chan. Inq. p.m. 45 Edw. Ill,
no. 45.
86 Ibid. 16 Ric. II, pt. ii, no. 34.
67 Cnl. Pat. 1 39 1-6, p. 347.
88 Ibid. p. 382 ; Feet of F. Herts.
Mich. 18 Ric. II, no. 157; Duchy of
Lane. Misc. x, 57 ; Duchy of Lane. Deed
L 751.
» Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. v; Harl.
Soc. Publ. xiv, 574.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Duke of Northumberland, but a grant of the manor
was made to his brother Sir Henry Gates,00 who
with his wife Lucy in 1557 conveyed it to Richard
Spicer M (alias Helder).
About 1569 John Spicer conveyed the manor to
William Crawley,92 and he died seised of it in 1595,
having granted the estate to his son Richard and
grandson William.93 From this time no record
appears of this manor until 1 704, when Henry
Bolderne the elder and Anne his wife oi and Henry
Bolderne their son (all holding in Anne's right)
levied a fine of it.35 In 171 3 Henry Bolderne
the younger seems to have conveyed it to Thomas
Ansell.96 According to Cussans it was acquired later
by Samuel Burroughs, whose daughter and heir Sarah
married Sir Thomas Salusbury. With St. Ledgers it
descended to the Marquess of Winchester, from whom
it was bought in 184.0 by Ann Burroughs, second
wife of the Rev. Lynch Salusbury, and on her death
in 1856 came to her sister Maria, wife of James
Newbury of Clapham Rise.97 It was sold in 1872
to Mr. Francis Gosling,98 and is now the seat of
Mrs. Gosling.
The reputed manor known as HIRSTHALL or
HALLE BURT was held in 1625 by Edward House,99
and in 1658 belonged to John Dermer,100 in whose
family it was still vested in 1698.101
A capital messuage called BULLERS was in the
I 5 th century in the possession of John Sholfold, who
alienated it to the gild of Holy Trinity of Luton.102
In the reign of Elizabeth it was the subject of a suit
in the Court of Requests between Robert Ivory the
lessee and Gregory Warren widower of a certain Alice
who held it for life.103 Sir John Spencer acquired
this messuage before his death in 1587, and it then
descended with the manor of St. Ledgers.
The manor of PUTTERIDGE (Potherugge,
Foterugg, Pothruge, Pottrvggebury, xiv cent. ; Pod-
riggebury, xv cent. ; Poderiche, xvi cent.) was a
mesne manor formed from the manor of Delamers.
It was possibly the carucate of land in Putteridge
which John de Nevill granted in 1240 to Nicholas
de Putteridge for life,104 but nothing is known of the
descendants of Nicholas de Putteridge. By 1303 it
had passed into the hands of Hugh le Blunt, who held
it of Robert Delamare for half a knight's fee.105 He
had a grant of free warren in 1305,106 and died
seised in 1361.107 In 1346 the manor was held by
Nicholas Feyvre,108 but apparently only during the
minority of John son and heir of Hugh le Blunt,
since he was in possession in 1363.100 Thomas le
Blunt, who seems to have succeeded John,110 may
perhaps have left heiresses, as in 1 391 John Herwe
and Christine his wife and John Maps and Joyce his
wife conveyed the manor to three feoffees,111 from
whom it was recovered in 1407, after the expiration
of a life interest held by Agnes de Havering, by
Thomas and Elizabeth Chelrey.112 After Thomas
Chelrey's death Elizabeth married Thomas de la
Pole, and died in 141 1, leaving as co-heirs her two
daughters, Elizabeth wife of John Kyngeston, and
Sybil Chelrey, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth
Calston.113 The manor seems to have passed to the
latter, who married William Darrell,114 and joined
with him in 1428 in making a settlement of the
manor on themselves in tail, with remainder to
William's brother John.115
On the death of Elizabeth Darrell in 1464 116 it
passed to her son George,
who died in 1474,117 when
the manor was delivered to
Thomas Cardinal Archbishop
of Canterbury,118 apparently
during the minority of Edward
Darrell, who was only four
years old at his father's
death.119 Edward settled the
manor on himself and his
wife and his heirs in 1503,120
and in 1520 he sold it to
Richard Lyster,121 the king's
solicitor, who conveyed it in
1525 to John Docwra.122
He was succeeded by his son
Thomas Docwra,123 who in
1556 bought the manor of Lilley (q.v.), since which
date the two estates have descended together.
The first record of the so-called manor of
HOCKWELL alias HOCKWELLBXJRT (Hoke-
welle, Hokewellebury, xv cent.) is of the year 1411,
at which date the estate was held by Elizabeth widow
of Thomas de la Pole,124 who was then holding the
manor of Putteridge. The two manors descended
together until 1788, after which Hockwell seems to
have been amalgamated with Putteridge.
The parish church of ST. MARY
CHURCH MAGDALENE, situated about half a
mile south-east of the village, is built for
the most part of flint and stone. The chancel is faced
with Portland stone and the north aisle with cement.
The tower is built of brick and the roofs are of lead,
except that of the north porch, which is of tiles.
Docwra of Putte-
ridge. Sable a ckeferon
engrailed argent between
three roundels argent
tvith a pale gules on each
roundel.
90 Pat. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. vi.
" Ibid. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. iv,
m. 20 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 & 4
Phil, and Mary.
92 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 12 Eliz. A
parcel of the manor, including 300 acres
of land, was in 1577 acquired by Richard
Spicer, son of the above Richard, from
John and Henry Alwey. He died seised
in 1611, leaving a son William (Pat.
20 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 23 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
[Ser. 2], cccxxi, 117).
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccvii, 92.
94 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 Anne.
« Ibid.
96 Recov. R. Trin. 13 Anne, rot. 35,
176.
9' Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hitchln Hand.
102.
" Ibid.
90 Recov. R. East. 1 Chas. I, rot. 26.
100 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 1658,
m. 2;.
101 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 10 Will. III.
102 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 35, no. 74.
"'3 Ct. of Req. bdle. 3, no. 288.
101 Feet of F. Herts. 24 Hen. Ill,
no. 2; 1.
"» Feud. Aids, ii, 428.
106 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 59.
107 Chan. Inq. p.m. file 156, no. 13
(3; Edw. III). The manor is called by
the name of ' Huche,' but seems to be
this manor.
108 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
109 Add. Chart. 24067.
110 See Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 48.
1,1 It was held in right of Christine
and Joyce (Feet of F. Herts, 15 Ric. II,
no. 144).
42
>H De Banco R. 583, m. 537 d.
113 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 3 Hen. IV, no. 34.
114 Ibid. 2 Hen. V, no. 52.
"5 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 6 Hen. VI,
no. 75. In this year Hugh Blunt was
said to be holding the manor (Feud. Aids,
ii, 449), but this is probably a transcript
of an older entry.
116 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 13.
117 Ibid. 14 Edw. IV, no. 14.
118 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 2872.
119 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 14.
120 Close, 18 Hen. VII, no. 45.
121 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 12
Hen. VIII.
122 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antij. of
Hens, iii, 86. See Recov. R. East. 35 Eliz.
rot. 44.
12J Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
124 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Hen. IV, no. 34.
Offlev Church : The Font
HITCHIN HUNDRED
The church consists of a chancel, nave and aisles,
south porch and west tower.
The nave and aisles belong to the original church
of c. 1 220, which probably consisted of a chancel,
nave and aisles and west tower, and the south porch
contains re-used masonry of that date. The windows
and doors belong to various dates in the 14th and
15th centuries. In 1777 the chancel was recased,
repaired and refitted, and the west tower was entirely
rebuilt in the early part of the 19th century. Various
minor repairs have also been executed during the
1 9th century.
The chancel is apsidal in its interior termination
but square outside. It is heavily plastered and has a
canopy of plaster drapery over the 1 8th-century
east window of one wide pointed light without
tracery. Over the apse, which is round-headed, is a
plaster moulding carried up to a pointed head in-
closing Gothic tracery. The chancel is also lighted
by a cupola in the roof. The 18th-century chancel
arch is round-headed with niches in the flat jambs and
plaster panelling in the soffit of the arch. An ancient
stone coffin stands in the chancel.
The nave has arcades of four bays. The arches
are of two chamfered orders, with labels running
right down to the abaci of the capitals, and with
carved stops, some of which are broken off. They are
supported by octagonal pillars, which lean outwards
considerably, probably owing to the pressure of an
earlier roof. The capitals are foliate and the bases
are moulded. The 15th-century clearstory has three
windows on either side, two of three lights, and one,
the westernmost, of two lights, all much restored.
The roof has one 1 ;th-century tie, resting on a broken
carved corbel of that date, at the eastern end. The
north aisle has a modern east window. The three
square-headed windows in the north wall are of two
lights, of the 15th century, and are much repaired.
A small inscription cut on the east jamb of the
easternmost of these windows records the consecration,
on the feast of St. Sulpicius, of the side altar below the
window. In the middle window are some fragments
of 14th-century glass. There is no west window.
The north door has a two-centred arch of two orders,
and was inserted towards the end of the 14th century.
The south aisle has an east window and three south
windows, all of two lights. The east window and the
western of the two south windows have pointed
heads ; that at the eastern end of the south wall is
square-headed. All have modern tracery, but the
inner jambs are probably of the 15th century. At
the east end of the south wall is a 15th-century
piscina, with a shallow pointed niche over it, in
which are two tiles, with the lettering in reverse,
probably of the 14th century. The south doorway
is also of the 1 5th century, and has a square head.
The roof is of the 15 th century. The south porch,
of brick covered with cement, has some re-used
material of the same date as the nave (c. 1220) in its
west window. The entrance arch, which is pointed,
is heavily defaced by cement repairs.
The brick tower has a small low spire and an
embattled parapet. It is of two stages. The tower
arch is plastered.
OFFLEY
The font is octagonal, of Totternhoe stone. Each
side contains the head of a heavily crocketed ogee
with a finial, inclosing tracery of various designs ;
pinnacles with heavy finials are carved at the angles,
and rosettes fill the spaces between them and the
finials of the ogees. The bowl rests on a low stem
with eight engaged half-octagonal shafts on plinths,
with four-leaved flowers between them. The date of
the font is the middle of the 14th century. The
wooden cover is of the early 1 7th century.
There is some late 1 5th-century seating in the nave
and aisles westward of the gangway.
On the north wall of the north aisle is a brass
of John Samuel, his two wives and one son. Another
brass with no inscription is that of a man, his three
wives and nine sons ; it is plainly by the same
engraver as that of John Samuel. On the floor of
the aisle are the indents of the brasses in two slabs.
On the west wall of the south aisle is a monument
to John Spencer, 1699, with elaborately sculptured
figures.
The bells are six : the treble, by Robert Oldfeild,
of 1632 ; the second, of 161 8, the fourth of 1 61 9,
and the fifth, of 16 18, by Thomas Bartlett ; while
the third is by John Dyer, 1583, and the tenor by
John Briant, 1803.
The plate, all presented by Eliza Chamber in
1730, consists of two cups, two patens, flagon and
almsdish, of the same date. There is also a large
plated shield, bearing the sacred monogram, the
origin and purpose of which are unknown.
The registers are contained in six books, the first
having all entries from 1653 to 1734, the second
baptisms and burials from 1732 to 1812 and marriages
from 1732 to 1753, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth
marriages from 1754 to 1764, 1764 to 1802, 1 802
to 1 8 10, and 181 1 to 18 12, respectively.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON Offiey was granted probably about
the middle of the I 2th century by
Amice Delamare and her son Geoffrey (see Detainers
Manor) to the church of St. Mary, Bradenstoke,
co. Wilts. Geoffrey de St. Ledger (see manor of
St. Ledgers) also confirmed the grant before 1207,125
and in 1237-8 William de St. Ledger, great-grandson
of Amice, made a further release of the title to Simon,
Prior of Bradenstoke.1'6 At the beginning of the
14th century the convent apparently alienated it, for
in 1406 it was held by the executors of the will of
Robert Braybrook, Bishop of London, who in that
year obtained licence to endow with it a chantry in
the church of Chalgrave, co. Bedford, for the souls of
Robert Braybrook and Sir Nigel Loreng (for whom
see Kimpton).'27 Licence was also given for the
master and chaplains of the chantry to appropriate the
church, maintaining the endowment for the vicarage
already made.18S
At the dissolution of chantries in the reign of
Edward VI the advowson came to the Crown,
and in 1599 Queen Elizabeth granted it to Henry
Best and John Hallywell,129 probably in trust for
Luke Norton, who presented in 1603, 1606, 1608
and 1 6 14. His son Graveley Norton presented in
1 66 1 . Luke son of Graveley sold the advowson to
135 Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), i, 170.
186 Feet of F. Herts. 22 Hen. Ill,
no. 241.
1W Cal. Pat. 1405-8, p. 290 ; Cal.
afal Letters, vi, 154.
43
l!s Cal. Papal Letters, vi, 1 54.
™ Pat. 42 Eliz. pt. xxiii, m. 28.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
William Angell, and his son William conveyed it in
1698 to Richard Spicer alias Holder, who presented
in 1699.130 Before this date, however, the Spencers
(lords of the manor of St. Ledgers) seem to have
had or claimed some interest in the advowson,131 and
in 1 7 19 Sir Henry Penrice and his wife Elizabeth
(see St. Ledgers) presented. From this date the
advowson has descended with the manor of St.
Ledgers 132 (q.v.).
The rectory was leased by Queen Elizabeth in
1575 to George Bredyman for twenty-one years.133
The fee simple was acquired by George Graveley,
who died seised in 1600, leaving as heir his daughter
Lettice wife of Luke Norton.134 They held it
together135 till 1630, when Luke died. After
Lettice's death it descended to their son Graveley,
who married Helen daughter of William Angell of
London. 13ti Graveley Norton was succeeded by his
son Luke, from whom it passed with the advowson
to William Angell, and in 1698 to Richard Holder
(see above). After this date there is no further
descent of the rectory, but conveyances of tithes
with the lands to which they were appurtenant are
common in the 1 8th century.137
Between 169 1 and 1831 there were registered in
OfHey eight places for Protestant Dissenters, one for
Anabaptists and one for Quakers.13* There is now
a Wesleyan chapel in the parish.
Mrs. Alice Pigott in her lifetime
CHJRITIES directed that a sum of £zo per annum
should be paid out of her estate for
augmenting the vicarage of OfHey and £\o per annum
for apprenticing two boys or girls. This intention
was carried into effect by Granado Pigott, her son,
who by deed 18 July 1724 charged his share of the
manor of Symonside in Bishop's Hatfield with the
two annuities, which are now paid by the Marquess
of Salisbury, and are duly applied.
The Charity School of Dame Sarah Salusbury and
the Rev. Lynch Burroughs : Dame Sarah Salusbury,
by a codicil to her will dated in 1795, gave £500
for the poor, and by another codicil a further sum of
£500, to be at the disposal of the Rev. Lynch
Burroughs, then vicar. The school was in 1841
endowed by deed (enrolled) with five cottages and
land, producing about £$o a year. It has a further
endowment of £2,467 It. c\d. consols, producing
£61 1 3/. 6 J. yearly. The charity is regulated by a
scheme of the Court of Chancery, dated 14 June
1858.
PIRTON
The parish of Pirton lies on low ground in the defended by masonry walls. On the mount probably
north-west of Hertfordshire at the edge of the Bed- stood a timber tower, approached by a steep narrow
fordshire plain. The greater part of it is only about bridge of timber from the bailey below over the ditch
200 ft. above the ordnance datum, but the ground or moat which surrounds it. Timber palisades may
rises considerably, and in the north-west, where it have defended the surrounding outer banks of the
meets the Chilterns, it has a height of 400 ft. In baileys. We can only conjecture that it was dis-
the south of the parish the little River Oughton takes mantled by Henry II as an adulterine or unlicensed
its rise and this part of Pirton is known as Oughton's castle, hundreds of which he is said to have destroyed.
Head (formerly Altonishevyd).1 The Icknield Way When the site was abandoned by the Limesis the
forms part of the southern boundary of the parish. mount was probably used as a look-out and meeting-
The population is entirely agricultural, the chalk place of the villagers, and so came to be called Toot
land being particularly adapted for the growth of corn. Hill.
The arable land covers 1,865 acres, while pasture The village is now outside this inclosure, princi-
comprises only 33 1 acres and woodland 65 acres.2 pally on the north-west side. At the south end of
An inclosure award was made for the parish in the village is what remains of the Old Hall, a house
I 8 14 under an Act of l8ll.2a
The village lies in the middle of the parish, and is
of particular interest, as it was at an early date,
possibly before the Conquest, fortified by a ditch.
The area inclosed, about 10 acres, was utilized later
for a mount and bailey castle, the mount or ' motte '
standing about 25 ft. high above the bottom of the
surrounding ditch in the north-west corner of the
inclosure, and the remainder of the area divided into
three baileys, the largest stretching along the north
side and including the church and the other two on
the south. The ditches are well marked, and there
is still at times a good deal of water in parts of them.
This castle, unfortunately, has no history. It was
probably made in the 12th century, perhaps during _
the anarchy of Stephen's reign, by Alan or Gerard de of the Docwras, which has been turned into an inn.
Limesi. There is little probability that it was ever It is a rectangular two-storied block, 46 ft. by 20 ft.,
Pirton. Old Hall ( now public house )
jnd Plan
Windows over
lf>e doorway □ 152 S 193 CENt
iso i,1!£. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Close, 10
Will. Ill, pt. viiij no. 4 ; Cussans, Hist,
of Hens. Hitchin Hund. m. Cussans
gives the name of the last patron as
Robert Holder.
isl Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiv, 4. j
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 10 Chas. I,
m. 5.
«2 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
133 Pat. 17 Eliz. pt. xiii, m. 37.
111 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dvii, 47.
"5 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 43 & 44
Eliz.
130 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxv,
38 ; Recov. R. Trin. 14 Chas. I, rut. +9 ;
Inst. Bks.
44
U? Feet of F. Mich. 13 Geo. I
10 Geo. Ill; East. 19 Geo. Ill; Hil
21 Geo. III.
1 '^ LTr\vick, Nonconformity in Herts-
663.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 43
- Statistics from Bd\ of Agric. (19G5)
'-'» toe. Act, 51 Geo. IV, cap. 96.
Pirton Grange from the South-west
Pirton : High Down from the East
HITCHIN HUNDRED
having a panel on the west front of the arms of
Docwra and the date 1609. There are indications
PlRTQN Hammonds Farm
Laic 163 Century E5J ITDCeivruRT EDjModern
that a wing, only about 1 2 ft. less than the width of
the main block, projected from the- back of the house,
PIRTON
The Rectory Farm, the residence of Mr. Ernest
R. Davis, lies a little more than a quarter of a mile
to the west of the church, and was apparently once
the manor-house of the rectory manor. It is an
early 1 7th-century timber-framed house of the
L type, altered and faced with brick in the 18th and
19th centuries. The main building, running east
and west, contains the parlour ; from the eastern end
of it a wing projects southward, containing the
porch, lobby and kitchen. On the north side is a
small staircase wing. A moat surrounds the house,
and what appear to be traces of an outer moat can
be seen on the north-east side. The tithe barn,
135 ft. by 37 ft., seems to be of the 1 6th century.
It is of timber on a foundation of masonry.
The Grange, the property of Mr. W. Hanscombe,
on the western edge of the parish, is a moated
G a*fe wa.y
Court Ya.rJ
1 X
ESD 172a Century
□ Modern
Si&bles
Coach
House
but this has been entirely removed. The flint and
brick walls are plastered, the roof is tiled.
Hammond's Farm lies a quarter of a mile to the
north of the church, and takes its name from the
family of Hammond. In the 17th century a John
Hammond held about 150 acres, and was succeeded
by another John Hammond, from whom it has de-
scended to Mr. William Hanscombe.3 It is a house
of the L type) of about 1600, built in two stories,
the lower of brick, the upper of timber with tiled
roof. The parlour is in the main wing, running
east and west ; in the south-east wing are the
kitchen and offices ; the porch with its lobby is in
the angle formed by the wings. On the north is
a smaller wing containing the staircase. The
rooms in the upper story are panelled and have
arabesque friezes of early 17th-century work. One
of them has a fine chimney-piece. There is a
plastered timber 17th-century dove-cote near the
house.
s Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), hdle. 92, no. 53.
timber-framed farm-house of early 17th-century
date, but restored and modernized. It seems to
have been originally of H t)'Pe> but has been much
altered. The house, which faces eastward, has an
L-shaped south wing, whose upper story formerly
projected. The kitchen in the north wing has the
Pirton Grange croundp™
45
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
remains of a large 17th-century fireplace ; its
chimney corners are now hidden by cupboards.
There is an old timber bake-house on the north
side of the house, and a contemporary bridge-house
of timber and plaster spans the moat.
Pirton Hall, a large red brick house, built in
1879, lies about 2 miles to the north-west of the
village ; attached to it is a park. It is now the
property of Mr. W. Hanscombe.
High Down, the property of Mr. F. A. Delme
RadclifFe, and now occupied by Mrs. Pollard, stands
on high ground about three-quarters of a mile
south-west of the village. It was apparently the
manor-house of the manor of Pirton, and was
probably begun about 1 599 by Thomas Docwra,
lord of the manor, whose arms with the date 1599
appear on the south side of the house. His arms
with his name and that of Jane Periam and date
161 3 are also over the entrance gateway to the
stables. The house is of two stories with basement,
and is built of plastered flint and clunch. The
main wing forms the south side of a courtyard,
and is entered by a gabled porch projecting from its
south front and rising the whole height of the house.
On the eastern side of the entrance passage is the
hall (now the dining-room) ; on the west are the
pantry and some small rooms, with a staircase beyond
leading to the floor above. North of the entrance
passage is the staircase hall, out of which the morning-
room opens to the west and the drawing-room to the
east. The drawing-room continuing northward forms
the short arm of the \_. The kitchens are in the
Panel with Arms of Sir Thomas Docwra at
High Down
basement under the drawing and the dining rooms.
A range of out-buildings forms the western boundary
of the courtyard ; on the north side are the stables.
In the north-east gable of the stables a stone panel
has been inserted with a shield of the Docwra arms,
the date 1504 and the name of 'Thomas Docwra
Miles,' who was prior of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem. The shield has a chief of the arms of the
Hospitallers and below is the inscription ' sane boro,'
apparently for ' sane baro,' a motto which occurs
elsewhere in connection with the Hospitallers, and
probably refers to the claim of the priors to be the
first barons of England. Near the stables is an old
square brick do-ve-house.
A mill called Oughton Mill or Westmill, which
was bequeathed by Thomas Ansell in 1607 to
his son Edward,4 may probably be dated to the
1 3th century, when a mill formed the subject of
dispute between the Prior and convent of Hertford
and Wiscard, lord of Ramerick. The mill was said to
have been given to the priory by Alan de Limesi/
In the 14th century, however, it is found in the
tenure of the Oddingselles. It was said in 1353 to
be so much out of repair that no one would rent it.6
At the time of the Domesday Survey
MANORS PIRTON was assessed at 10 hides, of
which 2 hides were in demesne, and on
the manor there were an English knight and three
sokemen.
Before the Conquest the manor had been held by
Archbishop Stigand. In 1086 it was part of the
possessions of Ralph de Limesi, and the estate was
held by the family of Limesi in chief as part of
their barony of Ulverley 7 until the end of the 12th
century. From Ralph it descended to his son Alan
de Limesi and from Gerard, son of Alan, to John de
Limesi, son of Gerard," after whose death in the
reign of Richard I the lands of the Limesi barony
were divided between his
sisters, Basilia wife of Hugh
Oddingselles, or d'Odingseles,
and Eleanor wife of David de
Lindsey.9 David had a son
David de Lindsey,1" who left
no issue. Gerard his brother
succeeded and on his death
his property passed to his
sister Alice wife of Robert de
Pinkney of Weedon Pinkney."
The manor remained with the
descendants of Hugh Odding-
selles, who held it in sub-lee
from the Pinkneys. Henry de Pinkney, who died
about 1276,'* was succeeded by his son Robert, and
Pirton was held of Robert until his death in 1 296-7."
His brother Henry, who succeeded, granted the
reversion of his estates to the Crown in 1301,14 from
which time Pirton was held of the king in chief.
After the division of the manor (see below) the half
of William Oddingselles and his descendants was
held in socage and owed the rent of a pair of gilt
spurs and payment of 2/. 61I. at the view of frank-
pledge at Oughton's Head (Altonis Hevyd),15 and
Pinkney of Weedon.
Argent a fesse indented
gules.
4 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, 146.
5 Add. Chart. 15470.
0 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. I, no. -4 ;
27 Edw. Ill, no. 60.
7 Ulverley in Solihull, co. Warwick.
The place scarcely survives even in name
now, but the site of their castle is marked
by a moat and banks (Dugdale, Baronage,
i, 413, and Dugdale, Warwickshire, s.v.
Solihull).
8 See Dugdale, Moti. Angl. iii, 300 j
Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R. 479.
" Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R.
479 ; Dugdale, Baronage, i, 413.
'"See Assize R. 325, m. 29 d.
11 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 76.
12 Cat. Pat. 1272-81, pp. 160, 169.
13 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I,
no. 130. "G.il.C. Peerage, s.v. Pinkney.
ls Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. II, no. 4 ;
17 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 15.
46
Pirton Grange : East Fkoni
^-;':- ■•■•••■■";• "v"/:^
Pirton Olu Hali
+7
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the other half was held by Hugh Oddingselles and his
descendants by knight service as parcel of the barony
of Ulverley.16
Basilia and Hugh Odding-
selles, the immediate ten-
ants of the manor, left two
sons, William and Hugh,1'
who divided the property and
so formed two manors.
William Oddingselles, who
was lord of the manor of Soli-
hull in Warwickshire, took
that half which was afterwards
known as the manor of P1R-
TON." Hugh's moiety of
the property became the
manor of Oddingselles (q.v.).
William Oddingselles died in 1295, leaving as heir
his son Edmund/5 who probably died without issue,
O D D I N G S E I
Argent a /esse gules:
t ico moled
chief.
rules
5$gJ/
Clinton. Argent
•x crosslets ftchy sable
nd a chief azure with
wo motets or pierced
ules therein.
Hammonds Farm, Pirton, Showing Porch
as the manor was divided between two of Edmund's
sisters, Ida and Alice.'0 Ida was wife of John de
Clinton, first Lord Clinton,
Alice was the wife of Thomas
de Caunton." Ida was
succeeded by her son and
then by her grandson, both
named John de Clinton."
Alice died in 1322 and was
succeeded by her son David.'3
David and Joan his wife
settled the property on them-
selves and their heirs with
remainder to William de
Clinton Earl of Huntingdon,
a younger son of John and
Ida de Clinton.'4 David died
before I 343 and Joan married
as her second husband Laurence de Ayot.'5 They
held the manor jointly until Joan died
in 1354, leaving a daughter Elizabeth,'6
who married a certain Maurice who
is called son of John son of Nichol.''
Elizabeth died without issue in 1364,'5
and the manor passed by the settle-
ment to John de Clinton (nephew
and heir of William de Clinton Earl
of Huntingdon)," to whom William
de Caunton, heir of Elizabeth, released
all his right. He received an annual
pension from the earl of £20 out of the
manor for life.30 Thus both moieties of
the manor were united in the hands of
John de Clinton. Edward de Clinton
son of John de Clinton died seised of
the manor in 1 399-1400 and was suc-
ceeded by his nephew William,31 who
granted the manor to certain feoffees,
by whom it was conveyed to Richard
Clitheroe. His son Roger died in
1455 and left a daughter Eleanor wife
of John Norreys.3' John survived his
wife and died in 1485 ; his son and
heir Edmund was then aged seven.
His second wife Isabel afterwards
married Henry Marney.33 In January
I 507-8 Edmund Norreys conveyed the
manor to Alice Say, widow, and John
Lech, her son.34 According to Chauncy,
in the reign of Elizabeth it was in the
possession of Samuel Maron of Berks-
well, co. Warwick,34 and was sold by
his son Edward in 161 1 to Thomas
Docwra of Putteridge. But this can
scarcely be correct, for the inquisition
on Thomas Docwra quotes a settlement
made by his father Thomas Docwra on
himself (the son), on his marriage with
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill, no. 1 3.
17 Arch, xxxviii, 272.
ls Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I, no. 130 ;
Assize R. 323.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I, no. 130.
'" Arch, xxxviii, 272. William Odding-
selles had four daughters [Cal. Pat. 1313-
17, p. 122), of whom Ida was eldest.
21 Arch, iii, 298.
» Nicholas, Historical Peerage.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. II, no. 4.
2t Cal. Pat. 1343-;. p. 49.
-"• Ibid. ; Inq. a.q.d. rile 265, no. 11;
Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
-'• Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill,
no. 43.
2? Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
233 ; Fine R. 155, m. 3, 14-
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. 42 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.),no.2i.
29 Ibid. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 39.
80 De Banco R. 433, m. I,
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. IV, pt. i,
no. 16 ; 2 Hen. VI, no. 36.
33 Ibid. 33 Hen. VI, no. 29; Close,
21 Hen. VI, m. 15.
33 Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 29c,
no. 4.
M Close, 23 Hen. VII, pt. ii, no. 28.
85 He was the son of Thomas Maron
of Hoxton, co. Middlesex, and Alice his
wife. The dates will hardly allow of
this Alice being identical with Alice Say.
48
HITCHIN HUNDRED
Jane Periam in 1599.36 So the manor must have
come into the family at an earlier date than that
given by Chauncy. Thomas received a grant of
free warren at Pirton in 1616.37 He died in l6zo,38
leaving as heir his son Periam. On the death of
Periam in 1642 it descended to his
son Thomas,39 whose only child Martha
married Sir Peter Warburton of Arley
(co. Ches.). In 1726, after the death
of Martha, Thomas Warburton, Sir
George Warburton, bart., son of
Sir Peter and Martha, and Periam
Docwra joined in a conveyance to
Ralph Radcliffe.40 It has since des-
cended in the family of Radcliffe," and
is now in the possession of Mr. F. A.
Delme-Radcliffe of the Priory, Hitchin
(q.V.).
The manor of ODDINGSELLES
(Doddingseles, Odyngseles, xiv cent.),
often called also ' half the manor of
Pirton,' was that part of the manor of
Pirton which on the death of Basilia
Oddingselles fell to the share of Hugh
her son. Hugh died seised of it in
1304-5, leaving as heir his son John.42
He and his wife Emma obtained
licence in 1316 to grant the manor to
Thomas de Wassyngeles for a settle-
ment on them and their heirs.43 In
1337 John and Emma granted the
manor to William Corbet for life, with
reversion to their son Thomas.44 After
the death of John, Emma married
William Corbet, who died in 1 346.45
She survived until the next year.46
Her son John Oddingselles succeeded
to the manor, and died abroad in 1352,
leaving a son John, then aged sixteen.47
It descended in 1380 to his son Sir
John, and in 1404 to Edward son of
John 48 (during whose minority the
property was entrusted to John
Cokayn,49 his father-in-law), to Edward's son Gerald,
and finally to Edward son of Gerald.50 In 1505
Gerald d'Oddingselles granted the manor to feoffees,51
who released it to Richard Decons.52 He sold it
shortly afterwards through trustees to Roger Lupton,
clerk, Provost of St. Mary's College, Eton.53 Eton
College held the manor till 15 February 1800,
when it was purchased by Penelope widow of
Sir Charles Farnaby Radclifre,54 from whom it has
descended to Mr. F. A. Delme-Radcliffe, the present
owner.
PIRTON
The grant by which Ralph de
RECTOR}' Limesi gave to the priory of St. Mary,
MANOR Hertford, the church of Pirton (see
below) included also i\ hides of land
there and a mill. After the Dissolution this estate
High Down, Pirton : Entrance Gateway
was granted in 1538, under the name of Pirton, to
Anthony Denny and Joan Champernowne, who were
then about to marry.55 Anthony Denny was succeeded
by his son Edward Denny of Waltham Holy
Cros.".56 His son Sir Edward Denny, kt., died in
February 1 600-1, 57 leaving a son and heir Arthur,
a minor, whose mother Margaret Lady Denny held
one-third of the property in dower.58 In 1609
Arthur Denny, with his wife Elizabeth and his
mother, conveyed the property to Sir John Davies,kt.,59
and he died seised of the manor and rectory in 1626,
36 See also as to the date of the build-
ing of High Down under the description
of the parish.
37 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xi.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
122.
39 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxxxvii, 97.
40 Recov. R. Mich. 13 Geo. I, rot.
382 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 13 Geo. I.
41 Recov. R. Trin. 35 Geo. Ill, rot.
382 ; Hil. 5 & 6 Geo. IV, rot. 22.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. I, no. 74.
43 Cal. Pat. 13 1 3-17, p. 456 ; Inq.
a.q.d. file 113, no. 14; Feet of F. Div.
Co. Trin. 9 & 10 Edw. II, no. 135.
44 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 485; Inq.
a.q.d. file 240, no. 2 ; Feud. Aids, ii,
437-
4a Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill, no. 1 3 ;
Cal. Close, I 346-9, p. 7.
46 Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. Ill, no. 30.
" Ibid. 27 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 60 ;
Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 186,
230.
48 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. IV, no. 19.
49 Cal. Pat. 1401-5, p. 374.
50 Pedigree in Dugdale's Warwickshire,
P- 343-
51 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 2 I Hen. VII.
M Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, iii, 123,
49
53 Inq. a.q.d. 7 Hen. VIII, file 301,
no. 8 ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii (1),
2146.
54 Deeds of F. A. Delme-Radcliffe
(quoted by Cussans in Hist, of Herts.
Hitchin H,wd.i()); see Recov. R. Hil.
5 & 6 Geo. IV, rot. 22.
55 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (1), 384
(47).
56 See Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 1575 ;
Trin. 19 Eliz.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxv,
69.
58 Ct. of Wards, Extents and Attach-
ments, 61 ?.
59 Feet of F. Herts. East. 7 Jas. I.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
having settled the manor on his daughter Lucy on
her marriage (at the age of ten) with Ferdinand Lord
Hastings, son of Henry Earl of Huntingdon.60 In
1628 the Crown seized this property in payment of
debts incurred by Arthur Denny,01 but it was appa-
rently regranted to Lucy and her husband Ferdinand
Lord Hastings, who were in possession in 1634.62
Previous to this, however, Sir Archibald Douglas,
who had married Eleanor widow of Sir John Davies,
had sold the rectory and manor for a term of sixty
years to Francis Poulton. In 1642 Lucy Lady
Hastings appeared on behalf of her mother to claim
the rectory, alleging that Sir Archibald was insane
and Eleanor was in prison when he sold the pro-
perty,63 and that her mother was in great distress owing
to Sir Archibald having appropriated all the profits
chief.
baronet.
nquefotls or in the
•i-'Mif>-
Dove-cote at Hammonds Farm, Pirton
of this sale, and to the loss of her dower in Ireland,
which was in the hands of rebels. Lady Hastings
remarked that she was unable to help her mother, as
Lord Hastings had lost the greater part of his estate
in the Irish Rebellion.64 The Poultons, however,
remained in possession, and the manor was sold
in 1656 by William Poulton, son of Francis, to
Thomas White,65 whose executors conveyed it to
Anthony Deane, kt., in 1686.66 Morgan Deane,
grandson of Sir Anthony, left
the property to his trustees
for sale,67 and in 1736 it was
bought by Robert second Lord
Raymond,68 from whom it
passed by his father's will to
Benesham Filmer, son of Sir
Robert Filmer, bart., of East
Sutton, co. Kent. He died
unmarried in 1763, when it
came to his nephew Sir John
Filmer, bart.69 Sir Edmund
Filmer, great-grandson of Sir
Edmund, brother and ultimate
heir of Sir John, sold the
manor in 1870 to Messrs. Paine &
Brettel of Chertsey, solicitors (since
which date most of the tenants have
been enfranchised), and the rectory
farm and about 415 acres of land to
Mr. Daniel Davis of Hexton, farmer.
It is now occupied by Mr. E. R. Davis.
The manor of Ramcrick in Ickleford
extended into this parish, and this part
of it is sometimes referred to as the
manor of Pirton.7"
The parish church of
CHURCH ST. MART, standing in
the middle of the village,
is built of flint rubble with stone dress-
ings. The chancel roof is tiled, and
that of the nave is covered with lead.
The church consists of a chancel,
central tower, nave and south porch.71
The original church, consisting of a
chancel, nave and central tower, was
built in the 12th century. The chancel
was much altered in the 14th century,
when a south transept, now demolished,
was built on the south side of the
tower. New windows were inserted
in the nave in the 14th and 15th cen-
turies,72 and the south doorway was
altered about 1380, when the south
porch was built. In the I 7th century
several small alterations were made,
notably to the east window, and in
1883 the whole church was restored
and the tower rebuilt from the founda-
tions.
The chancel, of which the walls are
probably part of the original church, now shows no
detail earlier than c. I 330. The east window, which
was originally of the 14th century, is now much
defaced by 17th-century alterations. The remaining
windows are all of the 15th century. One on the
north side and one on the south have two lights,
cinquefoiled and with tracery. In the south wall
there is also a three-light window of three cinque-
ted* "tf'HrNif
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxxvii,
105.
61 Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxii, no. 15.
M Com. Picas D. Enr. Trin. 10 Chas. I,
m. 2.
63 Hht. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. 5, 25,
*9-
64 Ibid. 25.
65 Recov. R. Mich. 8 Chas. II, rot. 167.
M Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 2 Jas. II.
67 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hitchin HunA.
20.
68 See Recov. R. Trin. 13 Geo. II,
rot. 346.
69 Ibid. 24 Geo. Ill, rot. 45.
™ See Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 478 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vii, 49 ; Close,
7 Hen. VII, m. im.
SO
71 Dimensions : chancel, 24 ft. by
1 8 ft.; central tower, 17ft. by 16 ft. ;
nave, 56 ft. by 26 ft.
" In 1486'john Dayell (Druall) made
a bequest to the work of the church, and
the year following another bequest was
made by Walter Browne (P.C.C. 1 Milles,
22 Godyn),
Pirton Church from the South
HITCHIN HUNDRED
foiled lights in a square head. A doorway, also on
the south side, has a two-centred arch. In the
chancel, under the easternmost window on the south
side, is a 14th-century double piscina with a central
pillar.
The east and west arches of the central tower are
semicircular, of about 1 1 30, and several of the stones
are ornamented with a diaper pattern. The capitals
and abaci are plain, and have been reset and retooled.
On the north side is a doorway, of about 1330, with
a lancet head and a simple continuous moulding. It
now leads to a modern wooden vestry built against
the north side of the tower. On the south side is a
wide archway, now bricked up, with a low modern
two-centred head. This originally opened into a
south transept.
The nave is lighted on the north side by two
windows, the easternmost of three lights with tracery
above, of the 1 5th century. The lower part of this
window is blocked up, the sill being 2 ft. 8 in. below
the bottom of the lights. The westernmost window is
of two cinquefoiled ogee-headed lights, with a quatre-
foil above, and has a high two-centred head. In this
window are fragments of 1 4th-century glass. Between
the two windows is visible on the interior side only
a 1 2th-century round-headed window, now blocked.
The 14th-century north doorway, to the west of
both windows, is blocked, but on the outside its two-
centred head and single-splayed jambs are visible, and
the door, which is much defaced, is probably contem-
porary. On this wall are remains of painting, now
quite undecipherable, which were discovered in 1 88 3.
The south wall of the nave has two windows similar,
and similarly arranged, to those on the north side, but
the jambs of the easternmost window are of the 14th
century, and the lower part is not blocked, while the
lights of the westernmost window are trefoiled, and
simple arches instead of ogees. In the easternmost
window are fragments of 15th-century glass with the
arms of Lindsay. There are between the windows the
remains, consisting of the eastern jamb and half the
head, of a 1 2th-century window like that in the north
wall. The south doorway, of about 1330, has a two-
centred head. The jambs are plain on the interior but
moulded on the exterior side. The door is probably
contemporary. To the west is the doorway, with a
two-centred head, of the stairs to the upper floor of
the porch. The west window has three ogee cinque-
foiled lights, with tracery above, in a two-centred
head. It has been repaired with cement, and is now
blocked. The south porch is of two stages, the ceiling
of the lower stage having been removed, so that the
porch is now open to the roof. There is a stone seat
in the west side of the porch ; the east and west
windows have been blocked up. There is a small
recess over the two-centred entrance arch, and the
two-light window of the upper stage above the recess
is original, but the dividing mullion is missing.
The upper stage of the tower is reached by a newel
in the north-west angle, approached by a door on the
outside. The bell chamber is lighted by three two-
light traceried windows on the east, north and south,
with two-centred heads, and on the west by a square-
headed loop. There is a two-light window on the
PIRTON
north side of the lower stage. The tower has an
embattled parapet and a needle spire. The buttresses
at the north-west, south-east and south-west are
original, as are those of the nave, but the large
diagonal buttress at the north-east angle is modern.
The only monument to be noted is that of Jane
wife of Thomas Docwra, 1645, a mural tablet with
arms and inscription, on the south wall of the nave.
There is a chest, probably of the 1 7th century, in
the chancel.
The bells are five in number : the treble by John
Briant, 1 78 1 ; the second and third by Joseph Eayre
of St. Neots, 1763 and 1756 respectively; the fourth
by Thomas Russell of Wootton, 1 73 1 ; and the tenor
by Robert Oldfeild, 1634.
The plate includes two cups and two patens oi
Sheffield plate.
The registers are in four books, the first containing
baptisms from 1562 to 1776, burials from 1558 to
1776 and marriages from 1560 to 1753 ; the second
baptisms and burials from 1774 t0 '812 ; the third
marriages from 1754 to 1773; and the fourth
marriages from 1774 to 18 12.
In the 1 1 th or early 1 2th century
ADVOWSON Ralph de Limesi gave the church of
Pirton with the tithes of his lands
there73 to the priory of St. Mary, Hertford, which
he founded as a cell to St. Albans. A vicarage was
ordained before the beginning of the 1 3th century.74
The advowson remained with the priory till the
Dissolution.76 It was then granted to Sir Anthony
Denny, and descended with the rectory (q.v.) until
about the middle of the 17th century. In 1670
presentation was made by the king; in 1682 by
Dorothy, widow of Samuel Howe ; in 1732 by the
Bishop of Lincoln ; in 1735 by Isaac Coleman, the
late incumbent; in 1748 by James Colt Ducarel ;
in 1773 by Charles Peers; in 1835 by Susanna
Thirlwall ; and in 1 847 and 1 8 5 1 by Ralph Lindsay.76
In 1870 the advowson was conveyed by the repre-
sentatives of the late Ralph Lindsay to the Dean and
Chapter of Ely,77 the present owners.
For a very long period before 1851 there had been
no resident incumbent. A parsonage-house was then
built by Mr. Ralph Lindsay, the rector.
In 1507 Thomas Pyrton left 40/. 'to make an
image of the Blessed Mary and a tabernacle to stand
in the church there.' 78
There are a Wesleyan chapel and a Baptist chapel
in Pirton at the present time.
In 1 64 1 John Hammond by his
CHARITIES will directed that a sum of £100
should be laid out in the purchase of
land, the rent thereof to be applied in binding out
one apprentice or more to an honest trade. The
trust estate consists of two allotments at Punches Cross,
containing 6 a. 3 r. 23 p., awarded on the inclosure in
1 8 1 1 in lieu of land originally purchased.
The testator further devised two cottages, to be
occupied by poor families rent free. The charity is
regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners,
3 May 1904. A premium of £12 10/. is usually
paid, and the cottages, rebuilt by the Hanscombe
family, are used as almshouses.
78 Dugdale, Mort. Angl. iii, 299, 300 ;
Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), i, 95.
74 See Line. Epis. Reg. Wells, 1209-35.
» Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 276.
76 See list of patrons given by Cussans,
Hist. o/Herti, Hitchin Hund. 23-4.
77 Lond. Gax. 29 Not. 1870,
5404.
78P.C.C. Wills, 31 Adeane.
5*
THE HUNDRED OF BROADWATER
ASTON
AYOT ST. LAWRENCE
AYOT ST. PETER
BALDOCK
BENINGTON
DATCHWORTH
DIGSWELL
GRAVELEY
CONTAINING THE PARISHES OP
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
KNEBWORTH
LETCHWORTH
GREAT MUNDEN
LITTLE MUNDEN
SACOMBE
STEVENAGE
TOTTERIDGE
WALKERN
WATTON-AT-STONE
WELWYN
WESTON
WILLIAN
GREAT WYMONDLEY
LITTLE WYMONDLEY
The hundred of Broadwater takes its name from a little hamlet on the
boundary line between the parishes of Knebworth and Shephall, at a point
about two miles south of
Stevenage where the main
road from Hertford and a road
from Aston join the Great
North Road.
At the time of the Domes-
day Survey Broadwater Hun-
dred included Shephall, which
is situated in the centre of the
hundred, but was in the 13th
century attached to Cashio
Hundred as a possession of St.
Alban's Abbey ; Norton on the
northern boundary and Codi-
cote (with Oxewiche) on the
west, which were at the same
time detached for the like
reason; Langley with Minsden,
and Almshoe1 (in Ippollitts),
which were afterwards attached
to Hitchin Hundred ; and part
of Tewin, now in Hertford
Hundred, which was probably
attached to Broadwater because
it belonged to the Abbot of
Westminster, one of whose
principal manors in Hertford-
shire was at Stevenage.
Two places now in this
hundred are not mentioned in
the Domesday Survey: Baldock, which was in the 12th century formed
1 Almshoebury is mentioned as pertaining to Broadwater Hundred as late as 165 1 (Pari. Surv.
Herts, no. 1).
52
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
V;'
f>
iW^
_^ ,, „, , ,v,; j
Index Map to the Hundred op Broadwater
BROADWATER HUNDRED
out of Weston, and Totteridge, which was a detached part of the parish of
Hatfield about twelve miles south of its mother-church.
Two places mentioned in the Domesday Survey have not been identified :
Wollenwick (Wlwenewiche),2 which was probably a portion of Stevenage
parish lying between Wymondley and Burleigh, and which is mentioned as
late as 1 3 8 i ,s and Rodenhanger (Rodehangre, Rodenehangre), which evidently
adjoined Norton, with which it was given to St. Alban's Abbey by King
Ethelred in 1007.*
Broadwater has always been a royal hundred.5 The hundred court is said
to have been sometimes held at Stevenage with the county court, but in the
14th century the sheriff's tourn was held at Broadwater at Easter and
Michaelmas.6 In 1651 the value of the hundred, with profits, perquisites
and privileges, was £5 ioj. yearly. The total of rents and royalties due to
the lord of the hundred amounted to £10 14J.7 In 1651 payments amount-
ing to 2 1 j. 4*/. for frankpledge were due to the lord of the hundred from
Welwyn, Knebworth, Bardolfhall (Watton), Little Munden, Letch worth
and Wymondley. Rents of assize paid to the sheriff's aid at the same time
from various places amounted to £3, and certainty money from freeholders
at the sheriff's tourn to 12s. \d? The waifs, strays, deodands, goods of
felons and fugitives, &c, within the hundred belonged to the lord if the
bailiff of the hundred seized them first, but if any bailiff belonging to a lord
of a manor who had leet within the hundred seized them before the bailiff
of the hundred, then that lord in whose leet they were seized commonly had
the profit and benefit thereof.9
The lords of all the more important manors in the hundred appear
to have had right of view of frankpledge.10 The lords of Aston, Ayot St.
Lawrence, Baldock, Benington, Hatfield, Stevenage, Walkern and Weston
had also gallows and tumbrel ; those of Datchworth, Knebworth, Great
Munden and Sacombe had gallows.
' See V.C.H. Herts, i, 297. ' Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. 1 10.
4 Anecdota Oxoniensa (Med. and Mod. Ser.), pt. vii, 24, 133.
6 Assize R. 325 ; Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 304 ; Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 244.
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. file 403, no. 38 ; Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 68. ' Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 1.
' Ibid. ' Ibid.
10 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d. ; Rot. Hand. (Rec. Com.), i, 192 ; Plac. de Quo U'arr. (Rec. Com.), 279, 289 ;
Pat. 12 Jas. I, pt. xxii, m. 18 ; Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 68 ; Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
53
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
ASTON
Easttun, Estone (xi cent.) ; Aschton, Estona (xiii
cent.).
The parish of Aston has an acreage of 2,070 acres,
of which 1,007! are arable land, 64 8 1 acres
permanent grass and 122 J acres wood.1 The height
of the parish above the ordnance datum is for the
most part from 200 ft. to 300 ft., but rises in the
centre to over 300 ft., the highest point (315 ft.)
being by the church. The River Beane forms the
eastern boundary of the parish and separates it from
Benington. A branch road from the Great North
Road to Benington passes across the centre of the
parish and through the village, where a network of
is the residence of the present lord of the manor,
Mr. Vernon A. Malcolmson, and his wife, the
Hon. Mrs. Malcolmson. The house is built of
brick. Thin 2-in. bricks, rising about io£ in
to every four courses, are used throughout ; the
north front, however, up to the string over the
windows of the ground floor, and parts of the back,
are faced with flints, no stone being visible except a
built-up arch on the outside, next the hall fireplace.
In plan it is a parallelogram, 1 14 ft. long by 32 ft.
wide, running east and west. On the north front is
the main entrance, and on the south front are two
projecting wings, one near either end and each con-
1 West St.
1 1013 Century
ED Modern
Ground and Attic Plan of Aston Bury
lanes branch off to north and south. The village lies
in the centre of the parish, with the church of
St. Mary and the manor-house on the west. In the
north of the parish is the hamlet of Aston End. In
the south-east is Frogmore Hall, a modern red brick
house surrounded by a park, the property of Mr. G. B.
Hudson, M.A., D.L., J.P., formerly M.P. for the
Hitchin division of Hertfordshire, and now the
residence of Major H. F. Low. Aston House, with
a small park, is the residence of Mr. F. W. Imbert-
Terry, and Barelegh that of Lady Jane van Koughnet.
Aston Bury, the ancient moated manor-house, is
supposed to have been built by Sir Philip Boteler
about 1540-5. Until recently it has been used
as a farm-house, but has now been restored and
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
taining a fine oak staircase. All the window openings
and angle quoins are of brick. Above the upper floor
windows on the north front runs a heavy moulded
brick cornice, cut off abruptly without returns at each
end of the building. Above the cornice is the long
tiled roof, broken by four curved gables, in which are
windows which light the attic room. The ends of
the main building have curved gables, broken by a pair
of chimneys on either side of each gable. One pair of
chimneys has been twice rebuilt, once in the 18th
century and again recently, this time in exact
imitation of the other three, which are fine examples
of cut and moulded brickwork, having octagonal
moulded bases, circular shafts, richly diapered or
twisted, and octagonal capitals at the top. A large
attic window occupies the upper part of each gable,
and in the west gable are two tiny windows at
54
BROADWATER HUNDRED
the first-floor level, lighting the spaces between the
projecting chimney breasts inside the rooms and the
flank walls. The projecting staircase wings at the
back are carried up to the same height as the main
walls, and between them are two groups of chimneys
similar to those already described, one having three
shafts, the other four.
The main entrance is in the centre of the north
front, and has a moulded square-headed doorway, with
a massive oak moulded door frame, and iron-studded
door. The front windows are recessed in moulded
brickwork. The ground-floor windows have square
brick heads, having a very slight camber ; but, as the
bricks are not radiated to a centre, the weight seems
to be taken by the stout oak window frame and
mullions. The upper floor windows have flat
arches with properly radiating joints, pointing
probably to a somewhat later date.
Internally the building has a ground floor, with
basement under, an upper floor and one long apart-
ment in the roof. A chapel which stood at the east
end of the building was
pulled down many years
ago. The hall would
measure about 36 ft. by
25 ft., having a large four-
centred arched fireplace 8 ft.
wide in the centre of the
south wall. Beside the fire-
place is a doorway leading
into the east staircase. East
of the hall is another large
apartment. The hall and
the room to the east take
up the eastern half of the
building, and the western
half contains a panelled
room with a large open fire-
place and the original kitchen
with an old iron-studded
door. The doorway near
the west end of the north
front is modern, and
occupies the position of a
built-up window ; the porch
is made up of old wood-
work.
The doorway between the hall and the east stair-
case has a wooden frame with moulded capitals and
bases, over which is a four-centred arch with carved
spandrels, the carving being of the usual flat 16th-
century type. In two of the spandrels, however, are
shields of arms ; on the east side are the arms of the
Botelers and on the west side are the arms of Drury
(Argent on a chief vert a tau cross between two
molets or). These arms also appear on a brass in
Watton Church. Sir Philip Boteler of Woodhall
married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Robert Drury, kt.,
of Halstead, and, as is shown in the descent of the
manor, acquired Aston in 1540 and died in I 545-
The basement cellars are not of much interest ;
they are only partly below ground and have had
windows on both the north and south sides. The
massive timbers of the ground floor may be seen, as
there is no vaulting or ceiling.
There are a few original partitions on the first floor,
into which some 16th-century panelling has been in-
troduced. But the room in the attic story is worthy of
ASTON
notice. It is almost wholly in the roof and is a long
apartment running the full length of the building. It
measures 108 ft. long by 17 ft. wide. It is lighted at
each end by a large mullioned window in the gable, and
has besides four windows on the north front set in the
curved brick gables before described. These windows
are deeply recessed from the room. On the south
side of the apartment are two built-up fireplaces with
moulded and stopped jambs, the inner moulding being
carried over the opening with a flat four-centred arch,
the outer moulding running square over it. It is
almost identical with the fireplaces at Mackerye End,
Hammond's Farm, Pirton, and other old houses in
the county. The ceiling of this apartment is of
plaster, almost semicircular, and a moulded cornice of
oak, presumably the roof purlin, is carried the whole
length of each side at the springing level of the arch.
Advantage has been taken of the slope of the roof to
form a series of cupboards on the south side, entered
from the window recesses. Access is gained to the room
by short passages from both east and west staircases.
Aston Bury : Attic Gallery
The two fine oak staircases are the principal internal
features of the house, that on the east, which is entered
directly from the hall, being the richer of the two. In
each case there are straight flights of steps on three
sides of the staircase, with landings at the angles, the
fourth side having landings at each floor. Both stairs
rise from the ground floor to the attics, and the east
stair is continued down to the basement.
The parish lies on a subsoil of chalk. There are
three chalk-pits in the north of the parish. The
nearest railway station is Knebworth, on the Great
Northern main line, about three miles to the south-
west.
The inclosure award, made in 1858, is in the
custody of the clerk of the peace.*
Previous to the Norman Conquest the
MJNOR manor of JSTON was held by three of
the men of Stigand Archbishop of Can-
terbury, whose names are not known. After the
2 Blue Bk. Incl. A-wards, 65.
55
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Conquest it formed part of the demesne lands of
Odo Bishop of Bayeux, and was assessed at 10 hides.3
Odo forfeited in 1088 and Aston remained for some
time in the possession of the Crown, until Henry I
gave it to his queen Adelaide. After his death
Adelaide, who married secondly William de Albini
Earl of Arundel in I 138,' gave the manor of Aston
to the Abbot and monks of St. Mary of Reading for
the good of the soul of King Henry her husband.5
This grant was afterwards confirmed by Henry II,6
Richard I, John, and Henry III/ and the abbey of
Reading continued to hold it ' by service of praying
for the King, his progenitors and successors ' 8 until
the Dissolution. After the attainder of Hugh Cooke,
the last abbot, all the possessions of the monastery
were seized by the king, Nicholas Bristowe being
possessions of Wolsey." In 1537 he was present
at the christening of Prince Edward," afterwards
Edward VI, and in 1539-40
was among the knights ap-
pointed to meet Anne of
Cleves,15 on which occasion he
was one of those who ' stood
from the park pales upon the
heath (Blackheath) to the
meeting-place ' (at Shooter's
Hill).16 In 1544 his name
was enrolled as supplying men
for the rearguard in the army
against France,17 and later in
the same year he was ap-
pointed to levy recruits.16 He
Boteler of Wood-
hall. Gules a Jesse cheeky
argent and sable bct*wcen
six crosslets or.
**J;
/ -o
Aston Bury from the North-west
appointed steward in 1540.9 In the same year the
manor of Aston was granted to Sir Philip Boteler
of Watton Woodhall, to be held in chief for the
tenth part of a knight's fee and rent of 77/. l\d}*
This Sir Philip had been one of the Knights of the
Body to King Henry VIII in 1 5 16," and was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1524-6, 1530, 1532 and
1538-40. " In 1530 he was one of the commis-
sioners for Hertfordshire to inquire concerning the
died in 1545.19 From this date Aston descended in
the same manner as Watton Woodhall (q.v.) until
1778, when John Palmer Boteler sold Aston to
Sir Thomas Rumbold.80 The latter died in 1791,
and in 1794 the manor was sold by trustees to Paul
Bendfield,21 who in turn sold it to Edmund Darby
in 1 801." After the death of Edmund Darby in
I 83 I Aston was sold to Ann Walmsley of Hoddesdon,
who left it by will to her great-nephew Donat John
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 309a.
4 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
5 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 29 ; Add. Chart.
19586 ; Assize R. 323, m. 51 d.
6 Add. Chart. 19593.
7 Assize R. 323, m. 5 I d.
8 Cal. Close, 1337-9, P- S > L- t""i P-
Hen. yUI,v\\, 1544.
9 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, g. 379 (62).
10 Ibid, xv, g. 942 (78).
» Ibid, ii, 2735.
"Ibid, iv, 819, 1795, 2672, 6721;
v, 1598 (10); xiii (2), 967; xiv (1),
896 ; (2), p. 223.
"Ibid, iv, 6516.
>< Ibid, xii (2), 911.
15 Ibid, xiv (2), p. xoi.
16 Ibid, xv, p. 5.
17 Ibid, xviii (1), 273, 276.
>& Ibid. (2), 452.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ix
J0 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts.
21 Ibid.
" Ibid.
56
Aston Bury : The North Porch
(Recently removed)
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Hoste O'Brien, who was lord of the manor in 1 877-s3
His successor, Captain William Edward Freeman
St. Alban's Abbey.
Azure a saltire or.
Nodes of Shephall.
Sable a pile argent -with
three trefoils sable there-
O'Brien, sold Aston in 1907 to Mr. Vernon A.
Malcolmson and his wife the Hon. Mrs. Malcolmson,
granddaughter of the
second Earl of
Leicester."
In 1287 the Abbot
of Reading claimed
view of frankpledge
and free warren in
Aston,'5 but in the
reign of Edward I
he claimed in addi-
tion, in all his Hert-
fordshire lands, sac
and soc, toll and
team, infangentheof,
utfangentheof,
gallows, tumbrel, and
chattels of felons and
fugitives, also freedom
from suit at the hun-
dred court, from
paying danegeld,
shiregeld and other
dues !6 ; so doubtless
these privileges
applied to Aston.
Certain lands in
Aston were granted
before 1065 by Wulf,
'a certain Dane, a
very powerful mini-
ster' of King Edward the Confessor, to St. Alban's
Abbey." After the Dissolution the lands of St.
Alban's Abbey in Aston were granted with the manor
of Shephall to George Nodes.28 In 1 570 they were in
the possession of Charles Nodes,29 his nephew,30 and
presumably descended with the manor of Shephall.
In 1564 a messuage in Aston, at the church gate,
and a cottage called the Almshouse, with land called
Hoobarnetts Croft, Grynsie Croft and Gallowfield,
part of the manor of Aston, were granted by Sir John
Boteler to John Kent in free socage.31 The latter
died in 1592 and was succeeded by his son Thomas,32
who died in 1635, leaving a son also named Thomas.3'
ASTON
The parish church of ST. MARY
CHURCH THE HRGIN,3* consisting of a chancel,
nave, west tower, north aisle, north
vestry and south porch, stands on high ground to the
west of the village. It is built of flint with stone
dressings and the roofs are covered with lead. The
tower and nave have embattled parapets. The
chancel and nave date from about 1 2 30, and probably
represent the whole of the original church. It was
not until the end of the 14th or the beginning of the
1 5th century that the west tower was added. Towards
the end of the 15th century new windows were
inserted, the church was re-roofed and various repairs
were executed. Further alterations took place in the
1 6th century, and in 1850 the church was restored.
Finally, in 1 883, restoration again took place, and
the north vestry, north aisle and south porch were
added.
The chancel has a modern east window of three
Aston Church from the South-west
lights, trefoiled, with tracery above. In the north
wall, which is pierced by a wide opening into the
modern north vestry, are the jambs and rear arch of
a 13th-century lancet window. There is also on
this side, at the west, a modern single light with a
four-centred head. On the south side are two
square-headed 16th-century two-light windows, much
restored and repaired with cement ; between them is
a modern door with a two-centred head. At the
south-east end of the wall is a large double piscina
with a single drain and divided by a central pillar.
The heads are trefoiled, and the date is early in the
1 3th century.
M Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadiuater
Hand. 194.
2i Information kindly supplied by Mr.
V. A. Malcolmson.
85 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
KPlac.deQuorfrarr.{Wec.Com.),l%z-i.
27 Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxi, 137
Ser.), vi, 32.
32 Ibid.
28 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 220
33 Ibid, dxxii, 17.
(96).
34 Dimensions : chancel, 28 ft. 6 in
39 Pat. 1 3 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 29.
by 13 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 45 ft. by 22 ft.
30 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 80.
tower, 1 6 ft. 6 in. square.
57
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The roof of the chancel, as also that of the nave, is
of the 15th century, low pitched, with moulded
trusses, with carved bosses at the intersections of the
trusses with the purlins. The screen is a good
example of early 16th-century woodwork, with
tracery in the heads. The capitals of the chancel
arch have been much mutilated to admit of the fitting
of the screen, and the arch probably dates from the
first years of the 16th century.
In the nave very few original details can be traced ;
the north arcade is of course contemporary with the
building of the aisle in 1883, and the south windows
are also modern. The walls, however, are probably
of the 1 3th century. A lofty four-centred arch opens
from the nave to the tower, and is original. The
west window is also original, and is of three lights,
with tracery above, much restored, and repaired with
cement. In this window is a little white and gold
15th-century glass. The modern south porch is
approached by a two-centred doorway, and has east
and west windows of two lights in square heads. Its
entrance arch is two-centred with shafted jambs ; it
is faced with flint and stone in quarries, and has a
gable with a stone coping and cross.
The tower is of two stages with diagonal buttresses,
and has a 15th-century west door, much repaired.
The bell-chamber is lighted by four louvres with
two-centred heads.
The communion table is of the I 7th century, and
the pulpit is octagonal, of panelled oak, of about
1630. There is a brass on the floor of the nave of
John Kent and his wife, with an inscription and the
date I 592.
The bells number six, and include a second and
third by Miles Grave, dated 1629. The fifth is also
of 1629, but recast in 1840.
The plate includes a cup, a cover paten and a paten
of 1571, and a cup of 1 6 1 2.
The registers are in two books : (i) baptisms and
burials from 1558 to i8i2,and marriages from 1558
to 1753 ; (ii) marriages from 1754 t0 1 8 1 2.
In 1505 Sir John Smith, the parson of Aston, left
z6s. Sd. towards the making of a tabernacle for the
image of St. Margaret in the church,34 and in 1524
John Kent left 40/. for the same purpose.56 An altar
of St. Katherine is mentioned, with that of the
Blessed Virgin, in 1484."
The invocation of Aston Church
ADVOWSON seems to have been changed about
the end of the 15 th century, for in
1430 and apparently in 1490 it is referred to as
St. James,33 but in "1505 and after as our Lady.39
The presentation to the church seems to have always
belonged to the lord of the manor. It was confirmed
to the monastery of Reading by William Earl of
Arundel, Queen Adelaide's husband,40 and by
Henry II*' and Edward III." The church was
never appropriated, and the living is a rectory.
The abbey continued to hold the advowson until
the Dissolution.'3 In 1540 it was granted together
with the manor to Sir Philip Boteler," and followed
the same descent until 1801, when it was sold
after the death of Paul Bendfield to Alexander
Ellice of Bath," who presented to the living in 1804."
His son William Ellice*7 presented in 1809.*8 John
Corfield made presentation in 181 5," and was still
patron in 1822 M ; but this was probably only an
alienation for a term of years, as the Rev. J.imes
Ellice presented in 1829.51 The latter held the
advowson until I 849, when the Rev. George Augustus
Oddie became patron,'3 and remained so until I 890.
For the next five years the presentation was held by
Mr. John Oddie and five others,53 who were succeeded
in 1895 by the Rev. George Venables Oddie, the
present patron and incumbent.5*
A portion of the tithes, granted in 1253 to the
abbey of Colchester," is recorded in the Taxation of
Pope Nicholas in 1 29 1,56 and in the assessment for
a feudal aid in 1 428." In both these entries the
portion of Reading is valued at £1, and that of
Colchester at £2 6s. Sd.
A terrier of the parsonage made in 1638 states
that there was then ' a dwelling house with an orchard,
a garden, a courtyard : and an outyeard with 2 barnes,
2 stables, one hayhouse, a Cart house, a Dove coate,
2 smal garners : a woodhouse, a woodyard, a hen-
house, with an old outhouse.' 58
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters was
certified at Aston at various dates between 1697 and
i834.59 There is now an undenominational mission-
room.
It appears from the parliamentary
CHARITIES returns of 1786 that a sum of £80
was given for the poor by a donor
unknown. The gift, with accumulations, is now
represented by £104 I 5'- consols with the official
trustees. The annual dividends, amounting to
£2 12s. 4^., are applied in the distribution of fuel or
clothing by the rector and churchwardens.
The official trustees also hold a sum of'^65 1 2s. \d.
consols, arising from the sale of the Calvinistic Baptist
chapel at Aston End. The annual dividends, amount-
ing to £1 12/. 8d., are applied towards the support
and maintenance of the chapel at Stevenage.
85 P.C.C. 41 Holgravc.
3B Ibid. 17 Bodfelde.
37 Wills, Archd. of St. Albans, W 45.
38 P.C.C. Stoneham 16 ; Wills, Archd.
of St. Albins, W 58 d.
89 P.C.C. 41 Holgrave; 17 Bodfelde ;
Bacon, Liber Regis.
40 Add. Chart. 19586.
41 Ibid. 19593.
" Cat. Close, 1337-9, p. 5.
43 See L. and P. Hen. nil, vi, 1569.
44 Pat. 32 Hen. VIII, pt. viii, m. 34,
45 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 248.
46 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
47 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
4S Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
« Ibid.
50 Clerical Guide.
Ibid.
Clergy List*
1 Ibid.
Ibid.
1 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 424.
1 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37a.
' Feud. Aids, ii, 463.
1 Herts. Gen. and Antirj. ii, 70.
' Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 562 -3.
5«
Aston Bury : Oak Grill and Staircase
BROADWATER HUNDRED
AYOT ST. LAWRENCE
or GREAT AYOT
AYOT ST. LAWRENCE or GREAT AYOT
Aiete (xiii cent.) ; Ayete (xiv cent.) ; Eyott (xvi
cent.).
The parish of Ayot St. Lawrence has an area of
750 acres, of which about three-fifths are arable, about
200 acres grass, and over 100 acres wood.1 The
greater part of the parish is about 300 ft. above the
ordnance datum, but rises to 4.00 ft. towards the
north-west, where the manor-house and park are
situated. The new church of St. Lawrence lies on
the western side of the park. The little River
Mimram or Maran forms the eastern boundary.
The subsoil is chalk and gravel, and the surface soil
is chalk. There is an old chalk-pit to the south of
the village and a disused gravel-pit to the east.
The road from Wheathampstead to Codicote forms
the south-eastern boundary of the parish, but the
village of Ayot St. Lawrence is situated about a mile
to the north, and is reached by three branch roads,
of which the central one passes by Hill Farm.
The village lies on the southern side of a winding
road, upon which stand the schoolhouse, a timber
and plaster house of the 17th century, and the
post office, a 1 6th or 17th-century brick and timber
cottage. The rectory, a modern house, contains
in a staircase window some 1 7th-century glass said to
have been taken from the old church. The glass is
heraldic, and shows shields of France modern quarter-
ing England with a label of three points argent ;
Bristowe ; and Bristowe impaling Bibbesworth and
Barley quartering possibly Skipwith (Gules three bars
or in chief a running greyhound argent). On the
opposite side of the road are the ruined church and
the grounds of Ayot House, the property of Mrs.
A. C. Ames, and now the residence of Mr. Roger
Cunliffe, J. P. In the park of Ayot House is the old
manor-house, a red brick building, the lower part of
which is probably of the 16th century.
The manor of AYOT ST. LAWRENCE
MANOR was given by Alwin of Godtone or Gottun,
in the time of King Edward the Con-
fessor, to the abbey of Westminster, and was con-
firmed to the abbey by that king about io62.la Alwin
continued to hold Ayot as sub-tenant of the abbey during
Edward's reign, but in 1086 it was held of Westminster
by Geoffrey de Mandeville, and assessed at z\ hides.2
A portion of 9 acres in Ayot, which had been held
by Si ward, a man of Alwin of Godtone, was in 1086
held of the king by the reeve of the hundred.3 The
overlordship of Westminster apparently lapsed, for
direct possession seems to have been obtained by
the Mandevilles, who sub-enfeoffed a tenant before
the end of the 13th century. Geoffrey de Mande-
ville's lands descended through his son William to his
grandson Geoffrey de Mandeville, created first Earl
of Essex in 1140.4 The latter died in 1 144, and
his eldest son Ernulf being outlawed soon after, his
Mandeville, Earl of
Essex. Quarterly or and
gules.
earldom and estates were conferred upon his second
son Geoffrey, who died childless in 1 166. His
brother William, who suc-
ceeded him, also died without
issue in 1189, his nearest
heirs being the descendants
of his aunt Beatrice, the sister
of Geoffrey first Earl of
Essex.5 This Beatrice, who
had married William de Say,
had two sons William and
Geoffrey, the elder of whom
predeceased his father, and left
two daughters Beatrice and
Maud.6 The earldom of
Essex was eventually conferred
upon Beatrice's husband
Geoffrey Fitz Piers, and was held in turn by their
two sons Geoffrey and William, who both took the
name of Mandeville and died childless before 1227.
Their sister Maud, to whom their title and estates
then passed, married Henry de Bohun sixth Earl of
Hereford, and Ayot St. Lawrence was held of that
earldom until its extinction on
the death of Humphrey de
Bohun, twelfth earl, in 1 373. 7
His lands then passed to his
elder daughter Eleanor, wife
of Thomas of Woodstock,
who was murdered in 1397.8
Eleanor died in 1399,9 and
the overlordship of Ayot St.
Lawrence passed to her sister
Mary, the wife of Henry
Duke of Lancaster, who in
the same year became king
as Henry IV,10 and lunce his
lands were merged in the
Crown. In 1 489 Ayot St. Lawrence was said to be
held of the king as of the honour of Mandeville, parcel
of the duchy of Lancaster, by service of a sparrow-hawk
at the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula yearly, or pay-
ment of 2s.11
The first sub-tenant of the manor to be recorded
is William de Ayot, who is mentioned in 1253 as the
son of Roger de Ayot,12 and was certainly lord of the
manor in 1257.13 He held the office of king's
steward,14 and appears among the witnesses of many
documents up to the year 1291. In 1303 the
manor, consisting of half a knight's fee, was held
by his heirs, who were under age,15 and in 1 346
by Lawrence de Ayot 16 and Joan his wife, who in
1347 granted it to Thomas, parson of the church of
Ayot, for a settlement.17 Lawrence died in 1353
and was succeeded by his son William, who was
in prison for felony in the Bishop of Winchester's
Bohun. Azure a
bend argent betzveen co-
rises and six lions or.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
"a Cott. Chart, vi, 2.
2 V.C.H. Herts, i, 313.
3 Ibid. 34.3.
4 Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, 3 7, 49.
5 Ibid. 232, 24.2.
6 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
"' Ibid. ; Feud. Aids, ii, 436 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 45 ; 49
Edw. Ill, no. 28. In 1277-8 it was
said to be held of the honour of Boulogne,
which is seemingly an error.
8 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 21 Ric. II, no. 29.
9 Ibid. Hen. IV, file 1 1, no. 28.
10 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
59
" Cal. Inq. Hen. VII, i, 215.
18 Feet of F. Herts. 37 Hen. Ill,
no. 425.
» Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 474.
14 Ibid. 1257-1300, p. 496.
ls Feud. Aids, ii, 429. ls Ibid. 436.
17 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 21 Edw. Ill,
no. 8.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
gaol.18 He conveyed the manor in 1363 to Richard
de Pembrugge.19 1 here was also a conveyance to
Richard in the same year by William de Wotton
and Margaret his wife,20 but the nature of their
interest is not clear. Richard de Pembrugge and
his son Henry both died in 1375," and the manor
passed to his nephews Richard de Beurlee, son of his
sister Amice, and Thomas Barre, son of his sister
Hawise. Richard de Beurlee apparently died soon
after or quitclaimed his moiety, for in 1383 the whole
manor was settled on Thomas Barre and Elizabeth
his wife.22
Thomas Barre was appointed justice of the peace
for Herefordshire in 1 384," and surveyor of the king's
hay in that county in the same year.24 At this time
he also received a grant for life of 40 marks yearly
from the issues of the county, instead of from the
Exchequer, from whence it had previously been
drawn.''' In I 397 this was augmented by an allow-
ance of 3 tuns of red wine yearly.26 He was
J. P. for Herefordshire again in 138527 and for
Hertfordshire in 1401.29 In 1393 he was appointed
with others to deal with Walter Bent ' and other sons
of iniquity ' for preaching false doctrines in the
diocese of Hereford.29 Early in 1394 he received
protection for half a year to go to Ireland on the
king's service,30 which was later extended for another
six months, to remain there in the king's company.31
In 1404 he was exempted for life, on account of his
great age, ' from being charged with being sheriff,
escheator, collector or other officer of the king, and
from all labours in person, provided that he find a
competent person to serve the king in his place and
to ride with the king when required ' 32 ; nevertheless
he served as justice of the peace for Hertfordshire in
1406 and 1407.33 He survived his wife and his son
Thomas and died in 1420, being succeeded by his
grandson John Barre.34 John's daughter Isabel
married first Humphrey Stafford Earl of Devon, who
was beheaded in 1469,35 and upon her father's death
in 1482 or 1483 36 Ayot St. Lawrence passed to her
and her second husband Thomas Bourchier,37 who
survived her and died in 1 49 1 .38 Isabel died in
1489.
Isabel and Thomas Bourchier had a daughter
Isabel, but she predeceased them, and upon the death
Vt***
of Thomas the heirs were declared to be three cousins,
viz. Richard Delabere son of Joan sister of John Barre,
Thomas Cornwall great-grandson of Elizabeth, a
second sister, and Edward Hanmer grandson of Ancret,
a third sister of John Barre.39 These three each re-
ceived a third part of the manor.40 In I 505 Edward
Hanmer granted his share to Sir William Say,
Thomas Cornwall did the same in I 506, and finally
in 1508 Richard Delabere released his portion,41 so
that in that year Sir William Say was seised of the
whole. From Sir William Say the manor descended
to his daughter and co-heir Elizabeth, wife of William
Blount, fourth Lord Mountjoy, and to their daughter
Gertrude, who married Henry Courtenay Earl of
Devon, in 1525 created Marquess of Exeter.42 Henry
Courtenay was attainted for treason and beheaded in
1539, and his wife being attainted in the same year
her lands were forfeited to the Crown.43 In 1543
Ayot St. Lawrence was granted to John Brockett,
John Alway and Nicholas
Bristowe.44 Nicholas Bristowe
held the manor in 1572 and
made his title secure against
possible heirs of Sir William
Say.45 He died in I 5 85*
leaving a widow Lucy, and
the manor descended succes-
sively to his son Nicholas *'
and his grandson Nicholas,
the latter inheriting in 1 6 1 6.49
In 1 66 1 the manor was held
by Robert Bristowe, accord-
ing to Cussans the brother of a
fourth Nicholas.49 He was
succeeded by William Bristowe, his third but eldest
surviving son, whose widow was lady of the manor
in 1700.50 She sold it in 17 14 to Thomas Lewis,51
who died in 171852; and five years later his
estates were sold by Thomas Lewis and Henry and
Margaret Hensleigh to Cornelius Lyde.53 Rachel,
the daughter of Cornelius, with her cousin and
husband Lionel Lyde 54 conveyed half the manor and
advowson in 1 749 to her mother Rachel widow of
Cornelius.55 It perhaps reverted to the daughter
Rachel and her husband before 1758, for Lionel
Lyde then presented to the church.56 This Lionel
999
stowe of Ayot
St. Lawrence. Ermine
a /esse cotised sable ivith
three crescents or thereon.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 45.
19 Feet of F. Div. Co. 37 Edw. Ill,
no. 127.
» Ibid. Herts. 37 Edw. Ill, no. 525.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii,
no. 28.
22 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Ric. II, no. 56.
23 Cal. Pat. 1 38 1-5, p. 348.
24 Ibid. p. 408.
23 Ibid. p. 477.
26 Ibid. 1 399-1401, p. 107.
27 Ibid. 1385-9, p. 80.
28 Ibid. 1399-1401^. ^59.
29 Ibid. 1391-6, pp. 354—5.
«° Ibid. p. 472.
31 Ibid. p. 549.
32 Ibid. 1401-5, P- 375-
s3 Ibid. 1405-8, p. 492.
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. V, no. 63.
In 1428 the manor is said to have been
held by the ' Lord of Furnevale ' {Feud.
Aids, ii, 448). He was probably the
guardian of the heir, then a minor.
35 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, no. 39.
37 Cal. Inj. Hen. Ill, i, 215.
38 Ibid. 682.
39 Ibid.
10 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 257, 258, 259.
" Ibid. B 254, 255, 275.
42 G.E.C. Complete Parage ; L. and P.
Hen. VIII, ix, 481.
43 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
44 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xviii (1), g. 981
(95). Mr. Round points out that they
bought the manor for twenty years'
purchase, and that Nicholas Bristowe,
clerk of the jewel-house, was made
steward of Reading Abbey in I 540 (see
under Aston). To 'The Monarchs of
England ' exhibition at the Grafton
Gallery (in 1902) there were lent by
Mrs. Ames the hat of Henry VIII and
the shoes of Anne Boleyn, which, accord-
ing to the catalogue, were given to
Nicholas Bristowe by the king as the
title-deeds of Ayot St. Lawrence, and
'have since always gone with the estate.'
Mr. Round points out that Anne Boleyn
was put to death seven years before
Bristowe and his partners acquired the
estate, and that the story of the king
60
granting it to him when riding by it with
Anne must be wholly false.
45 Add. Chart. 1994.
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxiii,
204 (2).
47 Chan. Decree R. no. 77 (14).
48 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxiii,
204 (2).
49 Cussans, op. cit. Broad-water Hand.
236. Nicholas died in 1626, see M.I.
s° Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 324. There
is a fine of 1697 in the name of her
daughter Elizabeth and husband Charles
Wilson, conveying half the manor to
Robert Raworth, but this was probably
only a settlement ; Feet of F. Herts.
Hil. 8 Will. III.
61 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Geo. I ;
Com. Pleas Recov. R. 1 Geo. I, m. 4 ;
Recov. R. Herts. Trin. 13 Anne.
52 Tombstone at Ayot St. Lawrence.
63 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 10 Geo. I ;
Salmon, Hist, of Herts. (1728), 206.
54 Salmon, op. cit. 253.
55 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 23 Geo. II.
56 In»t. Bks. (P.R.O.).
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Ames. Argent a
bend cotised betiveen two
rings sable tvitha quatre-
foil between two roses
argent on the bend.
dismantled the old church of Ayot St. Lawrence and
built a new one."
Lionel Lyde, who was created a baronet in
1772, died in 1 791 and was succeeded by
Samuel Lyde, his brother, who presented to the
rectory in 1799,58 after which it passed to his nephew
Lionel Poole,59 who assumed the surname of Lyde.
From this Sir Lionel it passed through his sister
Anna Maria, the wife of Levi
Ames, to their son Lionel,60
who assumed the surname of
Lyde and died unmarried in
1 85 1. He had five brothers,
through whom it descended
to the youngest George
Henry, whose grandson
Lionel Neville Frederick also
assumed the surname of Lyde.
He died in 1883 and Ayot
St. Lawrence passed to his
brother Lieut.-Col. Gerard
Vivian Ames, who died in
1899,61 leaving a son and heir
Lionel Gerard Ames.68
A fair was granted to William de Ayot in 1257,
to be held on the vigil, day and morrow of St.
Lawrence63 (9-1 1 August). It is mentioned in
1617,64 but has since been discontinued.
Free warren was also granted to William de Ayot in
1 257.60 A park is mentioned in 1268 when the same
William sued Henry, son of Thomas de la Leye, for
trespass in it.66 At the present day it has an area of
200 acres.
In 1274-5 the lord of the manor claimed view of
frankpledge", amendment of the assize of bread and ale,
and gallows,67 and in 1277—8 a tumbrel in addition.68
\n 1278-9 he is said to have claimed a trebuschet,
the meaning of which is doubtful.611
A water mill is mentioned at Ayot
St.. Lawrence in 1354, when it was said
to be in a bad state 7u ; it was ruinous in
1375," and probably fell into disuse, as
it is not again mentioned.
The old church of
CHURCHES ST. LAWRENCE,"
which stands to the west
of the village, is built of flint with stone
dressings. It has now fallen into dis-
repair, having been somewhat unneces-
sarily superseded in 1779 by the present
parish church. It consisted originally
of a chancel and nave built probably in 10 S 0
the 1 2th century. Early in the 13th li*llli-t.f
century a north aisle was added, with an
arcade of two bays. A century later the
nave was pardy rebuilt, the chancel was
rebuilt from the foundations, and a north chapel was
added. At the beginning of the 15th century the
north arcade was destroyed, and one of its arches was
reset in the west end of the chapel. The aisle was
rebuilt a little further to the north, increasing the
57 See below.
6» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
59 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 253.
60 Recov. R. Mich. 2 Will. IV, m.
53. Levi Ames was an alderman of
Bristol.
61 Burke, Landed Gentry ; Clutterbuck,
op. cit. ii, 252.
AYOT ST. LAWRENCE
or GREAT AYOT
width of the nave, and a tower was added at the
north-west.
The church is now roofless, with the exception of
the tower, which retains the flooring of the upper
stage, with moulded wall plates. The walls are being
torn to pieces by ivy, and the north wall of the chancel
is badly out of the perpendicular. The chancel,
of which the south and east walls are now almost
completely destroyed, has at the south-west the
western jambs of an internal wall recess and of a
window set in it. The chancel opens into the north
chapel by a two-centred chamfered arch of the early
14th century with shafted jambs and moulded abaci,
which is now leaning badly.
The chancel arch, now destroyed, was of the same
character and date. The shafted jambs remain.
The north chapel has an east window of three
lights, and in the north wall are two two-light pointed
windows with hollow-moulded jambs ; very little of
the tr.icery remains in the heads. The south wall is
mainly occupied by the opening of the arch into the
chancel already described. On the west the chapel
communicates with the north aisle through a 1 3th-
century arch, reset, which was formerly one of the
arches of the north arcade. The arch, which is of
two moulded orders, is very badly out of true. The
responds consist of circular shafts with foliate capitals.
A small much defaced figure is inserted in the wall
over the north jamb of the arch, and at the north-
east of the chapel are a large moulded image bracket
and an ogee-headed piscina now blocked. At the
north-west is a rough recess, with what appear to be
the remains of a flue.
The nave is not separated structurally from the
aisle, and the north-western bay is covered by the
tower. The windows, two in the south wall and one
in the west wall, are all 15th-century insertions, and
NORTH
T0WER|:j; AIslE ijjjNORTH CHAPEL
CHANCEL
DESTROYED
J2T"CENT^14THC
13THCENT^15™C
scale or PEET □ flODERN
Plan of Ayot St. Lawrence Old Church
very little of their tracery and none of the mullions
remain. The south door retains work of the 1 2th
century in the lower part of the internal jambs, but
the rest of it is of the 14th century. There is a
blocked door at the west end. The aisle has one
69 Ibid. 324a, m. 25.
70 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill,
no. 4.5.
71 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, no. 28.
72 Dimensions : chancel, 30 ft. 6 in. by
16 ft. 6 in. ; north chapel, 30 ft. 6 in. by
14 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 29 ft. by 18 ft. ; aisle,
14 ft. by 15 ft. ; tower, 12 ft. square.
62 Walford, County Families
(1907).
63 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57,
p. 474.
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser.
2), cccl
04 (2).
65 Cal. Chart. R. 1 2 26-; 7,
p. 474.
66 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Cor
n.), 163.
67 Rot. Hand. (Rec, Com.),
1, 192.
68 Assize R. 323.
6l
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
window in the north wall, of the 15th century, with
scanty remains of tracery. The tower, which is of
three stages and embattled, opens to the aisle on the
east and to the nave on the south side by early
15th-century high two-centred arches of three
chamfered orders with shafted jambs. On the north
are a small door and a two-light window, both of the
15 th century, and on the west a window, now
blocked, which was apparently the west window of
the aisle before its widening ; and at the south-west
are traces of a stair-turret, which has been de-
stroyed. The windows of the bell chamber are, in
common with the rest of the tower, of early 15th-
century date, and are much mutilated. They are of
two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over, in a two-
centred head. The tower contains one bell.
The font, which is very much broken, is of early
and burials from 1800 to 181 2 ; (iv) marriages from
1756 to 1810.
The modern church of ST. LAWRENCE in Ayot
Park was built in 1778 by Sir Lionel Lyde, bart., and
consecrated in 1779. It was designed by Nicholas Revett
in the classical style, and consists of an apsidal chancel
and nave with a gallery at the west end.
The church of Ayot St. Law-
ADVOWSQN rence is first mentioned in the
Taxation made by Pope Nicholas IV
in 1 291." The advowson is found pertaining to
the manor in 1383, when it was conveyed to
Thomas Barre," and, from lack of contrary evidence,
it may be presumed that it had always passed with
the lordship of the manor. After this date the
advowson followed the descent of the manor, except
in 1429, when the presentation was made by the
Avot St. Lawrence Old Church from the South-east
15th-century date, and has an octagonal panelled
bowl. In the north-west corner of the tower is an
altar tomb with panelled sides and the mutilated and
defaced remains of the effigies of a knight and lady.
The work is of early 15th-century date. In the
recess of the blocked window in the tower is a defaced
mural monument of 1626 to Nicholas Bristowe, with
small kneeling effigies of alabaster.
The plate, now used in the new church, includes
a cup of 1659 and a paten of 1696.
The registers are contained in four books : (i) all
entries from 1566 to 1720 ; (ii) baptisms from I 720
to 1799, burials from 1 7 1 8 to 1799, with a hiatus
from 1727 to 1 73 1, and marriages from 1716 to
1754., with a hiatus from 1728 to 1738 ; (iii) baptisms
king." In 1505, when the manor was divided
between three heirs, the advowson was held in turn/6
but the whole came to Sir William Say in 1 508."
In 1697 presentation was made by George Halsey,
who appears with Elizabeth Bristowe, lady of the
manor, in a recovery of 1714.78 Since then it has
followed the descent of the manor to the present day,
Mr. L. G. Ames being the present patron.
A terrier of 1638 states that the parsonage was
surrounded by a close of two acres, with 'one litle
Pikle and a spot of ground cald the Orchyarde.' The
glebe lands then consisted of \\\ acres besides the
churchyard, half an acre lying in Sandridge, and
included closes called Hyemares and Kingsland."
In 1693 the parsonage-house was said to be ' new
73 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37.
74 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Ric. II, no.
75 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 533.
76 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B. 257, 258
77 Ibid. B. 254, 255, 275,
62
78 Recov. R. Trin. 1 3 Anne.
79 Herts. Gen, and Antia. ii, 70.
Avot St. Lawrence Old Church : Remains of North Chaeel and Aisle
Ayot St. Lawrence Old Church: 15th-century Tomb
BROADWATER HUNDRED ayot st. peter
built,' and gardens and orchards lately planted.
The half-acre or 3 roods in Sandridge was then
known as Penly Park.80
The school, referred to in deeds of
CHARITIES 11 May 1837 and 26 March 1872,
was erected by Lionel Lyde, and en-
dowed by the Rev. John Olive, who died in 1 8 5 1 , with
£1,000 consols, which is now held by the official
trustees. The annual dividend, amounting to £25,
is applicable in the instruction of children of the
Sunday and day school in the doctrines of the Church
of England.
AYOT ST. PETER
Little Ayot or Ayot Montfichet, Aiete (xi cent.) ;
Yate, Hayate (xiii cent.) ; Ayete (xv cent.) ; Eyott
(xvi cent.).
The parish of Ayot St. Peter has an area of
1,093 acres, of which 666 acres are under cultivation,
14.0I are grass and 2| wood.1 The elevation of the
parish above the ordnance datum is from 300 ft. to
400 ft., rising to just over 400 ft. about the centre,
where the church and rectory are situated. The
lowest point is on the north, where the little River
Mimram forms the boundary for some distance.
The subsoil is chalk and gravel and the surface soil
chalk ; there are several chalk-pits in the parish.
The manor-house, church of St. Peter and the rectory
are situated on a branch road, half a mile north-west
of the village, which is on the main road at Ayot
Green. Ayot Place, now a farm-house, was probably
built by Sir George Perient, lord of the manor, as it
bears his arms and the date 161 5. It is a 17th-
century house of timber and plaster (now partly
cased with brick) with a tiled roof and is of the
|_ plan, though much repaired in the 19th century.
The wing facing north contains the entrance with
staircase and living rooms, the wing facing east com-
prises the hall with a gallery now used as the kitchen.
On a frieze in the hall are five shields bearing the
arms of Perient, Brockett and Boteler quartering
Kilpee and the date 161 5 in the middle. There are
two chimney stacks with twisted shafts and moulded
capitals. Ayot Bury, the seat of Sir Alfred James
Reynolds, J. P., is an old house, much altered and
enlarged, standing in a small park.
There is a railway station at Ayot, opened in 1877,
on the Luton and Hatfield branch of the Great
Northern railway. The main road between Hitchin
and London passes through Ayot Green, and forms
the boundary at the south-east corner of the parish.
Large farms in this parish are Linces Farm, Ryefield
Farm and Ayot Place Farm.
Place-names occurring in the 16th century are
Fyncesfeld or Fincheleyfeld, Smythescroft, Dryvers
and Okkelmede.u
There was a great flood in the parish in February
1795, owing to the overflow of the Lea and Mimram.2
King Edward the Confessor granted
MANORS the manor of AYOT ST. PETER or
ATOT MONTFITCHET to two of his
MONTFITCHET.
Gules three chrveront or.
thegns, but after the Conquest it formed part of the lands
of Robert Gernon, and was held as z\ hides by William
his man, who is said to have taken it ' by encroach-
ment to the king's wrong, but he called on his lord
as warrantor.' 3 The estates of Robert Gernon were
granted in the reign of Henry I to William de
Montfitchet,4 in whose family
Ayot St. Peter descended in
the same manner as Letch-
worth (q.v.), and came to
Richard Montfitchet, who
died without issue about 1258.
His heirs were his three sisters
— Margery, who married
Hugh de Bolebek, Avelina
the wife of William de Forti-
bus, last Earl of Albemarle,
and Philippa wife of Hugh
de Pleys.5 The manor of
Ayot St. Peter fell to the
share of Margery and Hugh de Bolebek, and upon
the partition between their four daughters c to the
second, Margery, the wife of Nicholas Corbet, who
held the manor in 1 277-8. 7 Nicholas died in
1280,8 and the king took Ayot St. Peter into his
hands with the other Corbet lands, but Margery
received Ayot back in the following year upon the
plea that the Montfitchet lands were her own in-
heritance.9 Margery married secondly Ralph Fitz
William,10 and they in 1286 conveyed the manor
to Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells,11 a
quitclaim having previously being made to him by
John de Zelaund,12 whom they had enfeoffed of the
manor.13 The bishop probably conveyed the manor
to Robert de Lacy, for Amice de Lacy his widow was
assessed for it in 1303.14 In 1307 an action was
brought by John de Lancaster, the son of Margery
Fitz William's eldest sister Philippa, who claimed that
Ralph and Margery had exceeded their rights in
granting more than half the manor to John de
Zelaund,16 but there is no evidence that he made good
his claim to the other half.
Upon the death of Amice or Avice de Lacy 16
the manor was divided between her daughters Joan
and Amice. The name of Ayot Montfitchet was kept
by the moiety which fell to Amice the second daughter,
who married John Poleyn. He is referred to as lord
80 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 71.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
'a Add. R. 35325-35330.
2 Cussans, op. cit. Broadiuater Hund.
250. 3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 323a.
4 V.C.H. Essex, i, 347.
5 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R. 2.
6 Close, 52 Hen. Ill, m. 8.
7 Cal. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, 508 ; Assize
R. 323. The other three daughters of
Hugh de Bolebek were Philippa wife of
Roger de Lancaster, Alice wife of Walter
de Huntercombc and Maud wife of Hugh
de la Valle.
8 Cal. Inq. p.m. Ediv. I, 508.
» Ibid. ; Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 88.
10 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com .), 303.
11 Feet of F. Div. Co. 14 Edw. I,
no. 31.
12 Ibid. 13 Edw. I, no. 14.
13 Ibid. 10 Edw. I, no. 47 ; Lansd.
Chart. 93.
63
" Feud. Aids, ii, 430 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 25. In the inquisi-
tion she is called Advitia (Avice) widow of
Robert de Lacy.
15 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 303.
>6 She is also called Matilda in the
pedigree given in De Banco R. 4
Hen. VI, m. 124; see Wrottesley, Fed.
from the Plea R. 328. She married
secondly William Baudewyn according to
this pedigree.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of the manor in 1323.17 Amice died seised in 1349,
when her moiety passed to her son John,18 who is
said to have died without issue.19 In 1359 it was
held by Katharine Poleyn,20 who was perhaps his
widow. It is said to have descended to Rose wife of
John Fish as daughter of John son of Michael son
of Agnes daughter of Amice Poleyn.21 Rose Fish
granted it for life to Christine Poleyn, who was
probably her mother.-3 After the death of Christine
William Sakevyle, who had been enfeoffed of the
manor, granted it in 1 41 4 to Rose and John Fish
her husband,23 from whom it passed to another John
Fish, who died in 1 494, his wife Katherine Wotton
being attainted and imprisoned at Norwich Castle
for the wilful murder of her husband.24 Ayot Mont-
fitchet was inherited by his brother, presumably the
William Fish who died seised of it in 1 5 3 1 . He
was succeeded by his son Thomas,25 who held the
manor until his death in 1553.26 Thomas's son
George Fish held Ayot jointly with his mother
Elizabeth,27 who married
secondly William Perient,
whence it came to her son
George Perient,28 who was
holding it in 1614.29 George
Perient's daughter Mary
married Nicholas Trott, who
in 1623 conveved the half-
manor to William Hale 30 of
King's Walden,31 and in 1624
they both granted it to Michael
Grigge,32 who in 1632 con-
veyed it to Rowland Hale, son
of William.33 From him it
passed to his son William Hale,
whose widow Elizabeth was the holder in 1700.34
It remained in the Hale family until 1832,35 when
it is said to have been sold to Viscount Melbourne,
the holder of the Westington moiety (q.v.).
The so-called manor of WESTINGTON consisted
of the moiety of the original manor of Ayot St. Peter
which fell to Joan the elder daughter of Amice de
Lacy, and took the name of Westington a little later
from the family which held it. Joan de Lacy may be
identical with Joan the wife of Ralph de Bredon, who
in 1332 granted the half-manor to James de Bredon,36
probably in trust. In 1349 it was held by John de
Westwycombe,37 who was probably the son of Joan.38
From John it came to his daughter Margaret, the
wife of William Westington,39 who gave his name
che'veron or battled on
both sides.
to this moiety, which extended into the neighbouring
parish of Welwyn. Margaret was apparently unjustly
disseised by John and Rose Fish, the holders of
Ayot St. Peter or Montfitchet, for in 1426 there was
a suit between them for its recovery, in which the
former was evidently successful in establishing her
title.40 Margaret Westington married secondly
Thomas Galyon, and upon her death the manor
came to her daughter Margery, who married Thomas
Foxlee. Their daughter Elizabeth conveyed it by
marriage to Thomas Uvedale, who was seised of it
with his son and heir Henry, who predeceased his
father in 1469. Thomas died in 1474 and was
succeeded by his second son William Uvedale.41
By 1487 Westington had come into the possession of
Thomas Rogers, probably by purchase, and upon his
death in the following year it came to his daughter
Elizabeth, the wife of William Essex,42 who in 1 508
conveyed it to Sir William Say.43 The estates of
Sir William Say descended through his daughter
Elizabeth to Gertrude Marchioness of Exeter,44 who
was attainted in 1539, when her lands were forfeited
to the Crown.45 In 1 546 they were granted to
Sir Nicholas Throckmorton,46 who sold Westington
with other manors to Sir John Brockett of Brockett Hall
in 1555.47 He was succeeded by his son and his
grandson John, the latter's heirs being five daughters.48
Helen wife of Sir Richard Spencer is found in
possession of a quarter of the manor in 1599,49 but
eventually the whole came to
the fifth daughter Mary. She
conveyed it in marriage to
Sir Thomas Reade, who was
holding it in 161 5. 50 They
had a son Thomas,51 probably
the father of Sir John Reade,
who presented to the church
in 16S6.52 Sir James Reade,
his son, was holding it in
I700,53and in 1728 it was
in the possession of Sir James's
youngest daughter Love, who
married Sir Thomas Wym-
ington.54 The latter died in
1746, and Westington was
sold after his death to Sir
Matthew Lamb,55 who in 1768 was succeeded by
his son Peniston Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne.
His son William Lord Melbourne86 was the first
Prime Minister of Queen Victoria, and succeeded to
L A
a b , Viscount
Melbou
me. Sablea
f:„,
rminois between
three c
tn9fotls argent
with tm
0 mo/ets sable on
thefesse
17 Inq. a.q.d. 16 Edw. II, no. 100.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 14.2.
19 Wrottesley, Ted. from the Plea R. 328.
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 39.
21 De Banco R. 4 Hen. VI, m. 124..
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 459.
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxii, 15.
26 M.I. in church of Avot St. Peter.
27 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 & 7 Eliz.
28 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
157 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3 Jas. I.
29 Pat. 12 Jas. I, pt. 22.
30 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 21 Jas. I.
31 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 157.
32 Ibid. trin. 22 Jas. I ; Add. Chart.
55377. 35378-
88 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 62 5
Add. Chart. 35379, 353S0; Feet of F.
Herts. Trin. 8 Chas. I.
31 Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. (1 700), ii, 3 5.
35 Salmon, op. cit. 207 ; Cussans, op.
cit. Broadwater Hand. 245.
36 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Edw. Ill,
no. 99.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 142.
38 See Wrottesley, PeJ. from the Plea
R. 328.
39 Ibid.
« De Banco R. 4 Hen. VI, m. 124.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 26.
42 Ibid. (Ser. 2), iv, 29.
43 Feet of F. Herts. East. 23 Hen. VII.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
'' Ibid, lxxiii, 93. The manor was
claimed by Gertrude's cousin and heir
Lady Anne Bourchier, as appears by her
inquisition, but she can never have held
it, as it was regranted before Gertrude's
death (ibid, clvii, 82).
46 Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. viii, m. 39.
47 Pat. I & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. i ;
Feet of F. Herts. East 1 & 2 Phil, and
Mary; Add. Chart. 35327-35330.
4S Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 32.
49 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 41 Elit
50 Pat. 13 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
51 Visit. ofHr.'s. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 162.
52 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
53 Chauncy, op. cit. (1700), ii, 35 ; see
Exch. Dep. Trin. 6 Anne, no. 7.
54 Salmon, op. cit. (1728), 207 ; Add.
Chart. 35375.
bi Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 361. A
certain Henrietta, wife of Samuel M.isham,
apparently had some interest in the manor
which she quitclaimed in 1746 to Henry
Hoare (Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 20
Geo. II). 56 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
64
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Cowter, Earl Cow-
per. Argent three mart-
lets gules and a chief
en gr a i I e d gules with
his father's estates in 1828. He acquired from
William Hale in 1832 the other moiety of the
manor,5' known as Ayot St. Peter or Ayot Montfitchet,
and thus the whole of the original manor was once
again united in the same hands. Upon his death in
1 848 his estates passed to his brother Frederick James,'18
and from him through his sister Amelia, who married
Peter Leopold fifth Earl
Cowper, to their son George
Augustus in 1853. In 1856
Ayot St. Peter came to
Francis Thomas de Grey
Cowper, the last earl, who
died in 1905.59 The manor
then passed to the younger of
his two sisters, Lady Amabel
Kerr, who died in 1906,
when it came to her husband,
Admiral Lord Walter Kerr.6"
In I 277-8 Nicholas Corbett
owed suit at the county court
and aid to the sheriff" of 5/. a
year.111 In 1 349 this suit was
said to be owed every month with the same aid, and
suit at the hundred court every three weeks.65
George Perient obtained a grant of court leet and
view of frankpledge twice a year in Ayot Montfitchet
in 1614.63 Nicholas Throckmorton apparently re-
ceived the same rights in Westington when he
obtained that manor in 1 546." Free warren was
granted to Sir Thomas Reade in Westington in
1615.65
Ayot Montfitchet was fined in 1655 for having
lacked stocks for a twelvemonth past.66
The church of ST. PETER has been
CHURCH rebuilt more than once. At the latter
part of the 17th century considerable
alterations were made in the church then existing, and
in the middle of the 18th century the church was re-
built. The church then erected was an octagonal
brick building with a detached belfry forming the
entrance to the churchyard. This church was rebuilt
in a little more appropriate style in 1862. On
10 July 1874 this building was struck by lightning
and burnt to the ground. As the church was some
distance from the village the new building was
erected on its present site. The new church was
built from contributions principally from Earl Cowper
and Mr. George Robinson of Ayot Bury, from designs
BALDOCK
by J. P. Seddon. It is a red brick building with
Bath stone dressings and a tiled roof, and consists of
an apsidal chancel with organ chamber on the south
side, nave, north porch and tower.
There are six bells by Warner of London, 1875,
the gift of Dr. Jephson of Leamington. The plate
includes a silver chalice and paten of the time of
Charles I.
The registers are in three books : (i) baptisms
and burials 1668 to 1773, marriages 1 668 to 1753 ;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1773 to 1812 ; (iii)
marriages 1754 to I Si 2.
The advowson of Ayot St. Peter
ADVOWSON Church seems to have belonged to the
lords of the manor from the earliest
times, for it is mentioned as belonging to the lord as
early as I282.L7 When the manor was divided
between the daughters of Amice de Lacy the advowson
went to the elder branch,68 but by 1488 it was
apparently held alternately, for Thomas Rogers69 and
later Sir William Say '" were only possessed of half.
A short time previous to 1728 the advowson was
sold to Ralph Freeman and his heirs,71 in whose
family it descended until Katherine, the daughter of
William Freeman, conveyed it in marriage to the
Hon. Charles Yorke, whose son Philip became Earl
of Hardwicke in 1790" and presented to the rectory
in 1 804." From him it passed to his eldest daughter
Anne, the wife of John Earl of Mexborough.74
Lord Mexborough held the advowson until 1843,
after which his widow presented until 1852, when it
was sold to the Rev. Edwin Prodgers. On the death
of the latter in 1861 the advowson came to his son
Edwin Prodgers, who nominated himself to the rectory,
but later relinquished Holy Orders.75 The presenta-
tion remained in his hands until 1906, when it was
acquired by Miss Wilshere, who is the present
patron.
John Henry Peacock, by will,
CHARITIES proved in the P.C.C. in December
1849, bequeathed so much stock as
would produce ^ioa year for education and £10 a
year for the poor in clothing, blankets and fuel on
Christmas Day. The legacies are represented by
£333 6s. 8</. consols and ^3 3 3 6s. Sd. consols, now
producing £8 6s. 8./. for each purpose. The sums of
stock are held by the official trustees ; the charity for
education is regulated by a scheme of the Board of
Education, 4 May 1905.
BALDOCK
Baudac (xii cent.) ; Baldac (xiii cent.) ; Baldoke
(xvi cent.). The parish of Baldock has an area of
263 acres, of which if acres are arable land,
56J acres permanent grass, and 4 acres wood.1 Under
the provisions of the Divided Parishes Act, 1876,
portions of neighbouring parishes have been added to
Baldock for civil purposes at various times.' Some
small portions of the parish on the west and a part of
the ecclesiastical parish of Willian (now included in
the civil district of Baldock) were acquired by the
First Garden City Pioneer Co., Ltd., in 1903.
Baldock is about 200 ft. above the ordnance datum.
57 See above.
53 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
53 Burke, Peerage (1907).
60 Information from the Rev. Canon H.
Jephson. 61 Assize R. 323.
62 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 142.
63 Pat. 12 Jas. I, pt. xxii, no. 18.
64 Ibid. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. viii, m. 39.
65 Ibid. 13 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
66 Add. R. 35380.
67 Feet of F. Div. Co. 10 Edw. I, no. 47.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Edw. Ill, no. 99 ;
7 Hen. V, no. 39 5 Chan. Inq. p.m.
4 Edw. IV, no. 26.
69 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iv, 29.
7U Feet of F. Herts. East. 23 Hen. VII.
71 Salmon, op. cit. (1728), 207.
71 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
73 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
u G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
75 Cussans, op. cit. (1877), Broadivatrr
Ilund. 250.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
2 Portions of Bygrave, Clothall, Norton,
Weston and Willian were added by Loc.
Govt. Bd. Order 13027.
65
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The subsoil of the parish is chalk. Baldock station,
on the Cambridge branch of the Great Northern
railway, is in the extreme north of the parish.
Part of the hamlet of Clothall End is included in
the north-east of the parish. Elmwood Manor is a
large house surrounded by a park, situated to the
south of that end of the town known as Pembroke
End, and is the residence of the lord of the manor of
Baldock.
At the time of the Domesday Survey
BOROUGH BALDOCK was a part of Weston
(q.v.) and consequently then belonged
to William de Ow.3 A little before the middle of
the I 2th century Gilbert de Clare Earl of Pembroke,
who died in I 148, granted 10 librates of land from
road from Stevenage. This would indicate that the
ordinary route here from south to north was along
the Stevenage road through the High Street, Baldock,
at the northern end of which it turned almost at a
right angle down what is now White Horse Street
and so into the Roman road. The borough was
established at the angle formed by the High Street and
White Horse Street, the church of St. Mary being
built on the west side of the angle and the market-
place apparently extending originally up both streets.
Here also the fairs were held.
Besides the two principal streets High Street and
White Horse Street, Church Street, Norton Street,
and Hitchin Street6 probably mark mediaeval lines.
There are a few interesting houses in these streets.
Baldock Village
his manor of Weston to the Knights Templars with
ample liberties.4 These 10 librates became the parish
of Baldock, and here the Templars, probably about
1 1 99 when they received a grant of market and fair
(see below),5 ' built a certain borough which is called
Baldock.' This was a period for the founding and
developing of towns with primitive borough rights,
and Baldock, being on one of the principal lines of
traffic to the north, formed a very eligible site for a
market town. It may be noticed that Baldock is not
actually on the Roman road which followed the line
of Pesthouse Lane to the east, but lies on the main
In High Street are Wynne's almshouses built in 162 I,
consisting of a row of six red brick houses with tiled
roofs. Each house is of two stories with a mullioned
window below and a dormer window above and a
porch. There are modern shafts to the three ancient
chimney stacks. Above the mullioned windows is the
date anno domini 1621, and in the middle there is
the following inscription on a stone : ' Theis almes
howeses are the gieft of Mr. John Wynne cittezen and
mercer of London latelye deceased who hath left a
yearely stipend to everey poore of either howses to the
worldes end September Anno Domini I 620.' On the
s V.C.H. Herts, i, 327*.
4 Dugdale, Mon. vii, 820.
5 Chart. R. 1 John, pt. ii, m. 3,
6 There is reference to the foil
inns and other houses in Baldock :
'Crown' (1561) (Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
3 & 4 Eliz.) ; 'George' (Chan. Proc.
10. 3. [Ser. 2.], bdle. 282.no.2S); the 'Swan*
•wing (1557) (Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 & 4
The Phil, and Mary); the 'Tabard' (1537)
66
(L. and P. Hen. Fill, xii [2], 1247) ;
Floryes in Brede Street (Early Chan.
Proc. bdle. 41, no. 44) ; le Cokestret,
1533 (Add. MS. 36349).
BROADWATER HUNDRED
south side are the arms of the Merchant Adventurers,
and on the north a shield of the Mercers' Company.
Southward a little lower down is a modern house
with a wing on the south side having an overhanging
upper story. In this wing is a gateway with a pair
of I 5th-century panelled oak gates which are supposed
to have belonged to the hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene of Clothall, and were placed in their
present position in the 19th century. Two houses on
thesouth sideof White Horse Street, formerly occupied
by the postmaster, are ancient. That on the west has a
modern front of brick, but the back is a red brick
building of two stories with an attic probably of the
middle of the 1 6th century. The house is rectangular
in plan with a central chimney stack. A window of
three lights with chamfered brick jambs, mullions and
lintel has recently been discovered on the ground floor
on the west side of the house. There is an original
BALDOCK
Although described as a borough in the charter of
William Marshal Earl of Pembroke (1 189-1219),7
Baldock was never anything but a prosperous market
town. No evidence of burgage tenure has been
found, nor did Baldock ever send members to Par-
liament. The inhabitants had apparently no separate
jurisdiction, but in 1 307 there were two bailiffs who
were officers of the lord's court.3 The Gild of
Jesus was founded in 1459/ and, as appears from
wills, all the principal men and women of the town
were enrolled among its members. It was of con-
siderable wealth, and after its dissolution its possessions
were sold in 1550 for £86o,u a very large sum for
that time. This fraternity probably took over some
of the town organizations, as similar gilds did else-
where.
Like many other towns, Baldock is described in
1550 as a market town much decayed, wherein there
Old House, Cemetery Road, Baldock
stone fireplace in the attic. The house to the east
has been much repaired, but was originally built at
the beginning of the 17th century. The back part
is of half-timber. There are original fireplaces and a
chimney stack. The houses in Church Street and
Norton Street are mostly of the 17th century, many
of them, including the Bull Inn, with overhanging
stories. A house at the corner of Church Street, now
divided into cottages, is a timber-framed house of the
early part of the 17th century. Carved brackets
support the projecting upper story, and in the south
front is a large gateway which has apparently been
heightened in the iSth century to permit the coaches
to pass underneath. It has two original chimney
stacks.
w ere only about 400 ' housling people ' or com-
municants." The town evidently regained its pros-
perity shortly afterwards, judging from the increased
number and importance of its fairs.
In 1 199 King John granted to the Templars
the right of holding a yearly fair at Baldock on
St. Matthew's Day and for four days following 12
(21-25 September), and this grant was confirmed in
1227 by Henry III." In 1492 two fairs were
granted to the Hospitallers at Baldock, one on the
vigil and feast of St. Matthew (20-21 September),
and the other on the vigil, feast and morrow of
St. James the Apostle11 (24-26 July). In 1566
there was another alteration, three fairs being granted
to Thomas Revett on the feasts of St. James,
' Dugdale, Mm. vi, 820.
8 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 53;.
9 L. and P. Hen. VIII, IV1, g. 57S (28).
See Wills, Archdeaconry of St. Albans,
Stoneham 115 d. ; Wallingford 34 d. ;
P.C.C. 30 Blamyr ; 35 Holder ; 7 Porch ;
5 Bennett, &c.
10 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 7. Grant
to John Cock.
11 Chant. Cert. 20, no. 70 ; 27, no. 14.
67
12 Chart. R. 1 John, pt. ii,
no. 3.
13 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- S"
" Pat. 7 Hen. VII, m. 19.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
St. Andrew and St. Matthew u (25 July, 30 Novem-
ber and 2 1 September). Evidently, however, the fair
was extended beyond the actual feast of St. Matthew,
rightfully or not, for in 1 66 1 Samuel Pepys visited
Baldock on 23 September and records that there was
a fair held on that day, and adds ' we put in and eat
a mouthfull of pork which they made us pay 14^.
for, which vexed us much.' 16 Two years later he
visited the town on September 21, and noted that
the fair was 'a great one for cheese and other such
commodities.' " The fairs seem to have been altered
again, as in 1 792 there were five fairs every year,15
horse fairs being held on 7 March, the last Thursday
in May, 5 August, 1 1 December, and a horse and
pleasure fair on 2 October. These are still con-
tinued.19 In the 14th century the fairs seem to have
been the scene of considerable disturbance. In 1312
it is recorded that when Geoffrey de la Lee, the king's
custodian, approached the town of Baldock to collect
the tolls and other profits of the fair, various persons
' at night assaulted him and his men and servants and
took and carried away his goods.'20 Again in 1343
complaint was m.ide that in Herts, 'there are con-
federacies of disturbers of the peace, assaulting, muti-
lating and imprisoning men in fairs and markets and
other places, and that these lately coining to Baldock
prevented the men and servants of Walter de Mauny
from collecting the tolls and other profits of his fair,
assaulted them so that their life was despaired of, and
wickedly killed William de Myners, the king's serjeant-
at-arms, whom the king had sent to keep his pe:.ce at
the fair and arrest any evil-doer found there.' n
A fair was also granted to the ' Leprous Brothers '
of St. Mary Magdalene at Baldock in 1226 until the
king should come of age. It was held on the vigil
and feast of St. Bartholomew !' (23-24 August). As
Henry III declared himself of age in 1227, when he
reached his twentieth year, the fair presumably lapsed
in that year. There is no evidence of its renewal.
A market at Baldock was granted to the Knights
Templars in I 199,23 and con-
firmed in 1227 with certain
liberties, namely, 'that they
shall have three deer and the
feet of the deer every year ;
and they can take them where
they wish either in Essex or
in Windsor Forest by the
view of the Foresters. And
all their horses are to be quit
from tolls or passage money.
And they are not to be dis-
turbed under penalty of
£10."' In 1492 the market,
to be held on Friday, was con-
firmed to the Knights Hospitallers." By the grant
to Thomas Revett in 1566 the day was altered to
Saturday.26 In 1792 the market was held on
w
K N
cross gules
sable.
Argent a
•d a chief
ls Pat. 8 Eliz. pt. iv.
M Pepys' Diary (ed. Whcatley), ii, 107.
« Ibid, iii, 285.
18 Rep. of Roy. Com. on Markets and
Tolls, i, 170. la Ibid, xiii (2), 232.
30 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 541.
81 Ibid. 1343-'!, p. 179.
22 Close, 10 Hen. Ill, m. 19..
33 Chart. R. t John, pt. ii, m. 33;
Chauncy (Hist, of Herts. 377) says that by
3 grant of 1 Hen. Ill it was held on
Wednesday.
21 Chart. R. 1 1 H
no. 226.
» Pat. 7 Hen. VII, m. 19.
26 Ibid. 8 Eliz. pt. iv.
" Rep. on Markets and Tolls, i, 170.
2S Ibid, xiii (2), 233.
» Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Con
2 89.
80 Dugdale, Mon. vii, 820.
31 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 535.
82 Dugdale, Mon. vii, 820.
33 Ibid. S14.
68
Thursday,27 but before 1888 was changed to Friday.88
It is not now held.
The Master of the Templars in 1287 claimed in
Baldock view of frankpledge and freedom from shire
and hundred courts for all pleas. He also claimed to
have his own gaol 'from time immemorial,' with
gallows, tumbrel, pillory, infangentheof and amend-
ment of the assize of bread and ale.29 Earl Gilbert,
when he gave them land on which to build Baldock,
granted them the right of judgement by fire and
water and by battle.30
It is recorded in I 3 I 2 that when Geoffrey de la
Lee, custodian of the Templars' lands, ' approached
the town to hold a view of Frankpledge there, as
was customary, and had attached by Robert Legat
and John atte Water, known bailiffs, measures and
weights found in the town to examine them at the
view, various persons resisted the attachment and
forcibly carried off the weights and measures from
the bailiffs.' 31
Baldock is now governed by an urban district
council. The chief industries of the town are
malting and brewing.
Gilbert de Clare's grant was confirmed
MANOR to the Knights Templars at the beginning
of the 13th century by William Marshal,
Earl of Pembroke, the husband of Gilbert's grand-
daughter Isabel.32 The Templars continued to
hold Baldock until the dissolution of their order
in 1309, when their lands fell to the Crown.33
They were first committed to the custody of
William Inge,34 and a few years afterwards to
Geoffrey de la Lee, who was custodian in 1 3 1 2 3i
Shortly afterwards Baldock was acquired with the
other lands of the Templars
by the Knights Hospitallers.
In 1335 the Hospitallers
granted the ' Court ' of Bal-
dock to John de Blomvill for
ten years, and he in 1343
granted it for two years to
Walter de Mauny.36 The
Hospitallers continued to hold
Baldock until 1540,37 when
it again came into the king's
hands by the dissolution of
their order, and it was granted croa argent.
in 1542 to John Bowles upon
his surrender of a lease of twenty-one years from the
Hospitallers, dating from 1522.38 He seems, how-
ever, to have immediately conveyed it back to the
Crown, for he died in 1543 seised of only a small
portion of it.39 The manor was granted in 1544 to
John Allen and others as security for money lent to
the king to be repaid in one year.40 Later in the
same year it was granted to Sir John Aleyn, Sir John
Champneys, and Ralph Aleyn, aldermen of London.41
In 1556 Sir John Champneys conveyed Baldock to
en. Ill, pt. i, m. 29,
34 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 131.
35 Ibid. p. 535.
36 Chan. Misc. bdle. 62, file 1, no. 7 ;
Cal. Pat. 1343-5. P- '79-
37 Pat. 7 Hen. VII, m. 19 ; Mins.
Accts. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII, no. 114.
38 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvii, 703.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii,
Hen. Vlll,
14.
«L. a
891.
" Ibid. (2), g. 166 (44).
Baldock : View in Hitchin Street
Baldock : Old House in White Horse Street
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Thomas Bowles,42 grandson and heir of the above-
mentioned John Bowles, who sold the manor in 1558
to Thomas Revett.43 Soon after this Justinian Champ-
neys claimed the manor on the grounds that Thomas
Bowles had assured it to him in payment of a debt,44
but he does not seem to have been successful, for Sir
Thomas Revett kept Baldock and it descended about
1583 to his daughter Anne, who married Henry
Lord Windsor of Stanwell.45 Anne sold the manor
in 1606 to James Jeve and John Hurst,46 and in
1 6 14 James conveyed his moiety to John Hurst,47
who died seised of the whole manor in 1 63 5 and
was succeeded by his son John.48 John Hurst son
of the latter died in 1684, his heir being his brother
William, who died in 1699.49 William's son John
sold Baldock to Pierce Cleaver, who was lord of the
manor in 1700.50 Pierce gave it to Charleston of
Sir Charles Cleaver, his brother, who held it in
1728,51 but died young.53 Pierce Cleaver is then
said to have devised it by will to Edward Chester,
Chester. Ermine
chief sable luith a grijjo
passant argent therein.
Gules two crossed szcorJs
or their points doton-
•wards.
son of Robert Chester,53 and Edward sold the manor
in 1755 to Adolphus Meetkerke, whose son Adolphus
was possessed of it in 1 82 1.54 His son Mr. Adolphus
Meetkerke of Julians sold Baldock Manor in 1870
to Mr. Thomas Pryor, who died in 1899. It was
purchased after his death by Mr. Asplan Beldam,
who is the present lord of the manor.55
The parish church 56 of ST. MART
CHURCH THE VIRGIN, which stands in the
centre of the town, is built of flint
rubble with stone dressings. The tower is coated
with Roman cement. Pieces of moulding and
columns of an earlier building are used in the
walls. The roofs of the north chapel and north
aisle are of slate, and those of the rest of the church
of lead.
The church consists of a chancel, north and south
chapels, nave, north and south aisles, west tower, and
north and south porches. The whole of the church
and the tower have embattled parapets, and the
tower is surmounted by a leaden spire on an
octagonal drum.
The east end of the chancel is of the 13th century,
BALDOCK
but the remainder of the chancel, the north chapel,
the nave, north and south aisles, west tower, and
probably the lower part of the south porch were
built about 1330. The south chapel was begun in
the List part of the same century and completed in
the early 1 5 th century ; the clearstory was made
in the 15th century, and the parvise was added at the
same time, when the church was re-roofed. The
north porch was built in the 19th century, when
the whole building was repaired, and the north aisle
and north chape! were re-roofed. The belfry stage
of the tower has been recently restored.
The eastern and earlier portion of the chancel has
an east window of five lights, with tracery above in a
high two-centred head wholly modern ; under this
window on the outside is a 14th-century niche with
a trefoilcd head, having a rebated edge, and the re-
mains of iron hinges. The south window is of
three lights with restored tracery. Between it and
the south-east corner is a double piscina of the I 3th
century. The flat head is probably modern. There
are traces visible externally on the east and north
walls of windows probably dating from the early
part of the 13th century. A break in the thickness
of the north wall of the chancel marks the junction
of the 14th-century work with that of the preceding
century, and to the west of this each side of the
chancel consists of two bays of an arcade which con-
tinues in an unbroken line from the chancel to the
nave. These two bays have two-centred arches of
two chamfered orders with moulded labels on both
sides, and carved heads as stops at the points of
junction. They rest on clustered columns of four
shafts, with rolls between, and moulded capitals and
bases.
The chancel screen, which is in the same line with
those of the chapels, is a fine one in carved oak of
three bays, and two half bays at the north and south
ends. Each complete bay on either side of the
central entrance has four lights above solid lower
panels with tracery in a lofty two-centred head, the
central mullion being much slenderer than those at
the sides. The entrance has a low crocketed ogee
within the two-centred arch, and the original doors
are open, with mullions. The half bays at the sides
simply bisect the design of the complete bays. The
spandrels are solid and are filled with blind tracery.
The cornice is modern. The 15th-century roof
of the chancel has moulded wall plates and ties,
trusses, with tracery in the spandrels. The wall
plates rest on corbels with carved heads.
The north chapel has a modern east window of
five lights, containing fragments of coloured glass,
probably of early 1 5th-century date. The two windows,
each of three lights, in the north wall, are of the
15th century, with repaired tracery. The outside
labels are of the 14th century, re-used. A finely
carved string-course of the 14th century runs across
the east wall. A small modern porch on the north-
*- Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. iv,
m. 39,
" Ibid. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary, pt. xi,
m. 1 8 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 4*5
Phil, and Mary.
41 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 152, no. 8.
4j Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccii, 154 ;
G.E.C. Complete Peerage; Chan. Proc.
Eliz. Bb 1925.
46 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3 Jas. I.
47 Ibid. Trin.
48 Chan. Inq.
132.
tzjas.1.
p.m. (Ser
2), cccclxxv,
5« Ibid.
49 Chauncy, op. cit. 3S2.
51 Salmon, op. cit. 178.
s> Harl. Soc. Pub!, viii, 66.
53 This Robert was the son of Robert
Chester, first husband of Frances Goffe,
who later married Sir Charles Cleaver,
brother of Pierce (Berry, Herts. Gen. 81).
34 Clutterbuck, op.cit. ii, 269; see Recov.
R. Herts. Hil. 26 Geo. Ill, rot. 1S6.
55 Information kindly supplied by Ml
A. Beldam.
56 Dimensions : chancel, 50 ft. 6 in.
by 22 ft. ; north chapel, 36 ft. by 22 ft. ;
south chapel, 28 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 5 nave,
71 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft.; north aisle, 72 ft.
by 22 ft.; south aisle, 71ft. 6 in. by
1 8 ft. ; west tower, 16 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft.
69
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
west replaces the former rood-loft staircase, but the
upper doorway, which is blocked, and part of the
lower doorway remain, the latter in the aisle, just
outside the screen. At the north-east corner of the
chapel is an elaborately carved niche of the 14th
century, which must have been moved to its present
position in the 15th century, when the wide east
window was inserted and the north wall was recessed.
On the south side is a 14th-century piscina with an
ogee cinquefoiled head and a label with crockets and
a foliated finial. No bowl is visible, and a modern
slab has been inserted at the back. The screen of the
chapel consists of a central doorway with four narrow
bays on either side ; all have solid lower panels with
blind tracery and four-centred cinquefoiled recusped
lights, with tracery above carried right up to the line
and resting on plainly moulded corbels. The floor
of this chapel seems to have been lowered, and while
the lower part of the walls is of the 14th the upper
part is of the 15th century. The east window, which
is of five lights in a wide four-centred head, and the
two south windows of three lights are of the 15th
century, but the tracery is modern. Under the
south-east window is a double piscina of the 14th
century with an ogee trefoiled head, which projects
from the wall and has foliated crockets. In range
with it, and also beneath the window, are two sedilia
with similar heads ; the division is repaired with
cement, and the western seat is lower than the
eastern ; all are much mutilated. Over the first
pillar on the north side is an early 1 5th-century carved
bracket.
113 CENT
W^CENT
□Modern
Scale of Feet
Plan of Baldock Church
of the cornice. The doors are repaired, and the
doorway is cinquefoiled in a four-centred head, with
tracery above similar to that in the side bays. It is
of the same date as the screen of the chancel and the
south chapel. The latter is, however, very much
richer, and is designed without a door. It has three
bays on either side of the doorway with elaborately
cusped ogee lights above traceried panels Pinnacles
are introduced into the tracery, which is in a four-
centred head. The screen is elaborately canopied
with imitation of vaulting, and immediately below
the cresting the cornice is adorned with a beautiful
running vine-pattern. The doorway opening is sept-
foiled and recusped and has a twisted stem moulding
running round the outside, from which the crockets
spring. The roof of this chapel is of the 15th
century, similar to that of the chancel, but plainer
The communion table in this chapel is of the 17th
century.
The nave, of which the arcades are continuous
with those of the western portion of the chancel, has
six bays of the 14th century, in excellent preservation.
They are slightly different from the two bays of the
chancel, the two easternmost being rather lower
than the rest. The bases, clustered shafts, capitals
and moulded labels with mask stops, however, are
exactly similar. In the north wall is another rood-
loft door, now blocked. The 15th-century clear-
story, which runs continuously above the arcades
in both nave and chancel, has seven windows on
each side with two-centred heads. The roof, also
of the 15th century, is precisely like that of the
chancel and rests on corbels carved with heads. The
easternmost wall plate is close to the westernmost
70
BROADWATER HUNDRED
of the chancel roof, between two windows of the
clearstory.
The north aisle has three I 5 th-century windows of
three lights with restored tracery, and a modern north
door to the west of them, in the north wall. This
door opens to the north porch, which is also modern.
The west window of three lights has for the most
part modern stonework, but a few old stones remain.
The south aisle has three 15th-century windows in
the south wall and one in the west wall, all of three
lights with repaired tracery. The south doorway of
the 14th century is to the west of the three windows,
and to the west of it is a small 15th-century doorway,
formerly leading to the staircase of the parvise. The
oak door of this doorway is of the 1 5 th century with
a scutcheon for a ring. The south doorway has a
two-centred head. It is chamfered internally, and
has a fine quadruple suite of mouldings on the exterior
side. The south porch has two-light windows on
the east and west. The north-west angle stair turret
and the floor of the parvise have been removed, and
the porch is now open to the roof. A break in the
line of the south wall probably indicates the junction
with a former transept.
The west tower has a two-centred 14th-century
arch of four moulded orders opening to the nave.
The west window of three lights is also of the 14th
century, with a two-centred rear arch, but the tracery
has been much restored in cement, as have the belfry
windows also.
The font is of the 13 th century, and has an
octagonal bowl with beaded edges and a circular stem
flanked by octagonal shafts with moulded bases. Near
the pulpit is a strong mediaeval iron-bound chest.
In the north chapel is a Purbeck marble coffin lid
of the 13th century, with a cross in relief. On the
north wall of the chapel is a brass of a man and his
wife, of about 1400 ; the man is dressed as a forester,
and the lower part of his figure, and the dog at his
feet, together with the inscription, are missing. On
the floor is the brass of a man and his wife, of about
1470. On the north wall are two, one with shrouded
figures of a man and his wife, of c. 1520, the other
an inscription to Margaret Benet, dated 1587.
At the west end of the nave is a brass with a three-
quarter figure of a nun of about 1400. The inscrip-
tion plate is gone and in its place is an inscription to
a rector of Baldock of the date 1 807. On the floor
is also a slab with an indent for a floreated cross.
Near the doorway of the north aisle is a slab with an
inscription in Gothic capitals, of the 14th century.
In the south aisle are the indents of a man and his
two wives, of the 15th century.
Outside the church in the wall of the north aisle
is a 14th-century recess with an ogee arch, of which
the jambs are restored. Set in the recess is a 14th-
century coffin lid with a cross in relief. Also outside
in the wall of the south aisle are two recesses, probably
of the 1 5th century, of which the stonework has been
renewed.
There is a peal of eight bells : (1), (2), (3), (4), (6)
and (7) by Taylor of Loughborough, 1882 ; (5), with
BALDOCK
inscription 'Miles Graye made me, 1650'; and
(8) ' Laudo Deum verum plebem voco, convoco
clerum defunctos ploro nuptus colo festa docoro.
Wm. Goodwyn Jam. Manison ch[urch] wards
171 1.'
The plate includes a cup and cover paten of 1629.
The registers are in six books : (i) all entries
from 1558 to 1709 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from
1 7 10 to 1792 and marriages from 17 10 to 1753 ;
(iii) baptisms and burials from 1793 to 181 2 ; (iv)
(v) and (vi) marriages from 1754 to 1788, 1788 to
1804, and 1804 to 181 2, respectively.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON St. Mary at Baldock belonged to
the Knights Templars, who built
the church, and it continued in their possession until
their suppression in 1309.57 It was then granted,
together with the manor of Baldock, to the Knights
Hospitallers, who in 1335 granted the advowson for
ten years to John de Biomvill.58 The latter in 1343
granted it for two years to Walter de Mauny,55 after
which it presumably reverted to the Hospitallers.
In 1359 it was claimed by the Crown as parcel of
the church of Weston.00 There seems no reason
why the king should have claimed either church at
that time, for both belonged to the Hospitallers ;
however, his claim seems to have been allowed, for
the Crown presented to the church in I383,61and
apparently continued to do so until after 1822.62
The patronage was transferred before 1829 to the
Lord Chancellor.63 The latter held it until 1865,
when it was transferred to the Bishop of Rochester/'4
who presented until I 877, when it was acquired by
the Bishop of St. Albans. Since 1902 the presenta-
tion has been in the hands of the bishop and the
Marquess of Salisbury alternately."5
A terrier of 1638 states that the rectory ' Ioyneth
the churchyard against the west end,' and that it
included ' Five lower roomes, a bakeing or brewhouse,
a hall, two little butteries and a parlour. A loft over
the bakehouse, a chamber over the parlour, a studdie
and a little loft at the staires head.' The outhouses
included a barn and a woodhouse, ' both are thatched
and soe is the one side of the bakehouse and the rest
is tyled.' 66
The Fraternity or Gild of Jesus in the church
of Baldock was founded, as already stated, in 1459,
and the charter confirmed in 1 5 33." At that date
it had a master, wardens, brethren and sisters,03 and
found a priest who helped the parson of the church
in his duties.09 At the inquiry of 1548 William
Tybie was the brotherhood priest, and he assisted the
parson of Baldock in serving his cure.70 In 1550
it was granted, with the lands belonging, to John
Cock.71
Modern Dissent is represented in Baldock by the
Congregational chapel in Whitehorse Street, built in
1826, the Wesleyan chapel also in Whitehorse
Street, the Primitive Methodist chapel in Norton
Street, and the Friends' meeting-house in Meeting
House Lane, and that of the Plymouth Brethren in
Orchard Street. Fox visited Baldock in 1655 and
s? Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 79.
58 Chan. Misc. bdle. 62, file I,
59 Ibid.
m Ibid. no. 8.
61 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 311.
c- Ibid. 1401-5, pp. 345,486 ;
p. 82; 1436-4', P- 493 5 >467-77.
p. 440; 1476-85, pp. 54, 465; Inst.
Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Bacon, Liber Regis.
63 Clerical Guide.
64 Lond. Gaz. Index, 88.
65 Clergy List.
71
66 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 106.
67 L. and P. Hen. VIII, vi, 578 (zS).
™ Ibid.
63 Chant. Cert. 20, no. 70 ; 27, no. 14.
™ Ibid.
71 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 7.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
there is mention of Quakers here from 1660.
Certificates for meeting-places of Protestant Dissenters
were granted at various dates between 1689 and
1819.72
Wynne's Almshouses. — In I 61 7
CHARITIES John Wynne, citizen and mercer
of London, by his will bequeathed
£1,000 for the purchasing and building of six alms-
houses for six poor old folk and 40*. a year, to be
paid to either of the said poor folk unto the world's
end. The devise was carried into effect by a deed
of feoffment, bearing date II July 1623, made in
pursuance of a decree of the Court of Chancery.
Augmentations were subsequently made to the revenues
both of land and stock.
The trust properties now consist of the alms-
houses, occupied by twelve widows, and 5 a. 3 r. 14 p.
in Weston let at £5 1 6s. a year, and cottage and
premises in Whitehorse Street, Baldock, producing
£9 zs. yearly, and £4,050 qs. gd. consols with the
official trustees, producing £101 5/. a year, which
includes £1,133 Js. id. stock arising from sales of
land, and the legacies and gifts following, namely : —
£278 16;. yd. stock, under wills of Grace Mitchell,
1757, and Mary Hill, 1805 ; £600, will of William
Baldock, 1792 ; £200, Mary Hindley, deed, 1837 ;
£97 19/. 2d., Cornelius Pateman Herbert, will,
1834; £100, Mrs. Mary Cecil Cowell, will, 1830 ;
£108 8/., John Pryor, will proved 1853 ;£6o64r. lod.,
Henricus Octavus Roe, will proved 1854; £100,
LawrenceTrustram,will proved I 837; £108 I 3/. I id.,
John Izzard Pryor, will proved 1861 ; £216 \s. \d.,
John Pendred, will proved 1873; £105 zs. 6d.,
Mrs. Juliana Pryor, will proved 1837; and £395 11/.,
Emma Pryor, will proved 1885.
This trust also receives £15 a year from the
Fifteen Houses Charity in respect of a loan of £300.
The charity estates belonging to the town, called
the Fifteen Houses Charity, for the payment of
fifteenths and other purposes, originated under deed
of feoffment, 30 October 1575, whereby Anthony
Fage and James Fage granted to feoffees certain
properties upon trust to apply the rents and profits
thereof for the support and reparation of the parish
church, as also for the bearing and paying of the
fifteenths and other taxes of the inhabitants, and also
for sustaining the burdens and charges of warriors
and soldiers of the inhabitants in or at war for the
defence of the kingdom of England. The trust
properties now consist of houses and cottages in
Baldock, 10 a. of land in Weston, 2 a. 2 r. or there-
abouts in Clothall, and 3 r. 16 p. in the parish of
Bygrave, producing together about £60 a year,
£477 y. id. consols arising from sale of I a. 3 r.
in Bygrave to the Great Northern railway, and
£1,476 js. lid. consols arising from sale of 20 a. 2 r.
in the parish of Willian, producing £48 16s. %d. a year.
The sums of stock are held by the official trustees,
who further hold a sum of £1,000 consols, the
dividends of which are being accumulated to replace
amount expended on the restoration of the parish
church, and a sum of £300 borrowed from Wynne's
almshouses charity. The income of this charity is
now applied in the repairs and other church
expenses.
John Parker of R.idu'ell by deed, 6 January
" Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 568-70.
1604-5, and by his will dated 8 March in the
same year, charged his manor of Radwell with an
annuity of £10 for the distribution of bread among
poor frequenting the church.
In 1797 Miss Jane Brooks by her will, proved in
the Archdeaconry Court of Huntingdon 24 January,
bequeathed £160 for providing bread in this parish
and Hinxworth, and in Biggleswade and Stotfold in
the county of Bedford. The legacy was laid out in
7 a. 3 r. 18 p., situate at Stocking Pelham. The share
of the rent in 1 907 amounted to £1 zs. 3a'., which
is being accumulated.
Poors Money consists of £2 a year, included in the
Fifteen Houses Charity.
In 1692 John Crosse by deed granted an annuity
of £3, issuing out of a messuage in Baldock called
' The George,' for the rector, in consideration of the
donor taking a certain quantity of ground from the
churchyard.
On the inclosure of the parish of Weston in 1798
an allotment of 1 a. 1 r. 37 p. was awarded to the
rector.
By the same Act 1 r. 25 p. was awarded for the
sexton, who receives £2 I is. 6d. from the Fifteen
Houses Charity.
Charities founded by Henricus Octavus Roe. — In
I 841 this donor by deed gave £463 I Jj. consols, the
annual dividends, amounting to £1 1 I is. Sd., to be
applied in the distribution of loaves to the poor every
Sunday (after divine service) who attend church
regularly.
In 1849 t^le same donor by deed gave £600
consols, the annual dividends, amounting to £15, to
be applied in the distribution of bread, fuel, clothing
and small sums of money.
The same donor gave £200 consols for the National
school.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees, who also hold a sum of £1,051 \s. zd.
consols, known as Roe's Almshouse Foundation, pro-
ducing £26 5/. 4</. yearly, to be distributed half-
yearly between two married couples of not less than
fifty years of age, poor members of the Established
Church, who occupy two almshouses founded by the
donor in I 85 I.
The last-mentioned charity was augmented by
£98 17/. gd. consols (also with the official trustees),
producing £2 gs. \d. yearly, derived under the will
of Mrs. Emma Pryor, proved at London 2 1 September
1885.
Henricus Octavus Roe, likewise by his will, proved
in 1854, bequeathed £606 ^s. lod. consols as a
further endowment of Wynne's almshouses. See above.
In 1S34 Cornelius Pateman Herbert by his will,
proved in the P.C.C., bequeathed £97 3/. \d. consols,
the annual dividends, amounting to £2 8/. \d., to be
applied with money usually collected at the sacrament
among poor who regularly attend church and lead
good lives.
In 1838 William Clarkson by will, proved in the
P.C.C., left £102 3/. ^d. consols, the annual dividends
of £2 I is. to be applied in the repair of the founder's
tomb, £1 to the rector for a sermon on 18 February
yearly and i>s. to the singers.
In 1S39 Robert Pryor by his will, proved in the
P.C.C., bequeathed £2131 zs. \d. consols, producing
£5 6s. 8d. yearly, to be applied for the benefit of the
poor.
72
Baldock Church : The Nave looking East
Baldock Church : South Chapel Screen
BROADWATER HUNDRED
In i8;6 Kitty Cooch by her will, proved in the
P.C C, left £47 Js. \d. consols, the annual dividends,
amounting to /i 3/. 8^., to be distributed on
St. Thomas's Day in flannel, warm clothing, or fuel
to four poor widows who (if able) habitually attend
divine service.
In 1870 the Rev. John Smith by his will, proved
at London, bequeathed £100 consols, the annual
dividends of £2 lev. to be paid to the rector for a
sermon to be preached on 26 March each year, or
the Sunday following, on certain texts, and a certain
Psalm or hymn to be sung, as prescribed in the
will.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
BENINGTON
trustees, who also hold a sum of £193 9/. yd. consols,
arising under the will of Thomas Veasey, the annual
dividends, amounting to £4 16/. Sd., to be applied
for the benefit of all almshouses existing in the parish.
The National school, comprised in deed 1834, was
in 1909 possessed of the following endowments,
namely: — £103 7/. 2d. consols, by will of Mrs.
Elizabeth Pryor ; £100 consols, being a gift by
Mrs. Hindley ; £22 3/. yd. consols, under will of
Mrs. Emma Pryor ; and £60 consols, arising from
accumulations of income. Also £200 consols, from
a gift of Henricus Octavus Roe, above mentioned.
Most of the consols have now been sold out to meet
the cost of the recent enlargement of the school.
BENINGTON
Belintone (xi cent.) ; Beninton (xii cent.) ; Beniton
(xiv cent.).
The parish of Benington has an area of 3,060
acres, of which 1,769 acres are arable land, 8 3 S^ acres
permanent grass, and 1 29! acres wood.1 The greater
part of the parish is over 300 ft. above the ordnance
datum, and rises at two points in the north at the upper
end of the village, and in the east where Benington
Lodge is situated, to over 400 ft. The River Beane
forms the western boundary of the parish and the
road from Walkern to Watton runs parallel to it. The
road from Aston to Benington crosses this, and in
the centre of the latter village divides, turning north
to meet another branch from the Walkern road, and
south towards Hebing End and Whempstead. No
railway passes through the parish, the nearest station
being Knebworth, 4J miles south-west. The subsoil
is chalk and clay.
There are many chalk-pits in the parish, six of
which are still in use, and two gravel-pits in the south-
west. The village stands upon a hill, with St. Peter's
Church, the manor-house called the Lordship, and
the remains of the castle surrounded by a moat stand-
ing in a park on the western side of the road. On
the south side of the village green is a row of 16th-
century timber and plaster and tiled cottages. One
of them, known as the Priest's House, has the timber
work exposed. The rectory, which stands to the north
of the church, is an interesting brick house of two
stories with attics. Over the main entrance is the
date 1637, which probably indicates the date of
building. Towards the end of the 17th century a
wing was added at the back and further additions have
been made in more recent years. It contains original
staircases with square newels and turned balusters and
some good 18th-century panelling. Attached to the
rooms on the first floor are ' powder closets.'
Beyond the village to the north the road rises to
Box Hall, with Cabbage Green a short distance to the
east. Along the road turning south-east from the
centre of the village is Benington Place, surrounded
by a large park, the residence of Mr. Richard Har-
greaves, J. P., and south of it the hamlet of Hebing
End, in which is Benington House, the residence of
Mrs. Parker, widow of the late Rev. James Dunne
Parker, LL.D., D.C.L. To the west of Hebing
End is Burn's Green, and to the south Cutting
Hill. Great Brookfield Common, Lamsden Com-
mon, and Leatherfield Common lie in the south of
the parish, with Small Hopes Wood and Stocking
Spring to the north of the last. Moon Leys Spring
is on the south-eastern border. Slipes Farm is
situated a little to the west of the Lordship Park.
The inclosure award made in 1858 is in the
custody of the rector.2
Field-names mentioned in 1638 are Dane Field,
Peate Croft, Puckellshedge Field, Great and Little
Brooke Field, Lether Field, Popp-hill Field, Badd-
meads, Paddocks Penn, Ox Shott Hill, Stocking Corner
Shott, Chisill Hill, Beaddales Bush, Langdale Shott,
Stowdale and Rowdale Shott.3
Nothing is known of the history of
CASTLE BENINGTON CASTLE. The earth-
works may have been thrown up by Peter
de Valognes, when Benington became the head of
the Valognes barony.4 They were in all probability
defended in the usual way by a timber tower on
top of the mound or 'motte,' which was surrounded
by a moat. There was a bailey to the east and
within an outer ward on the south the church
may have been included.8 Roger de Valognes, son
of Peter, was a partisan of Geoffrey de Mandeville
during the period of anarchy in Stephen's reign. He
was present with Mandeville at Stephen's celebrated
Easter court in 1 I 36, and died in 1 141 or 1 142. It
was this Roger who probably built the masonry works
of the castle, upon the earthworks possibly thrown up
by his father, for had the earthworks been made in
his time they would not have settled sufficiently
to carry the masonry walls in Stephen's reign. The
keep (turns) of the castle was destroyed by Henry II
as an adulterine or unlicensed castle in 1 177, the
charge for the 1 00 picks used in its demolition being
rendered in the Exchequer accounts.6 The castle,
which as a masonry building can only have had an
existence for some forty years, was never rebuilt." The
ruins, which yet remain above the ground, consist of
the bottom courses of the 1 2th-century keep, destroyed
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
3 Blue Bk. Incl. A-wards, 63.
3 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 108-9.
* See Assize R. 323 ; Plac. de Qui
Warr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
5 For an account of the earthworks of
the castle see V.C.H. Herts, ii, 112.
6 Pipe R. 23 Hen. II, m. 9.
7 In the extents of the manor in the
14th and 15th centuries there i« do refer-
7.1
ence to the castle, only a capital messuage
is returned (Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II,
no. 43; 11 Hen. VI, no. 38; 11
Edw. IV, do. 57).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in 1177, rising only to a height of about 2 ft. 6 in.
above the ground. It measures about 44 ft. by
41 ft. externally, the walls, which are of flint rubble
with ashlar dressings, being from 7 ft. to 8 ft. in
thickness with two pilaster buttresses about 4 ft. wide
projecting 2 ft. at each angle and one in the middle
of each wall. The bailey was surrounded by a curtain
wall, fragments of which have been found.
Although the castle was abandoned, the lords of
Benington continued to have a residence here probably
on the site of the existing house.
BENINGTON was the head of a Saxon
MANOR lordship of some importance, which ex-
tended apparently into Sacombe, Layston,
Ashwell, Hinxworth and Radwell.8 It was held in the
time of Edward the Confessor by yElmar or ^Ethel-
mar, and before him possibly by JEKnc of Ben-
ington.9 William the Conqueror granted the lands
of jElmar to Peter de Valognes, who was sheriff of the
county in 1086.10 Peter de Valognes, as successor to
^Elmar, made Benington the head of the Valognes
barony, which was sometimes styled later the honour
of Benington. Here we find he had 6J hides in
demesne and a park for beasts of the chase, and here
either Peter or his son Roger " built the castle.12
Roger, who probably died in 1 141 or 1 142,13 had
two sons, Peter, who died
about 1 1 5 8," and whose wife's
name was Gundrea,15 and
Robert, who held the barony
of Valognes during the reign
of Henry II,16 and who died
about 1 194." Robert de
Valognes was succeeded by
Gunnora, his daughter. She
married Robert Fitz Walter,
but kept the name of
Valognes,18 and died before
1238. The estates next came
to Christiana de Valognes,
Gunnora's daughter,19 who married William de
Mandeville. Christiana died without issue in I 2 3 3 ,20
when her estates were divided between three heiresses
— Lora, who married Henry de Balliol, Christiana
the wife of Peter de Maugne,31 and Isabel, who
married David Comyn." Benington was apportioned
to Lora and her husband," who died some time
before 1272,24 and whose son Alexander de Balliol
held it in 1278."
Valognes. Paly
aty argent and gules.
In 1303 Alexander de Balliol conveyed the
manor to John de Benstede and his heirs.2'' This
John was king's clerk at the time of the grant,
and in 1 307 keeper of the wardrobe." In 1309
he was appointed one of the six justices for
the Common Bench, and held this appointment
until 1320.28 In 1 31 1 he received leave of
absence to go to Rome on the king's business.29 In
131 5 he was again sent abroad with Thomas de
Cantebrugge to carry the king's instructions to Almaric
de Craon, Seneschal of Gascony, Amaneus Lord
of Lebrct, and other officials in Gascony and Aqui-
taine.30 In 1 3 1 7 he was appointed one of the two
commissioners of array for Hertfordshire.31 In 13 19
he was again sent ' beyond seas,' 32 and died in
1 323." His widow Parnel held Benington in dower
during her life,34 outliving their son Edmund, who
apparently died about 1338,35 her own death occur-
ring before April 1342.36 The custody of John, her
grandson, Edmund's son and heir, aged ten, was
granted to Walter de Mauny.37 John died in 1359,3*
Ben6Tede. Gult
three gimil ban or.
Moyne. Azure a
Jesse dancetty between six
crosslets argent.
his widow Parnel retaining a third of the manor
in dower until her death in 1378.39 The remainder
of the manor p.issed meanwhile from John's eldest son
John, who died in I 376, to his brother Edward,40 to
whom Parnel's portion reverted after her death in
1378.41 The manor was held at this time as a third
of two knights' fees.4' Edward died in 1432,43 and
Benington was held by his widow Joan during her
life, the reversion being settled on their son Edmund.44
Edmund died in 1439, his heir being his grandson
John,45 to whom the whole manor reverted on the
death of Joan in 1 449." John's son William, who
succeeded his father in 147 1, being then a minor,47
8 V.C.H. Herts, i, 276.
9 Ibid. 276 n.
10 Ibid. 336A.
11 Dugdale, Mon. iii, 343.
13 See above.
13 Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, I 72.
» RedBk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, p. exciv.
15 Ibid, i, 362.
« Plae. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 281.
17 Genealogist, vi, 2.
18 Ibid. ; Exeerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec.
Com.), i, 317.
19 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 278, quoting
Register Priorati de Binham (Cott. MSS.
Claud. D. xtii, 183); G.E.C. Complete
Peerage.
20 Genealogist, vi, 2.
21 See Exeerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.),
>'. 317-
22 It was not known whose daughters
these heiresses were, and the whole history
of the Valognes barony was in much con-
fusion till Mr. Round put it right in the
Ancestor (no. xi) in 1904. He there
showed that the three co-heirs were the
daughters of Gunnora's first cousin, Philip
de Valognes of Panmure, Chamberlain of
Scotland, who died in 121 9. He con-
sidered Christiana wife of Peter de Maugne
to be the youngest. He also showed that
Gunnora was not the mother (as stated
by Dugdale) of Robert Fitz Walter, so
that the two baronies did not descend
together.
98 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 281.
24 G.E.C. Complete Pierage.
25 Plae. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.),
281; Assize R. 323, 325 ; Feud. Aids,
ii, 430.
26 Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 165 (licence for
alienation) ; Chart. R. 32 Edw. I, m. 6
(confirmation of grant).
27 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 26.
28 Ibid. p. 231 i 1317-21, p. ;o8.
29 Ibid. 1307-13, p. 321.
80 Ibid. 1 313-18, pp. 103, 303, 328,
7 +
31 Ibid. 1317-21, p. 96.
32 Ibid. p. 317.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 43.
34 Cat. Close, 1323-7, p. 296; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. Ill, no. 30.
35 Cal. Close, 1341-3, p.r432.
36 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. Ill,
no. 30.
37 Cal. Close, 1 341—3, p. 432.
3S Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 1 10.
39 Ibid. 2 Ric. II, no. 11 ; for court
held by her see Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 8.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 50 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 9.
41 Close, 2 Ric. II, m. 22.
42 Feud. Aids, ii, 443.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Hen. VI, no. 38.
44 Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 251 ; Cloct,
II Hen. VI, m. 3.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 4 3.
46 Ibid. 27 Hen. VI, no. 27.
47 Ibid, 11 Edw. IV, no. 57.
the South-East
Benington Church : The Nave lookinc Ea
BROADWATER HUNDRED
evidently fought on the Yorkist side against Henry VII,
for he received a pardon 'for all offences' in 1485.'8
Before this he had sold the reversion of the manor,
provided that he died without issue, to Edward IV ;
but after the change of dynasty he conveyed it to
trustees to uses unspecified in his inquisition. In
1485 he died childless and his aunt and heir Ellen
succeeded.49 One Edmund or Edward Benstede, pre-
sumably the nearest male heir, claimed the manor,
having seized the deed of entail, which was locked in
a chest at the time of William's death.60 Joyce
daughter of Sir Edmund Dudley also put in a claim,
stating that William Benstede had left the manor to
her for life by will, with remainder to Edward
Benstede, but the trustees of William Benstede refused
to surrender the manor to her.51 In i486 Edward
Benstede released all his right in the manor to
Sir William Say.53 Next year Ellen Benstede, who
was actually in possession, conveyed the manor to
Sir William Say,53 who, on account of William
Benstede's sale of the reversion, had to obtain a
pardon for acquiring the manor in 1488. 54 In i486,
the year previous to the actual conveyance of the
manor, Ellen Benstede and Sir William Say seem to
have held alternate courts there,55 probably because
the transaction was in progress.
In 1506 Sir William Say settled Benington on
William Blount Lord Mountjoy,56 the husband of his
daughter Elizabeth, but Sir William outlived them,
and upon his death in 1530" the manor passed to
Henry Earl ofEssex,the husband of his second daughter
Mary. In 1539 it was delivered to their daughter
Anne and her husband, Sir William Parr,58 from
whom she was divorced in 1543.59 In 1553 Sir
William Parr Marquess of Northampton was attainted
for doing homage to Lady Jane Grey and his lands were
forfeited to the Crown 60 ; however, as the manor had
been settled on him with remainder to his wife, Anne's
interests 61 were safeguarded by a grant made to Robert
Rochester and Edward Walgrave for a term of forty
years.62 After her death in January I 570-1 63 Benington
was granted to Walter Viscount Hereford," who
became Earl of Essex in 1572, and was her cousin
and nearest heir.65 Walter died in 1576, bequeathing
the manor as a jointure to his wife Lettice,66 who
afterwards married Sir Christopher Blount. She out-
lived Robert, her son, whose widow Frances married
Richard Earl of Clanricarde 67 and seems to have held
the manor in dower.68 She joined with her son
Robert Earl of Essex in conveying it to Sir Charles
Adelmare or Caesar in 1614.69 Charles was the third
c h i ef argent luith
roses counter coloured.
BENINGTON
son of Sir Julius Caesar, who took the surname of
Caesar from his father Caesare Adelmare, an Italian
physician of Treviso, near
Venice, who settled in Eng-
land about 1 550.™ Sir Charles
Caesar and his eldest son Julius
both died of smallpox in
1642, and the manor passed
to the second son Henry,7'
who was succeeded by his son
Charles." Charles died in
1 694," and his son Charles
in 174.1,74 after whose death
the manor was sold by trustees
to Sir John Chesshyre in
1744. From him it passed
to his nephew John Chesshyre,75 who held it in
1 7 74 76 and was succeeded by his son,77 also named
John, before 1786." In 1826 the last John Ches-
shyre sold Benington to George Proctor, who was
succeeded by his son Leonard in l840.79 Leonard was
still holding it in 1 894, but before 1 899 was suc-
ceeded by Arthur Procter Pickering, who died in
1902. In 1905 Mr. Arthur F. Bott, the present
lord of the manor, acquired it by purchase from
Mr. Pickering's successor.80
In 1 278 Alexander de Balliol claimed in his manor
of Benington sac and soc, toll, team and infangentheof,
gallows, tumbrel, view of frankpledge, free warren,
and amendment of the assize of bread and ale.61
View of frankpledge in the 15th century was held
on the Monday in Pentecost week.82
In 1304 John de Benstede was granted a weekly
market on Wednesday and a yearly fair on the vigil,
feast and morrow of St. Peter and St. Paul.63
This grant was confirmed by Richard II in 1380,"
and again by Henry VIII in I 53 I, the original grant
having been lost.'5 The market has long been dis-
continued. The fair is still held on 10 July, the
festival of St. Peter before the alteration of the
calendar.86
The parish church 87 of ST. PETER,
CHURCH which stands to the west of the village,
is built of flint with stone dressings.
The nave, which is covered with ivy, is plastered
externally.
The chancel and south porch are roofed with tiles
and the nave with lead. The tower, which is of two
stages, has an embattled parapet and a pyramidal roof.
The present church, which dates from the end of
the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century,
48 Cal.Pat. 1476-S5, p. 543.
49 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 28.
50 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 76, no. 33.
51 Ibid. no. 124.
58Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 4673. This
Edward died childless in 1 5 18 holding
lands in Benington of Sir William Say.
His heir was John Ferrers (Chan. Inq.
p.m. [Ser. 2], xxxiv, 35).
53 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 356.
M Pat. 4 Hen. VII, m. 7.
55 Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 11.
56 Close, 21 Hen. VII, pt. ii.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
58 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 372 d.
59 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. w Ibid.
61 See Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdles. 8,
no. 97 ; 12, no. 45 ; 22, no. 24 ; Chan.
Decree R. 36, no. 28.
68 Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. xii,
m. 42.
68 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
64 Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 18.
« Ibid.
66 W. and L. Inq. p.m. xviii, 39.
67 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Feet of F.
Herts. East. 37 Eliz.
68 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 Jas. I ;
Mich. 11 Jas. I ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
1 1 Jas. I.
6» Ibid. Herts. Hil. 1 1 Jas. I ; Recov.
R. Hil. 11 Jas. I, rot. 56.
70 Diet. Nat. Biog.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcclxxiv,
20.
73 Chauncy, op. cit. 80.
73 Ibid.
74 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 286-7.
n Ibid. ; Diet. Nat. Biog.
IS
n Com. Pleas Recov.R.Hil. 14 Geo.III,
m. 38.
77 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 287.
78 Ibid. 286-7 ; Recov. R. Trin. 20
Geo. Ill, rot. 363.
79 Cussans, op. cit. Broadivater Hur.d.
128.
60 Information supplied by Mr. A. F.
Bott.
81 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 281 ;
Assize R. 325.
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Hen. VI, no. 38.
83 Chart. R. 33 Edw. I, no. 75.
84 Pat. 3 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 32.
85 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, g. 559 (29).
86 Information from Rev. W. Mills.
87 Dimensions : chancel, 33 ft. by
17 ft. 6 in. ; north chapel, 33 ft. by
1 3 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 48 ft. 6 in. by 26 ft. ;
west tower, 14 ft. square.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
originally consisted of a chancel and nave only, built,
it would appear from the shields of arms that decorate
them, by Sir John de Benstede (ob. 1323). The
north chapel and the south porch were added about
1330, apparently by his widow, Parnel Moyne,
and early in the I 5th century the west tower was
built by Edward Benstede (ob. 1432), and an addi-
tional arch was inserted with his monument below it
between the chancel and the north chapel. The
raising of the clearstory dates from somewhat later in
the I 5 th century. The modern work upon the fabric
consists of the rebuilding in 1889 of the south and
east walls of the chancel and the recent restoration
of the tower.
The chancel has a modern east window of five
lights with tracery in a high two-centred head. In
the south wall are three windows. The easternmost
has three cinquefoiled lights in a square external head
of the 1 5th century, but mostly of new stonework,
only a few old stones remaining. The middle window
in the south wall, also of the I 5th century, has a four-
centred head, and is of three cinquefoiled lights with
tracery above. The stonework is all modern. The
westernmost window is modern, of three trefoiled lights
with 'geometric' tracery. Between the two easternmost
windows is a small doorway of the late 1 3th century,
having a slightly ogee-shaped, straight-sided arch
moulded externally. The jambs are renewed, but
there are a few of the original arch stones remaining.
The north wall of the chancel is pierced by three
arches, the two westernmost dating from the erection
of the north chapel and the easternmost from about
1430. This last is four-centred, under a square
head, with tracery and shields in the spandrels. The
soffit and the inner faces of the jambs are panelled,
and in the apex of the soffit is carved an angel holding
small figures of a knight and a lady, of whose altar-
tomb the arch forms the canopy.
The middle and western arches on the north side
are of extremely rich 14th-century detail. The
middle pier and the responds have engaged shafts
with rolls between, and moulded bases and capitals.
The arches are of a single order, slightly ogee-shaped
and very richly moulded. Both have labels with
mask or grotesque stops on the chancel side, that in
the centre being the bust of a knight wearing ailettes.
The eastern of these two arches has the added enrich-
ment of very closely set and luxuriant crockets on
the label, a heavy finial at the apex, and flanking
pinnacles, panelled, crocketed and furnished with
finials. The gables of the pinnacles are supported
by minute mask stops, and that at the east side
descends to an independent mask side by side with
that at the termination of the label. The two-
centred chancel arch was widened and rebuilt early
in the 15 th century. The responds are cut back to
admit a screen. The present screen is modern.
Under the easternmost window of the south wall
of the chancel are three sedilia with detached shafts
in the jambs. They are of the 13th century, but
the two-centred heads and labels date from about
1330. To the east of them is a piscina of the 14th
century, with a head similar to, but at a slightly
higher level than, those of the sedilia ; the sill is
modern.
The north chapel has a I Jth-ccntury east window
of three cinquefoik-d lights in a depressed two-centred
head. The stonework is original. There are two
single-light 14th-century windows, trefoiled, with
tracery above in a two-centred head, with labels and
mask stops. One is in the north and one in the
west wall. There is also a small 15th-century door-
way in the north wall, with a four-centred head. It
is moulded externally, and has a much mutilated
external label with stops.
Behind the organ in this chapel is a communion
table of the late 17 th century. A piscina of the
14th century in the south end of the east wall has
an ogee cinquefoiled head, with a crocketed label,
much broken. The sill is also broken and decayed.
The nave is lighted by two two-light windows on
either side, of early 14th-century date. They have
two-centred heads with tracery, and internal and
external labels with carved stops. The clearstory
windows, three on each side, are large, of two cinque-
foiled lights in a four-centred head. They are of
the 1 5th century, and the stonework is much decayed.
In the north-east corner of the nave, where the
window recess is brought down to the ground for half
its width, is a doorwav to the rood-loft stair, with a
four-centred head. At the head of the stair is a
similar door facing diagonally to the south-west and
opening to the former rood-loft at a high level. The
14th-century north doorway of the nave is blocked
and the outer stonework is defaced. The south door-
way leading to the south porch is of the late 14th
century, and has a pointed arch in a square head.
The oak door is of the 15 th century. The porch
has a similar entrance archway, with shafted jambs
and foliated capitals, and in a canopied niche over
the archway is a mutilated figure of St. George and
the Dragon. On the east and west sides of the porch
are windows of two cinquefoiled lights under a square
dripstone, and to the east of the inner doorway is a
broken stoup. The tower arch opening to the nave
is of the 15th century, and has been restored. It is
two-centred with chamfered jambs. The windows
and doorway of the tower are modern. In the
north-west buttress of the tower is a niche with a
shield bearing the arms of Benstede and Moyne.
The truss roof of the nave is of the 15 th century,
and rests upon carved mask corbels of that date. At
the intersection of some of the beams are bosses
bearing the arms of Benstede and Moyne.
In the east jamb of the south-east window of the
nave is a bracket carved with angels, roses, a shield
with horseshoes impaling a bell. To the west of the
same window is another bracket carved with a grotesque
figure. There is a plain piscina with a trefoiled head
under the window. In the south-east corner of the
nave behind the pulpit are the remains of a niche.
The canopied head has been broken away, but the
carved bracket remains.
The monuments in the chancel include two fine
altar tombs under the two eastern arches of the north
arcade. That under the middle 14th-century arch
is evidently to John de Benstede (d. 1323) and Parnel
Moyne, his second wife. It represents the recumbent
effigies of a knight and a lady, their heads resting
on cushions and their feet upon lions. The knight
wears armour of the time of Edward I, and has a long
surcoat with a narrow girdle. His legs are crossed
below the knee. The lad)' wears a long head veil
and close-fitting dress. The hands of both are
broken off" at the wrist. In the gable-headed cusped
panels, which have shields between them with the
76
Benington Church : Tomb in the Chancel
BROADWATER HUNDRED
arms of Benstede and Moyne, are small figures of
' weepers ' all defaced. A much mutilated battle-
ment runs round the edge of the tomb.
The altar tomb under the 15th-century eastern-
most arch also has recumbent figures of a knight and
a lady, possibly Edward de Benstede (d. 1432) and
Joan Thornbury his wife, who survived him. The
knight, whose feet rest on a lion facing outwards, is
clad in plate armour with a finely enriched basinet.
The elbow and knee-cops are fluted. He wears
plate gauntlets and has a misericorde attached to an
enriched baldric on the right side. His head rests
on a helm crested with a wolf's head. The sides of
the tomb have a series of niches with ogee-shaped
crocketed heads with foliated finials and a small
battlement around the edge. The niches are all
empty.
In the wall between the two arches is a brass, the
upper half of a figure of a priest in a cope, probably
of the 15th century.
In the nave on the east wall, to the north of the
chancel arch, are two brasses, with inscriptions to
William Clarke, I 591, and John Clarke, 1604.
The font has a mid- 14th-century octagonal bowl
of Barnack stone, the alternate sides having engaged
shafts resting on carved heads, which have been
defaced. The stem is of the 1 5th century and has
panelled sides and base.
There are a few fragments of ancient glass. In
the window over the sedilia are three shields : the
first is Benstede impaling Or a lion azure with two
bends gules over all, for Thornbury ; the second is
now plain glass ; the third is Benstede. In the nave
windows are shields of Benstede and Moyne. Part
of the seating of the nave consists of 16th-century
benches, and there is a chair in the sanctuary of
about 1600.
There are eight bells : (1), (z) and (4) by Mears,
l853 5 (3) ty John Briant of Hertford, 1792 ; (5)
by Miles Graye, 1 630 ; (6) by Pack Sc Chapman,
1777 ; (7) by an unknown founder, dated 1626 ;
(8) by John Waylett, 1724.
The plate includes a cup and paten of 1639.
The registers are in three books : (i) all entries
from 1538 to 1722 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from
1723 to 1 812 and marriages from 1725 to 1752 ;
(iii) marriages from 1754 to 181 2.
A priest is mentioned at Ben-
JDVOIVSON ington in the Domesday Survey,88 so
there was probably a church there
before the Conquest. The advowson of the church
follows the descent of the manor until the time of
Charles Caesar, junior.89 In 1718 the king pre-
BEN INGTON
sented,90 in 1 7 19 Charles Caesar, in 1736 Rebecca
Knight, widow, and in 1755 Edward Page for one
turn,91 though he still held the advowson in 1817.92
J. Clarke and others presented in 1822, but the
advowson apparently continued to belong to the lord
of the manor 93 until John Chesshyre sold it to
George Proctor some time before 1 8 36.94 The latter
presented until 1850, after which it was held by the
Rev. F. B. Pryor95 until 1864, after which it passed
to the Rev. John Eade Pryor, who continued patron
until 1 88 1. Since then it has been in the gift of
the trustees of the Rev. William Mills, the present
rector.96
In 1638 the following closes belonged to and
adjoined the rectory : Barne Close, Stable Croft,
Washers' Close, Dockcroft, ' the Woode ' and ' the
litle Spring.'97
Various places of meeting for Protestant Dissenters
were certified in Benington between 1 8 10 and
1 85 1.98 There is now a Primitive Methodist
chapel in the parish.
The eleemosynary charities are
CHARITIES regulated by scheme of the Charity
Commissioners 8 May 1891. They
comprise the charities of : —
1. George Clerke, will dated in 1556, being a
rent-charge of £2 10s. issuing out of Boxbury Tithe,
Walkern, now vested in Mrs. Brand.
2. Hugh Dodd and others, consisting of two
closes called Moor's Closes, containing 10 acres, let at
£12 a year, purchased with Xi4° previous to 168 1 ;
and £41 16/. 2d. consols, with the official trustees,
producing £1 os. Sd. arising from sale of timber in
1814.
3. Rev. Nathaniel Dodd, a former rector, con-
sisting of 2 acres known as Creedman's Mead, devised
by a codicil to will dated in 166 1, and let at £4 a
year.
4. John Kent, consisting of £zo ijs. \d. consols,
with the official trustees, producing 10/. \d. yearly,
representing a legacy by will about 1665.
In 1909 clothing to the value of 2s. 6d. was dis-
tributed among ten widows, and the balance in
bonuses to depositors of the coal club.
Henry Dixon, by his will dated in 1693, devised
certain lands and hereditaments in Benington
and Munden in the county of Hertford, and at
Enfield in Middlesex and in St. Mildred's, London,
to the Drapers' Company, the rents and profits to be
applied in apprenticing (among others) poor boys of
Benington. A sum of ^20 is given annually by the
Drapers' Company for an apprenticeship under the
terms of his will.
83 V.C.H. Herts, i, 336A.
89 Pat. 31 Edw. I, m. 8 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 43 ; Cal. Clou,
1323-7, p. 296; Chan. Inq. p.m. 50
Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 9 ; 17 Hen. VI,
no. 43 ; 27 Hen. VI, no. 27 ; Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), A 4673 ; Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. iv,
m. 18 j Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 1 1 Jas. I ;
Recov. R. East. 7 Will, and Mary,
rot. 162.
9uInst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
91 Bacon, Liber Regis.
92 Clerical Guide.
93 Recov. R. Hil. 14 Geo. Ill, rot.
327-8 ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 26
Geo. Ill ; Clerical Guide.
94 Clerical Guide.
95 Clergy List.
9S Information from the Rev. W. Mills.
9? Hem. Gen. and Ami j. ii, 107-8.
95 Urwick, Ntmctmf. in Herts. 573.
77
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
DATCHWORTH
Decawrthe (x cent.) ; Dxccewyrthe, Daceworde
(xi cent.) ; Tachwird, Tachevvorth, Thatcheworth
(xiii cent.) ; Dachesworth, Daccheworthe (xiv cent.).
The parish of Datchworth has an area of 2,018
acres, of which about three-quarters is arable land, the
remainder, with the exception of about 1 8 acres of
wood, being permanent grass.1 It is long and narrow
in shape, sloping upwards from just over 200 ft. in the
north to over 400 ft. in the south. The road from
Aston to Bramfield winds down the centre of the parish
and is crossed in the north of the parish by the main
road from Stevenage to Watton ; the hamlet of
Bragbury End lies at the cross-roads with the house
and park of Bragbury, the residence of Mr. Samuel
S. Berger, J. P. The park has an extent of about
50 acres and is watered by the River Beane. In the
south the central road is crossed by the road from
Woolmer Green to Watton, the hamlet of Datch-
worth Green being situated at this junction.
The village of Datchworth is on the west side of
the main road where a lane turns off south-west
towards the rectory. The site of the manor-house
with the remains of a moat is situated in the angle
thus formed and the church of All Saints is a little
further south. On the north side of the green is a
late 17th-century building of timber and plaster and
brick with a tiled roof now divided into two cottages.
The initials w» D and date 1694. are placed in
plaster over three gabled windows. Near by on the
green is the whipping-post, to which the handcuffs are
still attached. About half a mile south of the village
is Hoppers Hall, a timber and plaster house with
tiled roof of mid-l 7th-century date. It is gabled
and has a small porch. Two of the rooms still have
their original fireplaces, over one of which is a paint-
ing of a hunting scene, probably of the date of the
house. The staircase has turned balusters and square
newels with ball heads and is probably original. A
little further on is Cherry Tree Farm, a 17th-century
brick house plastered, with a tiled roof.
There are several hamlets in the parish. In the
south is Painter's Green, where the road forks to
Datchworth Green and Hawkin's Hall. In the
extreme south of the parish are the hamlets of Bull's
Green, where there are the remains of a moat, and
Burnham Green, partly in Digswell parish. By the
Divided Parishes Act of 1882 Swangley Farm and
Cottages in the north west were attached to Datch-
worth instead of Knebworth for civil purposes.
Oak's Cross, on the road from Stevenage to Watton,
marks the north-eastern angle of the parish.
The Great Northern main line touches the parish
in the north-west, the nearest station being Kneb-
worth, a mile and a half from Datchworth village.
The subsoil is London Clay in the centre, surrounded
by Woolwich and Reading beds, and giving place to
chalk in the north, where there are two disused
chalk-pits. There are also two small chalk-pits in
the south-west and a large gravel-pit west of the
village.
Place-names mentioned in the 13th century are
Godbyry, Chippeden, Pesecroft, Baronesfeld, and
Baronesgrave.la The first three of these survive in
the early 1 8th century as Godbury, Chibden, and
Peascroft.2 Others which occur in the 17th and
early 1 8th centuries are Candell, the Great Lawne,
Foldingshott, Cunden Field, Clubden Field, Rockleys,
Collewood or Colewood, Datts or Jacks, Lethmore,
Feeks Shott Pitle, Shoulder of Mutton Field, Hitch-
field, Rush Grounds Field, and Pakesgrove.3
King Edgar, who reigned from 959
MANORS to 975, gave land in Datchworth to the
church of St. Peter of Westminster,4
which was confirmed to that abbey by Edward the
Confessor as 4 hides and 1 virgate.5 The abbot
himself held 3 hides and I virgate 6 ; the other
hide was held of him by Aluric Blac before the
Conquest. With regard to other lands Aluric was
the man of Archbishop Stigand, and his successor
Lanfranc made this an excuse for seizing Aluric's
hide in Datchworth, and was thus in possession of it
in lo86.r Besides the 4J hides in Datchworth
originally belonging to Westminster there were
3 virgates, of which previous to the Conquest 2 J vir-
gates were held by three sokemen of King Edward,8
and half a virgate by Alstan, a man of Almar of
Benington.9 In 1 086 the 2^ virgates were held by
two knights of Geoffrey de Bech,10 and the half
virgate by Robert of Peter de Va'.ognes.11 These
portions are not heard of again, so presumably they
became absorbed in the manor. The overlordship of
Datchworth remained in the
hands of the Abbots of West-
minster.12 When the abbey
was converted into the seat of
a bishop in I 540 Datchworth
was confirmed to the see.13
The bishopric of Westminster
was abolished in 1556, but in
1554 Datchworth was granted
by the queen to the Bishop of
London and his successors to
hold in free alms,14 and an in-
terest in the manor remained
to the see as late as 1693, when
the manor was still charged with an annual rent of
£3 to the bishop.16
The earliest recorded sub-tenant is Hugh de
Bocland, who was lord of the manor in I 192.16 His
daughter Hawise married William de Lanvaley, and
apparently received Datchworth as a marriage por-
tion,17 for it doe6 not seem to have passed to Hugh's
See of London. Gules
two swords of St. Paul
crossed saltirewise.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
u Abbrev. Plac. (Rcc. Com.), 219.
2 Close, 6 Geo. I, pt. vii, no. 2.
3 Ibid. 5 Will, and Mary, pt. vii,
o. 23 ; 6 Geo. I, pt. vii, no. 2.
4 Dugdale, Mon. i, 292.
6 Ibid. 294 ; Cott. Chart, vi, 2.
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 312*.
7 Ibid. 305a.
9 Ibid. 336a.
11 Ibid. 336a.
12 Feet of F. Herts. 4 Ric. I,
Feud. Aids, ii, 436 ; Chan. In<
20 Edw. IV, no. 77.
13 Dugdale, Mon. i, 280 ; L.
Hen. Fill, xvi, g. 503(33).
78
8 Ibid. 333a.
lu Ibid. 333a.
14 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. iv, m. 16.
15 Close, 5 Will, and Mary, pt. vii,
no. 23.
16 Feet of F. Herts. 4 Ric. I, no. 1.
17 Cart. Mon. St. John Baft, de Colchester
(Roxburghe Club), 202 ; Excerfta e Rot.
Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 246.
Datchworth : Whipping-Post on the Green
Datchworth Church : The Nave looking East
BROADWATER HUNDRED
son William de Bocland. In I 2 1 5 the manor was
granted to Nicholas de Joland, and is described
as having belonged to Geoffrey de Bocland,16 who
was perhaps a predecessor of Hugh. In 1217,
however, the custody of the lands of William de
Lanvaley was granted to Robert Delamare and
Thomas de Winton.19 This suggests that William
had forfeited ; eventually, however, Datchworth
returned to the Lanvaleys and descended to Hawise's
granddaughter Hawise, who married John de Burgh,80
son of the famous Hubert de Burgh.21 John and
Hawise de Burgh conveyed the manor in 124.0 to
Gilbert de Wauton, for the rent of a pair of gilt spurs
or 6d. at Easter." Gilbert de Wauton was suc-
ceeded before 1287 by his son John de Wauton/3
but by 1302 Datchworth had passed into the
hands of William de Melksop/4 and in 1346 was
held by Henry Melksop.85 Some time after this
it was acquired by John de la Lee, from whom it
passed upon his death in 1 3 70 to his son Walter
de la Lee/6 who held it in 1376." Walter's heirs
were his two sisters, Margery the wife of Robert
Newport and Joan wife of John Barley.88 These
two sisters in 1406 conveyed their moieties to John
Coke/9 who was succeeded by Thomas Coke after
I4io30and before 1428.31 Who were the heirs of
Thomas Coke is not recorded, but it seems as if the
manor was divided between two daughters. One of
these may have been Joan the wife of John
Shawarden, who died in 1479 seised of half the
manor of Datchworth.3' She left a son John, to
whom her moiety descended, and who died in 1555.
By his will the rent of the half-manor was to be used
to raise portions for his daughters Ellen and Susan
and his younger sons Thomas and Laurence."
The moiety descended to his eldest son John
Shawarden, who in 1572-3 sold it to Richard
Foster.34
The history of the other moiety of Datchworth
after the death of Thomas Coke is more obscure.
In 1533 a portion, which from subsequent evidence
would appear to be a half, was conveyed by Robert
and Alice Darkenoll to John Covert and others and
the heirs of John.35 In 1559 the moiety was held
by Richard Covert/6 presumably the son of John, and
was later purchased from him by Thomas Johnson.37
By his will of 1569 Thomas Johnson bequeathed his
lands to his wife Grace for life with remainder to
Margaret wife of Thomas Appowell, who seems most
probably to have been his niece. The half-manor
DATCHWORTH
passed to Margaret and Thomas, but a few years later
was claimed by Richard Fuller, nephew of Grace
Johnson, on the ground that Thomas John. on had
promised to convey it to him failing his own issue.38
His claim, however, was not allowed, and in 1 57 1
the moiety was conveyed by Thomas and Margaret
Appowell to Richard Foster/9 who a year or two later
became possessed of the other moiety. Thus Datch-
worth was again united in the same hands. Richard
Foster was succeeded before 1 6 14 by Thomas Foster/0
who in 1620 conveyed the manor to John Gamon.41
Datchworth remained in the Gamon family" until
1693, when it was sold by Richard and Mary Gamon
to William Wallis.43 In 1 7 19 it was purchased from
the latter by Edward Harrison," upon whose death
in 1732 the manor passed to his daughter Audrey,
who married Charles third Viscount Townshend.45
She survived her husband and died in 1788. Her
will provided that part of the Datchworth estate
should go to her grandson John Townshend, but the
manor was to be sold to provide an annuity for
her granddaughter Anne Wilson.46 Anne and her
husband Richard Wilson seem, however, to have kept
the manor,47 for they were in possession of it in
1 79 1,48 and sold it about ten years later to Samuel
Smith of Watton Woodhall,49 with which manor it
has since descended.
In 1275 it was found that the Abbot of Westminster
had been holding view of frankpledge illegally in
Datchworth for the past forty years and had neglected
to attend the sheriffs tourn, for which offence he was
fined.50 Apparently, however, he continued to hold
it, sometimes as appurtenant to his main manor of
Stevenage.51
Free warren was granted by Henry III to Gilbert
de Wauton in 12 53," and there is a reference to free
fishery in the manor in 1719.53
The reputed manor of HJWKIN'S HALL or
HJIVKTNS first appears in 1564, when it was in the
possession of the younger branch of the Bardolf family,
who held the manor of Crowborough in Watton-at-
Stone until 1564. Hawkin's Hall seems to have
extended into Watton parish, so it probably joined
their lands there. In 1564 Edmund Bardolf settled
the manor of Hawkin's Hall on Elizabeth Bardolf,
widow, presumably his mother, for her life, with
annual rents to be paid to Edward, Ralph, and
Richard Bardolf, with remainder to himself and his
heirs.'4 Lands in Tewin and elsewhere were con-
veyed with the manor." In 1591 the estate was
18 Close, 17 John, m. 5.
» Cal. Pat. 1216-25, p. 98.
"> Exccrpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
269.
51 Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages.
» Feet of F. Herts. 24 Hen. Ill,
no. 289. The mesne overlordship of the
Burghs seems to have soon fallen into
abeyance, for it is not mentioned after
1303 {Feud. Aids, ii, 429), when the
manor was said to be held of Robert
Fitz Walter in right of his wife, the
granddaughter of John de Burgh.
M Assize R. 325.
24 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, no. 17 ; Feud.
Aids, ii, 429.
* Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 37.
*7 Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 13 d.
■ Feet of F. Herts. 8 Hen. IV, no.
; Morant, Essex, ii, 625. It is stated
e that there was a third sister, Alice,
: of Thomas Morewell, but she does
appear in this descent.
1 Feet of F. Herts. 8 Hen. IV, no. 45.
'Ibid. 12 Hen. IV, no. 88.
; Feud. Aids, ii, 448.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. IV,
'Ibid. (Ser. 2), cv, 36.
Feet of F. Herts. East. 15 Eliz.;
ov. R. Hil. 1572, rot. 443.
1 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 25
1. VIII.
: Recov. R. Trin. 1559, rot. 124.
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 6, no. II.
1 Ibid.
1 Recov. R. Trin. 1 3 Eliz. rot. 848 ;
t of F. Herts. Trin. 13 Eliz.
' Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 12 Jas. I.
Ibid. Mich. 18 Jas. I.
79
42 Recov. R. Mich. 22 Chas. I, rot.
100 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 24 Chas. II ;
East. 2 Jas. II.
43 Ibid. Mich. 5 Will, and Mary ;
Close, ; Will, and Mary, pt vii, no. 23.
44 Ibid. 6 Geo. I, pt. vii, no. 2.
* G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
46 P.C.C. 160 Calvert.
47 Salmon, op. cit. 215, says that
Richard Wilson bought it of the Townshend
trustees.
48 Recov. R. East. 31 Geo. Ill, rot.
160.
49 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 315.
« Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
51 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 47, 53, 62.
52 Pat. 37 St. 38 Hen. Ill, pt. ii, no. 77,
m. 12 ; Assize R. 325.
58 Close, 6 Geo. I, pt. vii, no. 2.
54 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 & 7 Eliz
'5 Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
sold by Francis and John Symonde and John and
Elizabeth Clerke to Edward Fitz John.56 In 1657
it was in the possession of Ralph Pennyfather,57 who
in 1673 sold it to Edmund Knight.5' After this date
there is no further record of the manor.
Hawkin's Hall, now a farm-house, is situated a
little east of Datchworth Green on the road toWatton.
BRJGBURV (Bragborrowes, Brackberrie, xvii
cent.) was owned at the end of the 1 6th century by
Thomas Michell, son of John Michell, who held it of
the manor of Friars in Standon in socage by fealty.
He settled it in 1602 on his son Thomas, who was
about to marry Martha Bussye, and who succeeded his
father in 1610.55 Bragbury is now in the possession
of Mr. Samuel S. Berger, J. P.
Datchworth Church from the South-east
The parish church of ALL SAINTS™
CHURCH consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle,
north vestry, west tower and south porch.
It is built of flint rubble with stone dressings, and the
roofs are tiled. The whole building is plastered
externally. The nave is probably of the 1 zth
century. Late in the 13th century the north aisle
was added, and the lower part of the tower dates from
the 14th century. The chancel arch is of late 15th-
century date, but the rest of the chancel was wholly
remodelled at the end of the 1 6th or the beginning
of the 1 7th century, and none of the original work
can now be traced. The south porch is probably of
the same date as the alteration of the chancel. The
top stage of the tower was rebuilt in 1875 wnen tne
church was restored ; the north vestry is modern.
The chancel has an east window, and two in the
south wall, of about 1600. The east window has a
four-centred head which has been blocked, and the
three cinquefoiled lights in a square top are modern.
The two south windows are of two lights. On the
north a modern two-centred doorway leads to the
vestry. The roof, of the late 1 6th or early 17th
century, is of the collar beam type, with plaster.
The nave has a n >rth arcade of four bays, which is
now much out of the perpendicular, and a truss has
been thrown across the aisle,
against it, with a buttress
outside the aisle wall to sup-
port it. The arches are
two-centred, of two hollow-
chamfered orders, and rest on
octagonal columns with
moulded capitals and bases.
The responds have modern
detached shafts of Purbeck
marble with crudely foliated
capitals, which support the
inner order only, the outer
hollow chamfer descending
without interruption to the
ground. In the south wall
are two windows, one on each
side of the south door. That
on the e.>st, of about 1360,
is two-centred within, but
externally shows two cinque-
foiled lights in a square head.
That on the west is also of
two cinquefoiled lights much
repaired. The heads are
wholly modern, but the jambs
are old.
The south doorway is
modern, with detached shafts
on the outside. The 17th-
century south porch has a
four-centred entrance arch and
four narrow blocked loops,
two in the east and two in
the west wall.
The roof of the nave is of
the 1 ;th century and is
plastered.
The north aisle has a 15th-century window of two
cinquefoiled lights in a square head at the eastern
end of the north wall. The jambs only are old.
The east and west windows and the western of the*
two in the north wall are modern, of two lights,
with rear arches of the late 14th century. Over the
east window of the aisle are the remains of three
small niches.
The tower arch is lofty, and, in common with the
whole of the lower stage of the tower, is of about
1 3 80. The west doorway is blocked and the
46 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 34. Eliz.
67 Recov. R. East. 1657, rot. 144.
58 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 25 Chas. II.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxvii,
107.
60 Dimensions : chancel, 23 ft. by 14 ft.
nave, 38 ft. by 19 ft.; north aisle,
39 ft. by 10 ft. 6 in. ; tower, lift, by
10 ft. 6 in.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
DIGSWELL
tracery in the west window is modern. The upper
stage of the tower and the tiled octagonal spire with
dormers is modern. The windows of the upper
stage are of two cinquefoiled lights, with a quatrefoil
over, in a two-centred head.
A recess under the south-east window of the nave,
with a chamfered two-centred arch of the 1 4th century,
contains a stone slab with a floreated cross. There is
a brass in the chancel to William Paine, with a
symbolical device. The date is about 1600.
The font, standing at the south entrance, has an
octagonal bowl with trefoiled panelled sides and an
embattled edge, on a moulded octagonal stem and base.
A chair in the chancel and an oak chest with three
locks in the vestry are of the 1 7th century, to which
century also the poor box may probably be referred.
A bequest to the altar of St. Dunstan occurs in
1512.61
There are six bells, of which the last four are by
Anthony Chandler, with the date 1673.
The plate includes a cup and cover paten of 1569.
The registers are in four books : (i) all entries
1570 to 1700 ; (ii) baptisms and burials 1710 to
1783 and marriages 1710 to 1753 ; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1784 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1754 to
1812.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON All Saints (or All Hallows) at Datch-
worth belonged to the lords of that
manor at an early date. In 1192 the Abbot of
Westminster made an agreement with Hugh de
Bocland, then lord of the manor, that he should pay
20s. to the abbot on each institution.61 In 1 240,
however, John de Burgh, who was lord of Datchworth
and Walkern, granted the manor of Datchworth to
Gilbert de Wauton, but kept the advowson of that
parish with his manor of Walkern.6* From that
date Datchworth advowson followed the same descent
as the manor of Walkern64 until 1725, when William
Capell, third Earl of Essex, sold it to the Rev.
William Hawtayne.65 The latter a few months later
sold it to William Greaves, fellow of Clare College,
Cambridge,66 and he shortly afterwards conveyed it to
his college,67 in whose hands it has since remained.66
A terrier of the reign of Charles I gives a
very detailed description of the rectory-house
and lands. The house is described as being
covered with tiles, the chiefest part of the building whereof is
62 ft. longe north and south and is 1 8 ft. broade east and west,
which is devided into two stories conteyning 10 roomes, whereof
5 are upon the ground viz. one little lodgeing chamber, one
seller, one hall, one parlor, one buttery. And 5 roomes over
these, viz. one chamber over the seller and little chamber, one
chamber over the hall with a closet or studye belongeing to it,
and one chamber over the parlor, with a studye over it over ye
buttery. One other part or parcell of the said dwellinge house
adjoyning unto the forenamed part and is 3 5 ft. longe east and
west and 14 ft. broad, which containeth 4 roomes, viz. one
kitchen and a brewhouse on the ground and 2 chambers and
boarded over the kitchen.
There was also near by another 'parcell of buildinge'
covered with thatch, 44 ft. by 1 5 ft., with ' three
severall roomes upon the ground, and one roome at
the west end hath a chamber boarded over it.'
Another similar structure but smaller contained three
rooms, and there was also a great barn 94 ft. long,
with six bays, and a small barn 34 ft. long. These
buildings were surrounded by a garden, an orchard,
and various yards. The glebe lands then extended
over about 1 5 acres.69
Places of meeting for Protestant Dissenters were
certified in Datchworth from 17 19 to 1809.70 There
is now a Baptist chapel at Datchworth Green.
In 1685 Richard and Mary Gamon
CHARITIES granted an annuity of 40/. charged
upon an estate called Datchworth
Bury Farm, for the use of the poor, to be distributed
at Christmas.
In 1 88 1 Mrs. Elizabeth Bunting by her will,
proved at London 30 November, bequeathed £soo>
which was invested in £so° lls- consols, the annual
dividends, amounting to £12 10/., to be applied in
support of the Sunday school and day school held in
the National schoolroom.
In 1 899 the Rev. John Wardale, the rector, by
deed gave the sum of £22 London, Brighton and
South Coast Railway 5 per cent, stock, the annual
dividends of £1 zs. to be paid to the parish clerk for
the winding up of the church clock.
The sums of stock are held by the official trustees.
DIGSWELL
Dicheleswell (xi cent.) ; Digeneswell, Dikneswell
(xiii cent.) ; Digoneswell (xiv cent.) ; Dikkeswell,
Dixwell (xvi cent.) ; Diggeswell (xvii cent.).
The parish of Digswell has an area of 1,673 acres,
of which 746 \ acres are arable land, 46 5 § acres
permanent grass, and \%\ acres wood.1 The land
reaches an elevation of over 400 ft. in the south,
where the rectory and Sherrard's Park Wood are
situated, but is lower in the north, sloping down to
the River Mimram, which crosses the parish in that
part. The northern part of the parish is divided
from the southern by an irregular strip of the parish
of Welwyn. It lies at an altitude of from 300 ft. to
400 ft. The larger part of it has been developed by a
syndicate, and is now covered with houses ; its western
boundary takes in a small portion of the hamlet of
Burnham Green. A detached portion of Welwyn
parish was added to Digswell for ratable purposes
under the Divided Parishes Act of 1882.
The village of Digswell is situated in the valley of
the Mimram, in an open space surrounded by the
park, the church and manor-house, the seat of
Mr. Alfred Dyke Acland, lying at the south-western
end. From these a long avenue called the ' Monk's
61 P.C.C. 10 Fetiplace.
■ Feet of F. Herts. 4 Ric. I, no. I.
83 Ibid. Mich. 24 Hen. Ill, no.
289.
M Feet of F.Herts. 8 Edw.II.no. 167;
Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 274; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 3 Ric. II, no. 47 ; 4 Hen. V, no. 49 ;
5 Hen. VI, no. 52 j 21 Hen. VI, no. 38 ;
Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 33 ; Feet of F.
Herts. East. 21 Hen. VII; Trin. 42
Eliz. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 25 ;
(Ser. 2), cccjccvi, 148 ; Feet of F. Div.
Co. Mich. 3 Cbas. I ; Cal. Com. for
Comp. iii, 1932; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ;
Bacon, Liber Regis.
*s Close, 12 Geo. I, pt. iv, no. 5.
8l
66 Ibid. pt. vi, no. 2.
67 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund,
197.
68 Bacon, Liber Regis ; Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.); Clergy List (1 908).
69 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 251-3.
70 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 570.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
II
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Walk ' leads to the rectory and Sherrard's Park Wood.
In the east of the parish, on the main road from
Welwyn to Hertford, is the hamlet of Digswell Water,
now recognized as the village of Digswell, though
some way from the church. It was probably here
that the market was held. The Great Northern
railway passes through the parish, crossing the valley
of the Mimram by a viaduct. The nearest station
is Welwyn, half a mile north-east. The subsoil is
chalk in the north, and London Clay and Reading
and Woolwich beds in the south. There are two
disused chalk-pits in Digswell Park, another near
Digswell Lodge Farm, and a fourth in the north-east.
A large gravel-pit is still worked south of Digswell
Water, and there are several disused ones further
down the road.
The following place-names occur in the middle
of the 17th century: the Malmes, Dockclose, the
Scrubbs, Cowmead, Henley hill, Conduck hill, Tyle-
kill field, Piggott hill, Estoll hill, and Hatches wood.la
Before the Conquest DIGSWELL
MANOR formed part of the lands of Asgar the
Staller, and was subsequently granted to
Geoffrey de Mandeville, being then assessed at 2 hides.2
One hide, which had been held by Topi, a man of
Almar, presumably ^Elmar of Benington, was in
1086 in the possession of Peter de Valognes.3 This
hide, which was held by a certain Roger, probably
became absorbed in the manor, as it is not heard of
again ; half the multure of one of the two mills at
Digswell belonged to this estate in 1086.4
The lands of Geoffrey de Mandeville descended
to his grandson Geoffrey, first Earl of Essex,5 and
remaining with the holders of that earldom6 came to
Maud the heiress of the Mandevilles, who married
Henry de Bohun Earl of Hereford and died in I 236J
The Earls of Hereford and Essex continued to hold
Digswell8 until their lands were divided between the
daughters of Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of Henry
de Bohun, and King Henry V, who represented her
sister Mary.9 Digswell thus came into the possession
of the Crown, and was thenceforward held of the
king, of the duchy of Lancaster, as of his manor of
Hertford by fealty and the rent of dd. or one pound
of pepper, to be paid yearly at Christmas.10
In the time of Edward the Confessor and in
1086 the sub-tenant of Digswell was Torchil n ; he
was one of the Domesday jurors for Broadwater
Hundred,13 but nothing is known of his descendants.
Between 1 1 67 and I I 89 the manor was granted by
William de Mandeville to William son of Benedict
of London,13 who seems to have been also known
as William de St. Michael.14 In 1223 Laurence de
St. Michael, son and heir of William de St. Michael,
did homage for lands in Nottingham,15 and in I 248
this Laurence is called son of William son of
Benedict.16 Laurence died some time previous to
I 268, for in that year his widow Ada complained that
malefactors had lately come to her manor of Digswell
and taken her goods and chattels to the value of
100 marks and more.17 The manor passed before
1274 to another Laurence de St. Michael,18 presum-
ably her son, who died about 1283, leaving a son
Laurence 19 and a widow Margaret.20 This Laurence
obtained a licence in 1285 to stop a path through
his wood of Slirigge, leading from Digswell to Bishop's
Hatfield (where he held the manor of Ludwick), on
condition that he made another path on the east side
of the wood.21 In 1 291-2 he closed a path running
through the middle of ' Chirchegrave,' and made
another which, he averred, would be much more
useful.22
The manor was shortly afterwards acquired by
William de Melksop, who received a grant of free
warren in his lands in Digswell in 1 301-2. 23 These
lands were probably not the manor, for the latter
was not conveyed to him by Laurence de St. Michael
until 1305.24 This William had been assessor for
a subsidy in Surrey in 1 297 s5; in 1 298 he was
appointed attorney for two years to Stephen, Prior
of Holy Trinity, London.26 In 1300 he and John
de la Leye were commissioned to survey the obstruc-
tions in the river leading from Ware to the Thames.27
In 1304 William de Melksop was keeper of the
manor of Clopton, formerly part of the possessions
of Edmund Earl of Cornwall,28 and about the same
time he bought from the executors of the same
Edmund the custody of the lands of Hamo de Gatton,
which in 1305 he sold to John de Northwode.29
In 1 3 1 3 and again in 1315 he received licence to
go ' beyond seas ' with Aymer de Valence.30 He
died about I 3 I 7, having been for some time previous
to his death farmer of the king's castle and manor of
Hertford, where he had executed extensive repairs.31
He had a son William,32 who in 13 1 8 received a
pardon for killing William de Ponton at a tournament
at Luton.33 Henry de Melksop is mentioned as of
Digswell in 1323,34 but apparently the manor was
alienated soon afterwards, for by 134635 it had come
into the possession of William de Ludwick,36 from
'a Herts. Gen. andAntij. ii, 296 j Close,
1656, pt. xxxv, no. 40.
2 V.C.H. Herts, i, 330.
3 Ibid. 336.
4 Ibid.
5 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
6 Ibid. ; Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks.
xxv, 1 5 d.
7 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. For details
of this descent see Ayot St. Lawrence.
8 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 58.
3 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
1(1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 29 ;
(Ser. 2), lxiii, 61 ; lxxiii, 89 ; eclxxxviii,
145 ; Duchy of Lane. Decrees, file 28.
» V.C.H. Hern, i, 330.
« Cott. MSS. Tib. A. vi, fol. 38.
18 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxv, 15 d.
14 The change in name was possibly
to distinguish him from a William son
of Benedict, presumably his brother, who
was surety for the relief of Laurence
son of William de St. Michael after the
latter's death (Excerpta e Rot. Fin. [Rec.
Com.], i, 100).
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid, ii, 41. The father is here
called Benedict son of William, but this
seems to be an error for William son of
Benedict.
17 Abbre-v. Plat. (Rec. Com.), 171.
18 Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188 ; Assize
R. 323, m. 40 d.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Edw. I, no. 13.
80 Cal. Pat. 1288-96, p. 117.
21 Ibid. 1281-92, p. 214.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. I, no. 151.
23 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, no. 17.
24 Feet of F. Herts. 33 Edw. I, no. 396.
25 Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 298.
26 Ibid. p. 341.
» Ibid. p. 547.
82
88 Ibid. 1301-7, p. 240.
29 Ibid. p. 339.
80 Ibid. 1307-13, p. 581; 1313-17,
p. 282.
31 Cal. Close, 1313-18, p. 515.
32 Ibid. p. 616.
83 Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 124.
34 Ibid. 1321-4, p. 383.
85 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
36 He is said to have succeeded John
de Bakewell in this fee, and John de
Bakewell was assessed for it in 1303
(ibid. 430). But at this date the manor
seems to have been in the possession of
Laurence de St. Michael (see above).
There is, however, some uncertainty as
to the date at which William de Melksop
obtained it, and the quitclaim by
Laurence de St. Michael in 1305 may
have relation to some previous transac-
tions of which we have no record.
Digswell Church from the North-east
BROADWATER HUNDRED
P E R I E N T . Gules
three crescents argent.
whom it passed to his son John de Ludwick before
1377.37 In 1414 it was conveyed by Ludwick's
feoffees to lohn Perient,38
who according to the monu-
ment to him in the church
died in the following year.
He was succeeded by his son
John, from whom it passed in
1432 to his son John,39 who
died in 1442.40 He was suc-
ceeded by Edmund Perient,
who died in 1474, when
Digswell came to his son
Thomas.41 In 1539 Thomas
Perient the younger suc-
ceeded,42 and died in 1 545,
leaving four daughters, Mary the wife of Affabell or
Amphabell Rowlett, Dorothy, Anne, and Elizabeth.43
Digswell came to Mary, the eldest daughter, whose
first husband died in I 546,*14 and who married secondly
George Horsey, and held the manor until her death in
I 5 5 1 ,45 It was then divided between her sisters Dorothy,
who had married George Burgoyne, and Anne the wife
of Anthony Carleton 46 ; Elizabeth had presumably-
died in the mean time. In 1552 Anne and Anthony
Carleton conveyed their moiety back to George
Horsey,47 who had just married Anne Sadler,48 and
in 1557 he acquired the second half from George
and Dorothy Burgoyne.49 Ralph Horsey succeeded
his father50 before 1591,51 and in 1599 conveyed
Digswell to John Sedleyand Nicholas Hyde.62 John
Sedley died in 1605 seised of half the manor, which
passed to his brother William.63 Apparently the
moiety held by Nicholas Hyde also came to him, for
in 1656 he sold the whole
manor to Humphrey Shall-
cross.64 The latter died in
1665,65 and was succeeded by
his son Francis Shallcross,56
and his grandson Francis
Boteler Shallcross in 1681.67
The last-named died without
issue in 1693,68 and Digswell
passed to his uncle Henry
Shallcross,69 who died in
1696.60 Henry's son Thomas
is mentioned as lord of the
manor in 1728 61 and 1729,62
and William Shallcross in
1757.63 He was succeeded by another Thomas
Shallcross, who died in 177064 and left Digswell
Shallcross. Gules
a saltire between Jo u r
rings or.
DIGSWELL
to Richard Willis, the husband of his niece.65
Elizabeth Willis, their daughter, sold the manor in
1786 to Henry Cowper.66 The latter occupied the
position of guardian to the young Earl Cowper,67
and the sale was in reality to his ward, for the earl
was in possession of the manor in 1 82 1.68 Digswell
remained in the possession of the Earls Cowper until
the death in 1905 of the seventh and last earl,
whose trustees are at present lords of the manor.
The manor of Digswell possessed two mills as early
as 1086, at which time a half mill was held by Roger
of Peter de Valognes.69 Two mills, together
with a carucate of land, were the subject of a fine
in 1233 between Simon Fitz Simon and Henry
Sifriwast,70 to one of whom they had doubtless been
leased by the lord of the manor. They are mentioned
as late as 1786,71 but only one exists now.
Laurence de St. Michael in 1274 had free warren
on one side of the river, and claimed it on the other
side.72 He also claimed at the same time view of
frankpledge, gallows, and amendment of the assize of
bread and ale.73 William de Melksop received a fresh
grant of free warren in I 301-2. 74 In I 278 Laurence
de St. Michael claimed by charter of Henry III a
weekly market on Thursdays and a fair every year for
ten days.75 Neither now survives. They probably
died out owing to decrease in the population, caused
presumably by the Black Death, for in 1428 Digswell
only possessed six householders.76
The parish church of ST. JOHN 77 is
CHURCH covered with cement outside and plastered
inside, and consists of a chancel, nave,
north chapel and north aisle, north-west tower, and
south porch.
The original church, probably consisting of a
chancel and nave, was built in the 1 2th century,
and to that date the present chancel and nave may
probably be referred. The north aisle was built
about 1300, with a chantry chapel added at its east
end a quarter of a century later, but the arcade no
longer exists.
In the first decade of the 1 6th century the present
north chapel was built, replacing the smaller chantry,
for the erection of which John Perient left £200 at
his death in 1324 for the souls of himself, his wife
and parents, and John Ludwick and John Derham.78
At the same period the north-west tower was added
to the west of the aisle, its north and west walls being
continuous with those of the aisle and nave. The
south porch seems to belong to the end of the 17th
or the beginning of the 1 8th century. The church
37 See manor of Ludwick in Hatfield ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Ric. II, no. 29.
38 Close, 1 Hen. V, m. 6 d. (see also
ibid. 4 Hen. IV, m. 1 1 d.) ; Feud. Aids,
ii, 449.
'''■> Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Hen. VI, no. I.
40 Gibbons, Early Line. Wills, 170;
monumental inscription.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 29 ;
Ct. R. portf. 72, no. 893.
« Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxiii, 61.
43 Ibid, lxxiii, 89.
44 P.C.C. 22 Alen ; Herts. Gen. and
Antia. ii, 128.
45 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Edw. VI ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xciii, 104.
46 Ibid.
47 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Edw. VI.
48 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
114.
49 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 & 4 Phil.
and Mary.
s° Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
114.
61 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 33 Eliz.
i2 Ibid. East. 41 Eliz.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxviii,
14; ; Recov. R. Hil. 1655, rot. 55.
■"'4 Close, 1656, pt. xxxv, no. 40.
55 Monum. Inscr.
" Ibid.
57 Ibid.
58 Chauncy, op. cit. 316.
59 Ibid.
60 Monum. Inscr.
61 Salmon, op. cit. 208.
«» Inst. Bits. (P.R.O.).
63 Ibid.
64 Monum. Inscr.
65 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 323.
83
66 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 26 Geo. III.
67 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii,
167.
68 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 320.
69 V.C.H. Herts, i, 336.
70 Feet of F. Herts. 17 Hen. Ill,
no. 164.
71 Ibid. Hil. 26 Geo. III.
» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
78 Ibid. ; Plac. de Quo Warr, (Rec.
Com.), 287 ; Assize R. 32;.
74 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, no. 17.
75 Assize R. 323, m. 40 d.
76 Feud. Aids, ii, 454.
77 Dimensions: chancel, 22 ft. by 20 ft.;
nave, 31 ft. by 22 ft. ; north chapel,
21 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 6 in. ; north aisle,
25 ft. by 7 ft. 6 in. ; tower, 7 ft. 6 in.
square.
78 P.C.C. 15 Luffenam.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
was extensively altered in 1811, and was restored in
1874.
The chancel has a modern east window of three
lights in a two-centred head. On the north side is
3 ^UfCs^CEalSSrtdModera
= P>reh
Plan of Dicswell Church
an arch of about 1200 opening into the north chapel.
The face towards the chancel is modern. The arch
is two-centred of a single chamfered order ; to the
east of it is a deep recess with a four-centred head, of
the I ,th century, which may have been originally open
on both sides. In the south wall at the east is a
modern three-light window with a square head. At the
west end of this wall is a lofty segmental-headed
window, probably of the 13th century, now blocked.
To the east of the easternmost window in the south
wall is a double piscina of the 13th century with
two high two-centred chamfered heads and a central
shaft, of which the base is old.
Between the chancel and the chapel is a screen of
the early 1 6th century, of which the lower part has
been destroyed. A similar screen, formerly the
rood screen, with the lower part also destroyed,
divides the chapel from the
aisle. The north chapel has
two early 16th-century win-
dows, that in the east wall
having three trefoiled lights
in a four - centred head,
and the north window
two cinquefoiled lights in a
square head. At the north-
east corner is a small door
with a two-centred head,
leading to the churchyard.
On each side of the east win-
dow is a stone bracket,
moulded and carved with
shields of Perient, three cres-
cents quartering a cross paty.
It is possible that these may
have been originally in John
Perient's chantry. The roof
of the chapel is low pitched,
of panelled oak, and dates
from the early 16th-century
remodelling.
The nave walls are proba-
bly of the 1 2th century,
but there is no detail of an
earlier date than the 15th
century. There were three windows in the south
wall, but the middle one of three lights is blocked
by the east wall of the porch ; the other two contain
some 15th-century stones and are of two cinquefoiled
lights with tracery above in a two-centred head.
The west window is of three lights with tracery
above in a two-centred head. The roof has 15th-
century tie-beams. The south door opens to the
cemented and embattled porch, which has a small
light in the east and west walls.
The north aisle opens to the nave by a single
modern arch, which replaces the original arcade of
two bays. In the north wall are two two-light
cinquefoiled windows of the same date as those of the
chapel, and obviously inserted when the chapel was
rebuilt. Between them is a remarkable recess with
a richly moulded two-centred arch, containing tracery
of the end of the 1 3th century. The lower part of
the recess is destroyed, but the tracery is intact and
consists of four high trefoiled heads, supported on
three corbels with the heads of a priest, a woman and
a bishop, and having above them two trefoils sur-
mounted by a quatrefoil, the space in the middle
being filled by the dove, the symbol of the Holy
Ghost. The lower part of the label of the arch,
with returns, is modern.
The north-west tower has a north wall of the
same thickness as that of the nave. It is open only
to the aisle by a four-centred plastered arch. The
oak doors in this arch, of early 16th-century work,
were probably originally those of the rood screen.
They have traceried and moulded panels and a four-
centred cusped and foliated head. The west window
of the tower is of a single light, of the 1 6th century.
It is unglazed and closed by a door. The four bell-
chamber windows are also of the 16th century, of
two cinquefoiled lights under a square head.
In the chapel are mural monuments to William
Sedley, 1658, Eliza Shallcross, 1677, and Francis
Shallcross, 1681, and some 17th-century floor-slabs
Dicswell Church : North Aisle, showing Recess with Tracery
84
BROADWATER HUNDRED
to members of the Shallcross family. There is in
the chancel a brass of John Perient, standard-bearer
to Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, and his
wife Joan Risain, who died in 141 5. The figures
are 5 ft. long. The man is in armour, and the
arms and part of the inscription remain. Another
brass of a knight in armour, with two symbols
of the Evangelists, is most probably that of his
son John Perient, who died in 1432. On the
same slab is an inscription to Thomas Robynson and
his wife, 1495. A brass of Thomas Hoore, 1495,
his wife, four sons and eight daughters, has an
inscription and four shields with a double-headed
eagle, the arms of Hoore, the Mercers' Company
and a defaced coat. There are also in the chancel
brasses of William Robert, auditor of the Bishop
of Winchester, 14 — (the date has not been filled
in), his wife, 1484, and two sons; the figures are
shrouded and there are two shields and an in-
scription : of John Perient, a small, undated in-
scription ; of Robert Battyl, 1552, his wife, four
sons and six daughters ; and of two daughters of
Sir Alexander Cave, 1637.
The bells are three in number, the first and second
by Robert Oldfeild, 1 605.
The plate includes an engraved cup of 1563,3
paten of 1673 and a flagon of 1672.
The registers are in three books : (i) all entries
from 1538 to 1731 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from
1731 to 1812 and marriages from 1 73 1 to 1 75 3 ;
(iii) marriages from 1758 to 1 812. Book i has been
recovered since the return of 1830.
The church was given to the
ADVOWSON abbeyof Walden, in Essex, by Geoffrey
de Mandeville, first Earl of Essex, the
founder of that monastery " and lord of the manor of
Digswell. The grant was confirmed by Alice de
Vere,80 said to have been the sister or half-sister of
William de Mandeville, the third earl.81 Geoffrey
Fitz Piers, who was Earl of Essex from 1 199 to
1213,81 laid claim to the advowson, and litigation
arose between him and the Abbot of Walden. It was
decided that the earl and his son Geoffrey should
present to the church during their lives, and that
GRAVELEY
after their decease it should return to the abbot for
ever.83 The advowson then remained to Walden
Abbey until the surrender of the abbot in 1 5 33.84
The church was never appropriated, and the living
was always a rectory. In 1538 the abbey, at the
earnest suit of Thomas Audley, then Lord Chan-
cellor," was granted to him with all its possessions,86
among which, however, Digswell advowson is not
mentioned.87 Although there is no record of any
grant,ss the advowson seems to have been acquired by
the lords of the manor, for John Sedley was seised of
half of it at his death in 1605.89 After that date
it descended with the manor until 1 786,90 when it
was sold by Elizabeth Willis to Jane Pearce,91 who
left it by will to her nephew the Rev. Nathaniel
May,98 the patron in 181 1.93 In that year, however,
he sold it to Joshua Watson, to hold in trust for the
use of his brother the Rev. John James Watson and
his heirs.9' In 1829 the advowson was sold by
Dr. Watson to S. Everard,95 who again sold it late in
1836 to William Willoughby Prescott.96 The latter
died in the same year, leaving it by will to his fourth
son, the Rev. George Edward Prescott, who was
patron and incumbent until 1888.97 His trustees
held the presentation from that date until 1900,
when it was acquired by Miss Wilshere M of the
Frythe, Welwyn, who is the present patron.
In 1638 the parsonage of Digswell was said
to be ' sufficient and commodious for habitation.'
Adjoining there was ' one large nue barne thatched
and bourded on the outside, of length five bayes,
also one hay barne and stable nue built contein-
ing both fower bayes covered with tiles being all
under one roofe.' The glebe lands amounted to
40 acres.99
The parliamentary returns of 1786
CHARITIES mention certain tenements and land
held by the parish under a gift of
Thomas Shallcross and of a donor unknown, situated
respectively at Burn ham Green and at Harmer Green.
Questions arose, however, as to the title of the parish
to the property at Burnham Green, but three small
tenements at Harmer Green were inhabited by three
poor families rent free.
GRAVELEY
Gravelai (xi cent.) ; Gravele (xiv cent.).
The parish of Graveley has an area of 1,837 acres>
of which 5 8 if are arable land, 297 J acres permanent
grass and 85 J acres wood.1 The elevation of the
parish is greatest in the east, where it attains a height
of over 460 ft. It slopes down towards the west, but
the level of the entire parish is over 300 ft., with the
exception of a small portion in the extreme south-west.
The village of Graveley is on the west side of the
parish and is situated between Stevenage and Baldock
on the Great North Road, which forms a part of the
western boundary of the parish. The church of St.
Mary lies a little way off the high road on the east
side, and just to the west of it is Graveley Hall, a
17th-century house refaced with brick, but having its
original chimney stacks. A little to the south of the
church is Graveley Bury, a 17th-century farm-house
with pargeted walls and tiled roof. The village has
79 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 133 ; Harl. MS.
3697, fol. 1.
80 Ibid. fol. 21 d.
61 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
M Ibid.
63 Duchy of Lane. D. Box A, no. n.
»* L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (1), 575.
66 Diet. Nat. Biog.
86 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (1),
575-
07 Nor is it mentioned in the inquisi-
tion taken at his death (Chan. Inq.
p.m. [Ser. 2], lxx, 3).
88 In the survey of the property of the
abbey taken in 1535 Digswell is not
mentioned [Valor Eccl. [Rec. Com.],
vi). Hence it may have already been
alienated.
89 Ibid, eclxxxviii, 145.
90 Bacon, Liber Regis.
91 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 52 Geo. Ill,
m. 72 ; P.C.C. 57 Kenyon.
98 Com. Pleas D. Enr. 52 Geo. Ill,
m. 72.
93 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
s> Com. Pleas D.Enr. Hil. 52 Geo.III,
m. 72.
9j Clerieat Guide ; Cussans, op. cit,
Broadivater Hund. 263.
96 Cussans, loc. cit. ; Clerical Guide.
97 Clergy List. 98 Ibid.
99 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 296.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
at some time migrated to the main road. About a
mile east is the hamlet of Chesfield with its ruined
church or chapel of St. EthelJreda, adjoining which is
Chesfield Manor House, now a farm-house. The
existing building is only a portion of the old house
which has been considerably modernized. What is
left dates from the beginning of the 17th century.
The house consists of what was apparently the old
hall, having a projection at the back or north side
containing the staircase and a long wing, in which are
the kitchen offices, projecting northwards and con-
nected now to the main block at one corner only.
The hall has been subdivided into a drawing room
and dining room, each having a modern fireplace, the
old fireplace on the north side of the hall having been
built up, though the original chimney still exists. The
dining room contains some old moulded panelling.
The old entrance door has disappeared, but it was
t
with moulded mullions and frame of oak, the casements
being glazed with the old diamond panes in lead. It
is the only original window left in the building.
Chesfield Park, the seat of Mr. Charles Poyntz
Stewart, J. P., was erected towards the end of the
I 7th century. It is a plain building, with very little
architectural pretension. The front is of brickwork,
with painted stone or cement moulded architraves
round the windows. The house has recently been con-
siderably added to at the back. The park lies partly
in this parish and partly in that of Stevenage.
In the extreme east of the parish is the hamlet of
Botany Bay.
Corey's Mill is situated on the south-western
boundary of the parish.
The subsoil, like that of the surrounding country,
is chalk, with a surface soil of gravel and clay. There
are some old chalk-pits in the neighbourhood of
Chesfield Manor House
Ground Plajn
J?
mfjE Century
ED Modern
probably on the south side, as the old boundary walls
and gate piers still remain on that side of the house.
On the north side of the old hall a modern passage
has been formed giving access to the staircase and
to the present entrance door. The stair is the original
one and is of the type known as 'dog-legged,' having
two straight flights without a wall between them. The
stair is all of oak, with square newels finished with
moulded tops, the balusters are of the usual pattern,
3 in. square at top and bottom, the centre part being
turned and moulded. The main block consists of two
stories and attics, but there is very little of interest
internally. Externally, the chief feature is the brick
chimney stack at the back, which consists of a row of
three square chimney shafts set diagonally on a heavy
mass of brickwork, all of a plain character. The
bricks are 2 J in. thick, rising about I I in. to four
courses, but much of the work has been refaced. The
south and west of the kitchen wing are of brick, but
the other two sides are timber-framed and plastered.
In the west wall is a long low window of five lights,
Chesfield Church, and others, still in use, to the west
of that village. There is a gravel-pit beside the road
in the south of the parish and a disused one to the
north of Graveley village. No railway passes through
the parish ; the nearest station is Stevenage, a mile
and a half south.
Place-names mentioned in the early 17th century
are 'la Holt,' Rainehill and Annicks.1*
The manor of GRAVELEY was held
MANORS in the time of King Edward by Swen,
one of Earl Harold's men, and was
granted by William the Conqueror to Goisbert of
Beauvais. At this time it was assessed at 2 hides.
Half a hide, formerly held by two men of Godwin
of Bendfield, was held in 1086 by William of Robert
Gernon.2
The manor of Goisbert of Beauvais seems to have
been granted with Great Wymondley (q.v.) to
'» Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii, 1625 Herts. Gen. and
Antiq. iii, 56.
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 335, 308, 323.
86
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Reginald de Argentein early in the 1 2th century.
The estate of Robert Gernon in Little Wymondley
was held in the I 3th century by the Argenteins, so
it is probable that here the two estates of 1086
became amalgamated. The overlordship of this
manor, therefore, follows the descent of Great
Wymondley.3
The early sub-tenants of the manor under the
lords of Great Wymondley are obscure. Early in
the reign of Richard I and in I 198 there is mention
of William de Graveley,4 and in the latter year of
John de Graveley and Beatrice his wife,5 who were
ultimately succeeded (if they held the manor) by
Robert de Graveley, who died about I 3 I l.G Robert's
wife Beatrice outlived him by many years,7 and also
survived their son John, who was seised of the manor
and died without issue before 1 32 1.8 In that year
Pagana de Merdele sued Beatrice for the manor on
the ground that John's heir was his aunt Alice, the
mother of Pagana. Beatrice stated in defence that
John had quitclaimed all his right in the manor to
her and her husband and her heirs.9 The result of
the suit is not recorded. Beatrice died about 1337.10
In the same year Thomas Fitz Eustace conveyed the
manor to John de Blomvile," lord of the manor of
Chesfield. He died in the same year,11' and was suc-
ceeded by his son John, and he after 135 I by his son,
also John de Blomvile,13 after whose death the manor
came into the possession of John Barrington " and
Margaret his wife, who is said to have been the daughter
and heir of John de Blomvile the third.15 After the
death of Jier husband Margaret granted Graveley to
Edmund Barrington,16 who held it in 1428. 17 He
was succeeded by Thomas Barrington, who died in
1 472, when the manor passed to his son Humphrey,18 as
Edmund, his eldest son, had died without issue. Nicholas
Barrington, the next holder, died in 1505 and was
succeeded by his son of the same name.'9 Nicholas
the younger died in 1515, and the manor passed to
his son John,20 who was succeeded by Thomas
Barrington. Thomas alienated the manor in 1565—6
to Thomas Bedell, who conveyed it a few months
later to William Clarke.81 He was succeeded by his
son William,28 whose daughter Elizabeth married
George Throckmorton, who held the manor in right
of his wife and died in 1696.83 His son John suc-
ceeded him,24 and sold the manor in 170410 Edward
Lawndy of Baldock.85 The latter is said to have
bequeathed it to his grandson, Edward Sparhawke,
who held it in 1728,86 and died without issue in
1 74 1.27 The manor passed to his nephews Lawndy
and Edward Sparhawke,28 who, however, both died
Wilkinson.
a Jesse vair bet
three unicorns pa
argent.
GRAVELEY
without issue, and their lands passed in i77889to
William Parkins, son of their sister Katherine, who
held Graveley in 1 82 1.30 Both William and his
brother and heir Edward
Parkins died without issue,
and the manor was divided
between Captain Obert, son
of their sister Margaret, and
Richard Lack, son of their
younger sister Catherine. In
1858 Richard Lack sold his
moiety to Lieut. -Col. Robert
Hind ley Wilkinson, who
married Caroline sister of
Captain Obert.31 Lieut. -Col.
Wilkinson died in 1888, and
his widow continued to hold
the manor until December
1894, the other moiety also
having come to her. She was succeeded by her
daughter Caroline Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Charles
Poyntz-Stewart, M.A., J. P., who is the present lord
of the manor in right of his wife.32
CHESFIELD or CHISFIELD (Chevesfeld, xiii
cent. ; Chenesfeld, Chiffield, Chelsfield, xiv cent. ;
Chenyfeld, xvi cent.).
This manor may be identified by its subsequent
history with the holdings of Peter de Valognes in
1086. Two hides and \\ virgates in Graveley
which formed a manor before the Conquest had been
held by ^Elmar or ^Ethelmar of Benington. Another
virgate had been held by Alestan of Boscombe, and
belonged to Weston ; half a virgate had been held
by Lepsi, a sokeman of King Edward, and 8 acres
and a toft lying in Stevenage by the Abbot of
Westminster, by gift of King Edward. In 1086 the
' manorial ' portion was held by Godfrey of Peter de
Valognes the sheriff.33 The virgate and a half was
held by Peter de Valognes of William de Ow, and
the 8 acres and a toft, apparently reclaimed from
Westminster, were in the hands of Roger, Peter's
bailiff.31 Probably Peter de Valognes also acquired
the i£ hides 10 acres which Adam Fitz Hubert held
of the Bishop of Bayeux in 1086,35 through his
marriage with Albreda, sister of Eudo Dapifer, brother
and heir of Adam Fitz Hubert. The manor thus
formed was held of Benington Manor as of the
barony of Valognes,36 and the overlordship follows the
descent of Benington.
In the 13th century the manor of Chesfield was
held of the barony of Valognes by the family of
La Haye. The first of them mentioned in connexion
3 Feud. Aids, ii, 429, 436, 443,
448; Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II,
no. 43.
4 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Pipe R. Soc. xiv),
27-
s Feet of F. (Pipe R. Soc. xxiv), 53 ;
Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 175 ; Feet
o/F. (Pipe R. Soc. xxiv), 45.
6 Harl. Chart. 51 D. 26; Harl. MS.
5836, fol. 147.
7 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 317.
8 De Banco R. Mich. 15 Edw. II,
m. 18.
9 Ibid.
10 Cal. Close, 1337-9, P- 18.
11 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 11 Edw. Ill,
no. 184.
18 Cal. Close, 1337-9, p. 263.
13 Feet of F. Herts. 25 Edw. Ill,
no. 387.
14 Close, 2 Ric. II, m. 35 d.
15 Cussans, op. cit. Broadivater Hund.
64.
16 Close, 6 Ric. II, pt. i, m. ltd.
17 Feud. Aids, ii, 448.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV,
no. 35.
19 Ibid. 24 Hen. VII, no. 72, 74.
20 Harl. MS. 756, fol. 381; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 147.
" Feet of F. Herts. East. 7 Eliz. ;
Mich. 8 & 9 Eliz.
22 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 42 ;
Recov. R. Mich. 18 Jas. I, rot. 73.
28 Chauncy, op. cit. 368.
84 Ibid.
87
26 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. z Anne.
26 Salmon, op. cit. 186.
27 Clutterbuck, op. cit. 230.
28 Recov. R. Hil. 2 Geo. Ill, rot. 30.
-° Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 3, quoting
monumental inscription.
3u Ibid. 330.
31 Cussans, op. cit. Broadivater Hund
64-5-
32 Burke, Landed Gentry (1907). In-
formation kindly supplied by Mr. C.
Poyntz-Stewart.
33 V.C.H. Herts, i, 336.
34 Ibid. 327.
35 Ibid. 308.
36 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 271 ;
Feud. Aidsy ii, 430 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
17 Edw. II, no. 43.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
with Graveley are Ralph and Robert de la Haye,
who held one fee there early in the 13th century.37
Robert de la Haye is again mentioned in 1232 and
1 248,31 but some time between the latter date and
1255 the manor seems to have been acquired by
John de Blomvile and Joan his wife." John de
Blomvile, apparently their son, held it in 1303," and
died in 1337." Immediately before his death he
became lord of the manor of Graveley," which
passed to his son, and Chesfield has descended with
that manor until the present day."
A windmill in Chesfield was leased to the lord of
the manor of Great Wymondley in I 31 8." In 1328
the site is described as land where there was lately a
from the lands in Graveley
which belonged to Sopwell
Nunnery, St. Albans. It is
unfortunately impossible to
ascertain from what donor the
nunnery received them, and
hence the overlordship is un-
known. In 1528 the Prioress
of Sopwell leased them to
Agnes Gascoigne for a term
of twenty years,46 and in 1538
the king renewed the lease for
twenty-one years to Agnes
Gascoigne, widow, and John
Graveley
&
Graveley of Graveley.
Sable a cross pointed argent
'with a molet argent in the
Quarter.
Chesfield Manor Housb from the North-east
mill." There is now a windmill on Jack's Hill in
the north of the parish.
This manor of GRAVELET HALL was formed
The reversion and rent
were granted later in the same
year to James Needham of
Wymondley Priory,4' who in I 541
obtained a licence to alienate them
to John Graveley and his heirs.48
John Graveley was succeeded by
his son Thomas, who bought up
other lands in Graveley from John
Brockett and John Graveley of
Hitchin,49 and thus consolidated
his estate. He died in 1583 and
bequeathed his lands in Graveley
to his wife for the education of his
four children, with remainder to
Francis, his eldest son.50 Francis
became lord of the manor, but
died in 1584, and was. followed
successively by his brothers
Thomas,5' who died unmarried in
1 587," and Rowland, his youngest
brother, who lived until 1610.
Rowland Graveley's eldest son
John died on the day after his
father, so that the reversion of the
manor after the death of Rowland
Graveley's widow, the life-tenant,
passed to the second son Thomas,
a minor in wardship of his mother
Anne.63 Thomas Graveley and
Winifred his wife sold the manor in
1627 to Richard Nixon/4 and he
in 1637 to Eustace Needham.55
Graveley Hall thus returned to
the family of its early owners and
seems to have remained in that
family. Almost a hundred years
later the Needham co-heirs were
holding the manor,66 after which
it seems to have followed the descent
of Wymondley Priory Manor.67
Sir Henry Holmes or Helmes, the occupier during
the ownership of Richard Nixon,68 was granted court
leet and view of frankpledge there in 1616.69
Feet
Harl
fol. 147.
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 271;
Reg. R. 1 10, m. 6.
Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. ii, 671;
of F. Herts. 32 Hen. Ill, no. 362 ;
. Chart. 51 D. 26; Harl. MS. 5836,
Feet of F. Herts. 39 Hen. Ill, no.
469 ; Harl. Chart. 46 E. 28.
10 Feud, Aids, ii, 430.
41 Cat. Close, 1337-9, F- '8-
« Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 11 Edw. Ill,
no. 184.
43 Close, 2 Ric. II, m. 35 d.; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 3; ; (Ser. 2), xxx,
147 ; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 22,
no. 58 ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 7 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. Hil. 2 Geo. Ill, rot. 30.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 43.
46 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, no. 17.
46 Dugdale, Mon, iii, 364.
47 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (1), g. 887
(13). 4a Ibid, xvi, g. 780 (6).
49 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 6 & 7 Eliz. ;
Hil. 7 Eliz. m. 6.
88
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccv, 192.
51 Ibid, ccvi, 42.
52 Ibid, ccxvi, 104.
63 Ibid, cccxii, 162.
54 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 Chas. I.
55 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 12 Chas. I.
56 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 3 Geo. I ;
Mich. 2 Geo. II.
57 Ibid. Mich. 7 Geo. II ; Recov. R.
East. 10 Geo. Ill, rot. 311.
58 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 12 Chas. I.
59 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xxv, no. 21.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
The parish church of ST. MART
CHURCHES is built of flint rubble with stone
dressings ; the chancel is roofed with
tiles and the nave with lead. The church consists of
a chancel, nave, north aisle, north vestry, west tower
and south porch.60
The nave is the oldest part of the present structure
and probably dates from the 12th century. In the
13th century the chancel was either enlarged or
wholly rebuilt. The west tower was added about
1480, and the south porch probably in the 1 8th
century. The north aisle and north vestry date from
1887, when the church was restored throughout.
The original 13th-century roll-moulded east win-
dows of the chancel are replaced by a window of
about 1500 of three cinquefoiled lights; but the
interior jambs with part of the arch are still visible
on either side of the existing window. In the
north wall are two windows, probably of the 13 th
century, with a
modern window be-
tween them. The
doorway in the north
wall is of the 1 2 th
century, moved to
its present position
from the north wall
when the north aisle
was built. In the
south wall the
easternmost window
is a plain single light
of the 1 3 th century,
and the westernmost
is of about 1500 of
three cinquefoiled
lights in a low two-
centred head. Be-
tween them a door-
way and window
above it, both blocked
and only visible in-
ternally, are of the
1 3 th century. The
piscina in the south-
east corner is of the
1 3 th century ; it is
double and has two
detached shafts and a central pillar with moulded
bases and capitals supporting two richly moulded
half-arches and an intersecting arch, all semicircular.
It is surrounded by a square moulded setting. The
drains are very deep ; the eastern is eight-foiled and
the western a quatrefoil. All the work is original
and in excellent condition.
The chancel arch is of the late 15th century, of
two orders, the inner order supported on half-
octagonal pilasters with moulded capitals extending
round the three complete faces only. A 15th-
century oak rood screen stands in the archway with
plain lower panels and three open bays of two cinque-
foiled lights with tracery above on either side of
the four-centred entrance, which has open tracery
in the spandrels and no doors. The cornice has an
embattled cresting, and the foot of the cross remains
over the doorway.
60 Dimensions : chancel, 31 it. by 16 ft.; nave, 30 ft. by
19 ft. ; west tower, 11 ft. by 10 ft.
GRAVELEY
The nave has a window of about 1330 in the
south wall with two cinquefoiled lights and a quatre-
foil in a two-centred head, and a 15th-century two-
light window, with similar tracery in a four-centred
head. Between them is the south doorway leading
to the south porch. The roof of the nave is low-
pitched, of 15th-century date, but most of the
carving is modern. At the north-east, beside the
chancel arch, is a tall shallow niche of the 15th
century, with a two-centred arch in a moulded
rectangular frame. The north arcade with the
north aisle is modern, but a 14th-century window
has been reset in the north wall.
The west tower, of two stages with an embattled
parapet, has a late 15th-century arch towards the
nave. The west doorway is of the same date. The
west window has modern stonework, and the two-
light windows of the bell chamber are repaired with
cement.
Graveley Church from the South-east
The font, of limestone, is octagonal, of the 15th
century. The pulpit is modern. A piece of wood
tracery of the 14th century is worked into the
reading desk.
In the nave is a floor slab with an incised marginal
inscription, ' Elienora conjux virgo simulata
(Xpus meus ?) ora quod sit beatis sociata,' which
probably refers to a vow of celibacy in wedlock.60"
In the slab are also the indents of brass shields and
an inscription plate.
The bells, of which there are six, include a third
of 1605 by Robert Oldfeild and a fifth of 1589 by
John Dyer.
The plate belonging to the church of St. Mary,
Graveley, is modern, and consists of a cup and paten
and a small plated flagon.
The registers are in four books : (i) baptisms from
1555 to 1748, burials from 1551 to 1751 and
60a Referred to by Salmon (1728) and Cussans, op. cit.
89
13
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
marriages from 1555 to 1750 ; (ii) baptisms from 1749
to 1 8 1 2, burials from 1 7 5 1 to 1 81 2 and marriages
from 1 75 1 to 1753 ; (iii) and (iv) marriages from
1754 to 181 2 and from 1792 to 1812 respectively.
The ruined church of ST. ETHELDREDA 61 at
Chesfield stands on rising ground about a mile to the
east of the village. It consists of a chancel, nave and
south-east chapel, and is built of flint roughly plas-
tered, with stone dressings. The whole building
dates from the middle of the 14th century. The
side walls are about 14 ft. high, and the west walls
of the nave and chapel are gabled. There are no
roofs, and the east end of the south wall has entirely
disappeared, while the east wall can only be traced
by the foundations. The condition of the remains
is very bad, the walls being heavily covered with ivy,
the buttresses defaced, and the floor overgrown with
grass and weeds.
The chancel and nave form a continuous rect-
angular building. At the west end of the north wall
is a doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred
head. A scroll moulded label with return ends is
partly broken away, and the rear arch is missing.
To the east of the doorway is a two-light window
opening, of which only the sill and the west jamb
remain. Near the east end a large break in the wall
probably indicates the position of a third window.
In the south wall is a doorway with a two-centred
chamfered arch of two orders, with only one piece of
label remaining ; and to the east of it, at the angle
formed by the south wall and the west wall of the
chapel, is a two-light window, of which only the
west jamb and the sill, much thrust out of position,
remain.
In the west wall is a traceried window of two
trefoiled lights, of which only the jambs and head
remain at all complete ; the sill is partly broken
away, and the mullion and most of the tracery are
gone.
Only the west wall and part of the south wall of
the chapel remain. In the former is a doorway of
the same detail as those in the nave, with its north
jamb broken away. In the south wall is a single
cinquefoiled light of the 14th century very much
defaced. In the chancel is a hole containing a stone
coffin. There are traces of colour on the internal
plaster of the walls.
In 1225 the advowson of Graveley
ADVOWSON was the subject of a dispute between
John, Ralph and Adam, the sons of
William Fitz Simon,02 formerly patron. Adam Fitz
Simon appears to have obtained it.63 This family
were lords of the manor of Symondshyde in Hatfield
(q.v.), with which the advowson of Graveley de-
scendedM until 1 818, when Sir Thomas Salusbury
sold it to John Green of Great Amwell.6i From
John Green it descended to his grandson the Rev.
George Dewe Green, after whose death in 1871 66 it
passed to the Rev. G. Dunn,67 who held it until
1880.68 From this date until 1899 it was in the
hands of the trustees of the Rev. J. Pardoe.69 In
that year it came into the possession of the Rev.
George Clennell Rivett-Carnac, from whom it passed
in 1900 to Mrs. M. F. Chesshyre-Walker,70 and in
1902 to the Rev. Roland E. Chesshyre-Walker,71 who
is the present patron and incumbent.
The church or chapel of Chesfield is first men-
tioned in 1232, when the advowson belonged to the
patron of the church of Graveley.72 It seems to
have usually had a separate incumbent from Graveley,
though occasionally the same parson served both.73
Early in the 13th century a certain Thomas, who
held both livings, seems to have alienated the advow-
son collusively to the lord of the manor of Chesfield,74
and in consequence of this the lords claimed half of
it throughout that century. This first occurred in
1232, when Robert de la Haye claimed it against
Adam Fitz William.75 In 1248 he again claimed
it against Simon Fitz Adam, and was worsted.76
John de Blomvile did the same in 1255,77 but finally
in 1 3 3 1 Parnel widow of John de Benstede, lady
of the manor of Benington, of which Chesfield was
held, confirmed the advowson to Hugh Fitz Simon.78
From this time it continued to be held with the
manors of Symondshyde in Hatfield and Almshoe
in Ippollitts in the same manner as Graveley
advowson. There was evidently considerable rivalry
between the two incumbents, and on one occasion it
attained such proportions that John Smyth, the parson
of Graveley, killed Robert Schorthale, the parson of
Chesfield, for which offence he obtained a pardon in
1384.79 The two churches were united in the 15th
century ; Salmon gives the date as 1445. 80 That of
Chesfield was dismantled in 1750, under a licence
from the Bishop of Lincoln. The two churchyards
were still in use in 1686. The glebe lands then
consisted of about 68 acres.81
A dwelling-house in Graveley was registered in
1 799 as a meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters.82
There is a Wesleyan chapel in the parish.
In 1626 Edmund Jordane by his
CHARITIES will charged an acre of land in
Graveley Bottom with 4_r. a year for
the poor, payable at the feast of St. John the Baptist.
61 Chancel and nave 50 ft. by 1 8 ft. 6 in.
63 Maitland, Braaon's Note Bk. ii,
5+3-
63 Cur. Reg. R. no, m. 6.
«' Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 5 Edw. Ill,
no. 101 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iv,
30; Recov. R. East. 17 Hen. VIII,
rot. 410 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 41
Eliz. ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
' Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
67 Clergy List.
69 Ibid.
66 Ibid.
6S Ibid.
70 Ibid.
" Ibid.
72 Cur. Reg. R. no, m. 6
73 Ibid.
" Ibid.
7i Ibid.
76 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Hen. Ill,
0. 362.
77 Ibid. Hil. 39 Hen. Ill, no. 469.
73 Ibid. Div. Co. 5 Edw. Ill, no. 101.
79 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 444.
60 Salmon, op. cit. 186.
61 Herts. Gen. and Antij. iii, 57.
a Urwick, Nonconj. in Herts. 581.
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Graveley : Ruins of Chesfield Church
BROADWATER HUNDRED
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
HATFIELD or BISHOP'S HATFIELD
Haetfeld (x cent.) ; Hetfelle (xi cent.) ; Hatfeud
(xiv cent.) ; Cecil Hatfield (xvii cent.).
The parish of Hatfield has an area of 12,884 acres,
of which 3,895 ^ acres are arable land, 4,941!
permanent grass and 1, 668 J wood.1 From the great
extent of the parish and from documentary evidences
it is clear that Hatfield was originally forest land, of
which Hatfield Park is the survival. The greater
part of the parish lies at an elevation of between
200 ft. and 300 ft., but rises to 300 ft. in the north,
at Handside and Brockett Park. South-east of Hatfield
Park, which lies in the centre of the parish, the
ground rises considerably, the highest points, 419 ft.,
being south and east of Woodhill. The River Lea
enters the parish at Brockett Park, crosses it diagonally
from east to west, passes through the north of the
Home Park, and forms a portion of the parish
boundary in the direction of Holwell. The Great
North Road runs through the centre of the parish,
and is crossed by the main road from St. Albans to
Hertford.
The town of Hatfield is situated a short distance
south of the cross roads. The church of St. Etheldreda
lies a little way off the main road, and adjoining it
are the remains of old Hatfield House, now used as
stables. Between the church and the main road is
Fore Street, formerly the principal part of the town,
where the market was held. There are here several
interesting houses, notably one of the 1 7th century
of timber and plaster with an overhanging story and
tiled roof, now converted into two shops, and some
late 1 8th and early 19th-century red brick houses,
including the old Salisbury Arms. Park Street
branches off to the north, and in it is the Eight Bells
Inn, an early 1 7th-century plastered timber house of
one story, with an attic having dormer windows.
The town has now extended northward of Fore
Street along the main road and around the railway
station in the direction of the road to St. Albans.
Facing the station yard immediately outside the
park gates of Hatfield House is a bronze statue of
Robert third Marquess of Salisbury, designed by
Sir George J. Frampton, and erected by subscription
by the Marquess's Hertfordshire friends and neigh-
bours in 1906.
The Great Northern railway has a station at
Hatfield, which is also a junction for the branch
lines to St. Albans, Luton, Dunstable and Hertford.
In the extreme north of the parish are the
hamlet of Handside, Brockett Hall and Park, with
Lemsford at its southern extremity. These, with
Cromer Hyde, now form the ecclesiastical parish of
Lemsford. Brockett Hall was rebuilt by Sir Matthew
Lamb in the middle of the 1 8th century from designs
by James Paine. It is a brick house surrounded by a
park of 500 acres, in which is a lake. The Prince
Regent frequently stayed with the first Lord Melbourne
at Brockett, and in 184 1 Queen Victoria visited Lord
Melbourne there, writing to the King of the Belgians
on 3 August in that year that her 'visit to Brockett
naturally interested us very much for our excellent
Lord Melbourne's sake. The park and grounds are
beautiful.' Lord Melbourne died at Brockett in 1 848.
Lord Palmerston resided for some years at Brockett
and died there in 1865. It is now the property of
Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, but has been occupied
for many years by Lord Mountstephen, who has on
several occasions entertained royalty.
The little village of Stanborough lies on the North
Road a little further south. To the west are the
village of Cromer Hyde, Symondshyde Farm, with
Symondshyde Great Wood, and Astwick Manor.
To the east is the village of Hatfield Hyde, with
Woodhall Farm, Ludwick Hall and Holwell Manor,
and Camfield Place (for which see Essendon), the
residence of Mr. Frederick Vavasour McConnell.
A little distance west of the town of Hatfield are
New Town, where is the union workhouse, and Roe
Green. Pope's Farm is on the west side of Hatfield
Park, and Bush Hall (the residence of Mr. A. L.
Stride, J. P.) on the north. Beyond the parks the
parish extends to the east in a long narrow strip.
Here are situated Woodside, Lower Woodside, Wood-
hill, the property of Canon Jones, and also Woodside
Place, the residence of Sir William S. Church, M.D.,
and Warrenwood, the residence of Captain Butler.
In the extreme east is the village of Newgate Street,
with the manor of Tolmers, the residence of Mr. J. H.
Johnson, and Ponsbourne Park, the house of which,
erected about 1 761 and added to later, is now the
property of Col. Edward Hildred Carlile, M.P., J. P.
In this part of the parish there are several old clay-
pits and a gravel-pit which is still worked. There
is also a large gravel-pit north of the Home Park.
In the north-east of the parish are a number of old
chalk-pits. The greater part of the parish lies on a
subsoil of chalk, but south-east of the town there
is a belt of Woolwich and Reading beds, and beyond
that a stretch of London Clay.
In the reign of King Edgar HAT-
MANORS FIELD was in the possession of ' a certain
powerful man ' named Oedmaer, whose
daughter ^Ethelflaed was King Edgar's wife.2 Oedmaer
and his wife ^Ealde demised the 40 hides of Hatfield
to the king, probably for the purposes of a benefaction,
and in order that, by passing through the king's
hands, it might become ' bocland.' Edgar transferred
it to the monks of Ely, being under a promise to
endow that abbey, the large quantity of wood it
contained making it specially valuable for building
purposes. During Edgar's lifetime the monastery
enjoyed it without disturbance, but after his death
in 975 their claim was disputed. An alderman
or earl named jEgelwin and his brothers declared
that their father ^Ethelstan had exchanged his
patrimony in Devonshire for the 40 hides of Hatfield,
but that King Edgar had by violence deprived him
of both lands, ignoring the exchange he had made
with him, and that therefore the title of the monks
of Ely to Hatfield was invalid. The brothers pre-
vailed, and the monks were obliged to buy back
Hatfield, giving them in payment for it 30 hides in
Hemingford and land elsewhere, after which their
title was made secure.3
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
f Freeman, OIJ Engl. Hist.
91
g Liber Eliensis (Impensis Soc), i, 115.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The grant of Edgar to the church of Ely was
confirmed by Ethelred and Edward the Confessor.4
In the Great Survey of 1086, and in the Inquisitio
Eliensis taken about the same time, Hatfield was still
assessed at 40 hides, of which half was demesne land
and a large proportion forest.5 It continued in the
possession of the abbots until 1109,0 when it was
transferred to the Bishops of Ely.
HATFIELD HOUSE. The Bishops of Ely, from
an early date, had a house at
Hatfield, which they frequently
visited,7 and at which they
often entertained royal visitors.
King John passed through
Hatfield in March 1 z 1 1,8 and
Edward I spent a few days
there in February 1303.9
Edward II visited it in July
I309,luand Edward III was
six times there, including the
Christmas of 1 336. n In 1514,
probably on the nomination
of Henry VIII, Hannibal
Zenzano, the king's farrier, was made lessee of the
manor and keeper of the parks,12 and from this time
the king seems to have made use of Hatfield House
almost as if it belonged to him, although it did not
really come into his possession until 1538. In I 5 17
Lady Frances Brandon, daughter of the Duke of
Suffolk and mother of Lady Jane Grey, was born and
christened there.13 Henry VIII visited it in November
1 522,14 the same month in 1 5 24, 15 and August 1 525.16
In June 1528 he removed to Hatfield from Hertford
' because of the sweat.' The Marquess of Exeter and
his wife were ill and the master of the horse 'com-
plained of his head ; nevertheless,' says Henneage, 'the
King is merry and takes no conceit.'17 Princess Mary
resided at Hatfield with a household suitable to her
state as Princess Royal until Henry's divorce from
Katherine of Aragon in 1533. In December of that
year her household was diminished, and the infant
Princess Elizabeth was also conveyed there.18 A
little later Mary's household was entirely dissolved
and she remained at Hatfield as a mere lady-in-
waiting to the infant Elizabeth.19 In March 1534,
when the young Elizabeth was removed from Hatfield
to Hunsdon, Mary refused to accompany her, but she
was put by force by a certain gentleman into a litter
with the queen's aunt and thus compelled to make court
to Elizabeth. She afterwards made a public protest.20
In 1538 the manor of Hatfield was conveyed by
Thomas Bishop of Ely to Henry VIII, in exchange
for the site of the dissolved monastery of Ickleton,
the possessions of the dissolved priory of Swaffham
Bulbeck, a single parish, and various lands in Essex.21
The Princess Elizabeth and the young Edward
Hatfield, and Elizabeth, although removed from tfere
at the death of her father, had returned there by
1548, when she received the ambitious attentions of
Thomas Seymour Lord Sudeley.
In 1 549 Edward VI granted the manor of Hatfield
to John Earl of Warwick,22 but Princess Elizabeth
had become so attached to it that she petitioned
against its loss, in consequence of which the Earl of
Warwick returned it to the king in 1550,23 and with
the consent of the Privy Council it was conveyed to
Elizabeth herself, who gave other lands in exchange to
the Earl of Warwick.24
At the accession of Queen Mary Elizabeth left
Hatfield, but in 1555 was permitted to return there
under the supervision of Sir Thomas Pope, and
devoted herself to study. There Elizabeth refused
proposals of marriage from Philibert Duke of Savoy
and Prince Eric, son of Gustavus Vasa of Sweden.
She was there in November 1558 when the news of
Mary's death was brought to her ; this news she
received, according to tradition, seated under an oak
tree in the park, which still exists. Her first three
councils were held at the house before she quitted it
for London. Hatfield was still maintained as a royal
palace and Elizabeth paid frequent visits to it. After
her death in 1603 it was
granted in dower to Anne of
Denmark, the queen of
James I.26 James, however,
in the same year visited the
Earl of Salisbury at his manor
of Theobalds, and was so
pleased with it that he entered
into negotiations with the earl
for the exchange of that manor
with Hatfield.26 The transfer
was effected in 1607, Robert
Earl of Salisbury receiving the
grant of the lordship and
manor of Hatfield, with the
three parks, and all appurte-
nances, to hold in socage.27 In
161 1 he obtained a licence, for himself and his heirs,
to alienate lands and tenements in Hatfield ' notwith-
standing the statute of Quia Emptores terrarum, or any
other statutes.'28 As soon as he had entered upon
possession of Hatfield Lord Salisbury appears to have
set about pulling down half the old palace and build-
ing the present house.29 (For description of both
see below )
Immediately after Lord Salisbury had settled at
Hatfield he initiated a scheme for the relief of the poor
there by means of the establishment of a weaving
industry, and in December 1608 he made an agree-
ment with one Walter Morrall, by which Morrall
was to teach his art to fifty persons to be chosen by
Cecil, Marquess of
Salisbury. Barry of ten
pieces argent and azure
six scutcheons sable with
a lion argent on each with
the dtfference of a crescent.
seem to have passed much of their childhood at the earl in the parish of Hatfield.3032
4 Cart. Antiq. B 12.
» V.C.H. Herts, i, 31 lb; Inquisitio
EJiensis (ed. Hamilton), 125.
6 Dugdale, Mon. i, 462.
7 P. F.Robinson, Vetru-vius Britannicus,
i « seq.
8 ' Itin. of King John,' Rat. Lit. Pat.
(Rec. Com.).
s Cal. Pat. 1301-7, pp. 1 16-17.
10 Ibid. 1307-13, pp. 175-6.
11 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 250; 1334-8,
pp. 86, 345, 379; 1338-40, p. 69;
1348-50, p. 225.
12 Mins. Accts. bdle. 6,
no. 4.
23 Ibid. 98.
13 St. Albans Arch. Soc.
1901-2,
338.
24 Acts o/P.C. 1550-2, p. 52.
" Ibid, iii, 2694.
25 Pat. I Jas. I, pt. xx, m. 5.
15 Ibid, iv, 546.
26 See under Theobalds ; Cal. S. P.
10 Ibid. 1676.
Dom. 1603-IO, p. 354.
17 Ibid. 4429.
27 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xix, m. 29.
18 Ibid, vi, 1528.
^ Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, p.
19 Ibid, vii, 38.
104.
20 Ibid. 393.
29 St. Albans and Herts. Archit. and
81 D. of purchase and
exchange,
,+8;
Arch. Soc. Trans, i (4), 348-9.
and P. Hen. VIII, xiii
(*). 9°4
, Pat.
30-32 Cal. S> P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 478 ;
> Hen. VIII, pt. iii, no.
30.
St. Albans and Herts. Archit. and Arch.
22 D. of purchase and
exchange
96.
Soc. Trans, i (4), 350.
92
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BROADWATER HUNDRED
Robert Earl of Salisbury died in 1612, and was
succeeded by his son William, who took the side of the
Parliament in the Civil War, and subsequently sat in
Cromwell's Lower House, though he had received a
' marquessate ' by vote.33 Charles I, while in the
custody of the army, was at Hatfield House at the end
of June 1 6^.y.u The Earl of Salisbury was, however,
reconciled to the king at the Restoration, and was
appointed high steward of St. Albans in 1663.35 He
died at Hatfield in December 1668, leaving as his heir
his grandson James, the son of his younger son Charles
Viscount Cranborne and Diana daughter and co-heir
of James Earl of Dirletoun.36 The third Earl of
Salisbury died in 1683 and was succeeded by his son
and namesake, who became a Roman Catholic and
was made high steward of Hertford by James II
in 1688.37 In the following year he was impeached,
but was discharged after two years' imprisonment.
He died in 1713,38 leaving as his heir his son James,
who died in 1728 and was succeeded by his son of the
same name, the sixth earl.
With the seventh earl, a fifth James who succeeded
his father in 1780,39 began a revival of the political
traditions of the family. He had been M.P. for
Great Bedwyn for six years (1774-80) and was
elected for Launceston, when his father's death trans-
ferred him to the House of Lords 10 ; in the same year
he was made treasurer of the household and a privy
councillor. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire
from 1 771 to 1823,41 and from 1773 to 1 81 5 Colonel
of the county Militia. In this double capacity he
entertained King George III on the occasion of a
great review in June 1800.42 'Their Majesties in a
post-chaise and four, and their Royal Highnesses the
Princess Augusta, the Princess Elizabeth and the
Princess Mary in a post-coach and four, attended by
the Countess of Harrington, arrived at Hatfield at ten
minutes before nine ' in the morning on 1 3 June
and 'breakfasted in the summer dining-room.' The
review was held immediately after breakfast, and
' His Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses passed the
highest encomiums on the appearance of the troops.'43
Afterwards they ' walked on the lawn, and saw the
different corps march into the square where the tables
were laid for their reception ' and ' then adjourned
to the library and waited there until dinner was
ready ; when " The Roast Beef of Old England " was
played as they passed through the gallery.' **
The seventh Earl of Salisbury was created Marquess
24 August 1789 and four years later was elected
K.G.45 He married in 1773 Mary Emilia Hill,
daughter of the Earl of Downshire, a sportswoman
whose fame is still remembered.46 She played a
conspicuous part in the meetings of the Archery
Society47 and was for many years Master of the Hat-
field Hounds, only resigning when, at the age of
seventy-eight, she found it wiser to go through gates
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
than to jump them 48 ; it is recorded of her that even
then she considered herself well able to hunt with the
harriers. She survived her husband and perished in
the great fire which burned the west wing of Hatfield
in 1 8 3 5 .49 James Brownlow William second Marquess
of Salisbury, who had taken by royal licence the sur-
name of Gascoyne before that of Cecil, on his marriage
to Miss Frances Mary Gascoyne of Childwall Hall,
Lancashire, in 1821,60 succeeded his father in 1823. 5!
He had already been in Parliament ten years, as a mem-
ber for Weymouth from 1813 to 1 8 1 7 and for Hert-
ford from 1817 to i823.82 From 1818 to 1827 he
was a commissioner for Indian affairs and was elected
K.G. in April i842.S3 He was visited at Hatfield in
1846 by the Queen and Prince Consort, in honour
of whose visit he placed new entrance gates of elaborate
French metal work to the park.64 He was Lord Privy
Seal in 1852 and President of the Council 1 858-9. 65
He died in April 1868 and was buried at Hatfield.60
Robert Arthur Talbot, his younger but eldest sur-
viving son, succeeded him as third marquess. He
had already achieved some political distinction, having
been M.P. for Stamford in four Parliaments (1853-68)
and Secretary of State for India 1866-7,57 an office
which he resumed on the return of the Conservatives
to power in 1874. He was ambassador in 1876 to
the Conference at Constantinople and joint ambassador
to the Congress at Berlin in 1878 ; on his return from
this mission he received the order of the Garter. In
this year also he entered on that distinguished adminis-
tration of the Foreign Office which will always remain
his chief title to fame. In 1885 he became Prime
Minister, continuing as Foreign Secretary until 1886,
when he became First Lord of the Treasury. In the
following year, however, he resumed his work at the
Foreign Office, where he remained until the Conser-
vatives lost power in 1892 ; and on the return of his
party in 1895 he again became Prime Minister and
Foreign Secretary, continuing in both offices until
1900, when he gave up the latter for the less arduous
duties of Lord Privy Seal. During this period Hatfield
became the scene of 'great official garden parties with
their strange congeries of Eastern statesmen, Indian
chiefs and Negro kings ; warriors and diplomatists ;
the great world of London ; the little world of the
country ; Tory members whom it was a duty to invite
and Radical members who were delighted to be
asked.'68 One of the most important of these took
place in July 1887, when Queen Victoria and many
distinguished foreign visitors, who had come to England
for her Jubilee, were present.69 The weather on this
occasion was beautiful, but the Hatfield garden parties
were not always fortunate in this respect, for the first
visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Crown
Prince and Princess of Germany in 1885 59a and that
of the Shah of Persia in 1889 were overshadowed by
'sullen and menacing' or 'positively weeping skies.'691'
33 v.c,
34 Cal.
85 V.C,
36 Ibid,
37 Ibid
"» Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 Ibid.
« Ibid.
«• Lev,
lets, 3 B.
Hatfield
H. Hertfordshire Families, 114.
S. P. Dom. 1645-7, P- 564-
H. Hertfordshire Families, 115.
117.
is Evans Collection of Pamph-
Ticlcets granting admission to
Park during the review were
issued by Lord Salisbury (ibid.), a prece-
dent which was followed by his grandson
in favour of the Hatfield school children
and their elders on the occasion of Queen
Victoria's visit in her first Jubilee year
{Daily Telegraph, 14 July 1887).
43 Lewis Evans Collection, ur supra.
44 Ibid.
45 V.C.H. Hertfordshire Families, 121.
46 Ibid.
*7 Home Cos. Mag. ii, 13.
4a V.C.H. Hertfordshire Families, II J.
93
49 Ibid. 4»Ibid. 1 22.
" Ibid.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid.
64 Daily Telegraph, 9 July 1 8
" V.C.H. Hertfordshire Famili
56 Ibid.
•» Ibid. 123.
58 The Times, 24 Aug. 1903.
53 Daily Telegraph, 14 July 1
M« The Graphic, 25 July 188
W* Daily Telegraph, 9 July ij
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The last of these great garden parties was held in the
coronation year of King Edward VII, in which year
Lord Salisbury resigned. He died 22 August 1903,
HATFIELD HOUSE
ARCHITECTURAL
DESCRIPTION
f Hall of the Old Palace, Hatfield6'
Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury
and was succeeded by his son James Edward Hubert,
the present marquess.
In 1292 the house at Hat-
field, already clearly of some
size, was being enlarged, the
Bishop of Ely then being
given permission to divert
a pathway from the churchyard to a field called
Osmundescroft to enlarge his courtyard.60 This
fixes the site of the enlargement as being the
same as that of the present stables, which themselves
constitute the only remains of the palace in the form
in which it was rebuilt by John de Morton, Bishop of
Ely, about 1480. Nothing of earlier date than these
stables now remains, but of the palace of which they
formed the western wing a complete plan survives,
made only a few years before the demolition of the
palace. This plan, which is in the possession of the
present Marquess of Salisbury, shows an imposing
building of quadrangular form, with stair towers in
the internal angles of the central court and a principal
entrance in the centre of the outer eastern face. The
great hall, solar, kitchen and butteries were in the
west wing, now surviving. The state apartments
were probably in the south wing. It was a building
not only of some size, but also of considerable
elaborateness, for Morton was a great builder, and
when he becameArchbishop of Canterbury in i486 did
much building in Canterbury) Maidstone, Lambeth
and Croydon, besides rebuilding Wisbech Castle.
In 1538 in a survey of the building, then in the
tenancy of Hannibal Zenzano, the king's master of
the horse, the palace is described as ' a very goodly
and stately manor place . . . constructed alle of
011 I nq. p.m. 20 Edw. I, no. 69. In 13.J2-7 Bp, Bek of
Lincoln granted licence to consecrate an altar in the chapel of
the manor of Bishop's Hatfield (Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp.
Bek, no. 7).
60a Adapted by permission from plan in Rep. of Ruj>. Com. gn
Hiit. Monum. of Herts.
94
BROADWATER HUNDRED
brykke, having in the same very stately lodgynges with
romes and offices to the same very necessary and
expedient, albeit in some places it ys oute of
reparaciones.'
There can be no doubt, however, that the necessary
' reparaciones ' were made for its royal occupancy, and
that when James I handed it over to the Earl of
Salisbury it was in good repair. This, however, did
not save it from destruction. The fashion of archi-
tecture had changed with the great national changes
entailed in the coming of the Tudors and the passing
of mediaeval life and thought, and accordingly Hatfield
Palace gave place to Hatfield House.
The remnant of the old palace consists of one long
range, facing east and west, and a gate-house to the
north-west. Both are of brick, and the former is
roofed with tiles. The position of the destroyed north,
south and east wings can be traced in the sunk garden,
between the present forecourt and the remaining old
west wing. The roof of this west wing, which is of
open timber construction, runs in one range over the
hall and the great chamber over the kitchen and
butteries, but the divisions of the latter have been
removed, and between the solar and the kitchen the
building is open from floor to roof and is fitted as
stables. The kitchen has been divided into harness
rooms and a laundry, but at the other end the solar
remains, though the rooms beneath it have been sub-
divided by partitions.
The eastern exterior has suffered much from restora-
tion and alteration. Its two extremities, which were
originally interior to the north and south wings,
were refaced in the 1 7th century, when those wings
were destroyed. The windows are practically new,
and the buttresses, nine in number on this, as on the
west, side, are 19th-century additions. The central
projecting porch, which forms a small tower of three
stages, still retains its original doorway, which is
moulded and has a four-centred head, but it is disused,
and the floors of the stages have been removed.
The west side is in somewhat better condition, but
here also the windows are completely restored, and
the elevation of the hall is denuded of the projecting
bays of a window and a fireplace shown in the old
plan. Straight joints in the wall indicate their exact
position. The central porch forms a tower, as on
the east side, but here it is more massive. It has
thicker walls, bold angle buttresses and a four-centred
doorway of two moulded orders. The tower is of
three stages and is decorated with patterns of black
bricks, a brick corbel-table, and a plain parapet
carried on a small arcade of semicircular arches,
above which rise octagonal chimney-shafts from the
fireplaces in each stage. The rooms are in good
preservation and are lighted by small brick window
openings with four-centred heads under square labels.
In the north-east angle, formed by the tower and
the wall of the wing, is a newel-turret showing three
sides of an octagon.
The north and south ends of the west side are both
gabled. The gable at the kitchen end appears to
have been rebuilt, and all the windows are either
modern or restored, but at the south, or solar, end
little modification has taken place. The gable here
is stepped and coped and terminates in a twisted
chimney shaft. The ground floor door and windows
appear to be a medley of old material reset and
altogether new work. The first floor windows are
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
original, though restored, the middle one being a
three-light window with pointed heads under a four-
centred main head having two orders and a label, all in
moulded brick. This window is flanked by single
lights like those of the porch.
The south end wall of the wing is blind. The
north end has a stepped gable, and is marked by the
small extension through which runs the archway,
formerly to the kitchen court. This arch is four-
centred, of two moulded orders, and the windows are
like those of the rest of the building. The roof ridge
is rather lower than that of the main building.
Internally the chief feature of the building is the
continuous open timber roof of eleven bays, without
variation of detail, which covers that portion of the
wing formerly occupied by the hall and great upper
chamber. The trusses rest on carved stone corbels,
probably early 1 o,th-century imitations of the originals,
and have moulded arched braces and short cambered
collars, with cross-trussing above them. The wall-
plates and purlins are moulded, and from them rise
short nearly vertical struts to each rafter. Between
the trusses are ogee-shaped wind-braces, rising from
immediately above the meeting level of the small
struts with the rafters.
The gate-house, standing at the north-west of the
west front, indicates the position of the north-west
angle of the old west forecourt. It now faces into the
High Street, and is a rectangular building of brick
with an archway running through it near the north
end. The porter's small room is to the north of this
archway, but to the south of the entrance the gate-
house has been converted into two cottages, which
have undergone much repair. On the east side is a
long shallow projection containing stairs and offices.
A few original windows still exist. They are of two
pointed lights, in moulded brick, but many, particularly
on the west side, have 17th-century wooden casement
frames ; some are modern. On the inner side the
entrance archway was altered from a four-centred to a
three-centred form. On the east side the wood lintel
is original. It is cambered, and has carved angle
brackets, so that the actual opening is four-centred.
Over the archway is a room on the walls of which is
a late 16th-century tempera painting, representing
a lion hunt.
The present house stands on the west side of
the park on a gentle eminence close to the church
and to the east of the previous house. It is built of
red brick with stone dressings, and the roofs are partly
of lead and partly tiled. It is a particularly fine and
complete example of early 17th-century domestic
architecture, and its proportions, rather those of a
palace than a country house, afford scope for the
successful use of comparatively severe detail and
symmetrical massing to achieve a dignity only toned
to homeliness by the warm colouring of the material.
Constant care has been exercised to preserve the
character of the building, which, as originally erected,
presented the same homogeneous aspect as at present.
It was begun by the Earl of Salisbury immediately
after the exchange of Theobalds with King James I had
been effected (see above), and was completed in 1 61 I.
Although it has since undergone frequent repairs and
some internal alterations, and although in 1835 the
west wing from the chapel wall to the south end was
completely gutted by fire, the general appearance of
the building remains unaltered, and in many cases old
95
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
material has been re-used in repairs, making it a matter
of extreme difficulty to distinguish between old and
new. In 1 846 the cloister was glazed, and from
1868 to 1869 considerable interior alterations were
made in the third stage. The forecourt on the north
front was enlarged in the latter year, and the modern
walls which surround it are pierced in imitation of the
parapet of the house. The present gardens are
apparently modem. The great hall was redecorated,
and its ceiling painted, in 1878.
Though the design as it now stands is sufficiently
imposing, it is not so magnificent as it was originally
intended to be. A much more ambitious scheme
was originally projected, and the State Papers Domestic
of James I contain many detailed references to the
saving of expense by the curtailing of ornament. The
Earl of Salisbury does not appear to have employed
an architect, and probably the design was largely his
own. Thomas Wilson, his servant, seems to have
made the plans ; this Wilson was afterwards knighted
and made Keeper of the State Papers. He had the
assistance at Hatfield of William Basill, Surveyor of
the King's Works. A very large part of the respon-
sibility appears, from the correspondence in the State
Papers Domestic, to have fallen on the shoulders of
Robert Lemming, who was clerk of the works and
who was entrusted with the actual designing of much
of the detail. The joiners' work and wainscoting
and the designing of the chimney-pieces were in the
hands of one Jenever, a Dutchman living in London.
Hoocker of St. Martin's Lane, who made the turners'
work, would seem from his name to have been of the
same nationality. A French engineer devised an
elaborate system of water supply, and French gardeners
laid out and maintained the gardens.
The house consists of a north main wing with east
and west wings projecting southwards and inclosing a
courtyard, and may be described as E shaped, the
serif of the E being represented only by the very
slight projection of the central south entrance. Its
principal interior features are the great hall, in the
north wing, with its screen and gallery, the grand
staircase immediately to the east of the hall, and the
long gallery on the first floor of the north wing and
running the whole length of its south side. Below
it the cloisters now form a second inclosed gallery on
the ground floor.
The north wing is exactly regular, having a
central entrance porch of three stages, of slight pro-
jection on the north or exterior face, which opens to
the screens. The doorway is of stone, much restored,
and has a semicircular head ; it is flanked by pairs of
stone columns with a complete Doric order, and
above it a curvilinear pierced cresting of stone. The
screens continue through the building to the cloisters,
into which they open exactly opposite the central
entrance on the courtyard side. On either side of
the north entrance are three windows of three lights,
those to the east being the windows of the hall.
Flanking them to east and west are two bay windows,
the eastern being the last window of the hall and the
western that of the steward's room. The east and
west extremities of the north face are the plain butts
of the east and west wings, each with a central pro-
jecting bay with lights of four stories, containing
stairs, and a six-light window carried up to the full
height next the central portion of the north side.
The east and west wings are irregular in plan on
both their sides, but almost exactly correspond to one
another. On the east face the summer drawing room,
occupying the north-east angle, has two bay windows,
one of three and the other of five sides, this latter
being answered by a flat six-light window in the
west wing and constituting almost the only external
difference between the two wings. The yew room,
with a single oriel, balances the northern of the two
drawing room windows. The face of the wing is
then set back somewhat, and in the recess rises the
oriel of the morning room. The study, with an
external door in its out-set north wall, has a square
projecting window in the east face, and at the corner
of the room beyond it to the south stands a turret
rising above the parapet — one of four finishing the
southern extremities of the east and west wings. In
the west wing the upper part of the kitchen answers
the drawing room of the east wing, the maple room
corresponds to the yew room and the chapel to the
morning room. On each inner face of these wings is
a central doorway from the courtyard, with flat
pilasters supporting a complete Doric order over
an archway, flanked on either side by a bay window
rising to the full height of the first two stages. Above
this the third stage is set back behind a flat cornice
and is crested with a pierced parapet concealing the
roof and stopped at the ends by the third stage of the
north-east and north-west blocks and by the angle
turrets at the south.
The most ornate portion of the exterior is the
south face of the centre wing. It is of two pr icipal
stages of stone with an open parapet, and behind it a
third stage, set back with four stepped and curved
gables, masking the stacks of the north side of the
wing and connected by a second pierced parapet.
These gables are set in pairs on either side of the third
stage of the central compartment containing the prin-
cipal south entrance-porch. This third stage is blind
and forms a screen for the display of the full achieve-
ment of the Earl of Salisbury. Behind this screen
rises a wooden clock-tower of three stages, the first
two with pairs of columns at the angles on each face
supporting an entablature ; the lowest order is
Doric, with arches between. In the second stage
is the clock face, between Ionic columns, and above
the second entablature the third stage rises, from a
square balustrade with figures at the angles, in the
form of an octagonal rusticated arcade surmounted by
a cornice and cupola with a vane.
The ground stage of the south front is occupied
wholly by the arcade of the cloister and the central
porch, the whole consisting of nine bays. The
arcade has semicircular arches, four on each side of
the porch, forming par: of a Doric arcade, with flat
pilasters enriched with arabesques and fluted,60"
between the responds, and elaborate carving in the
spandrels. The metopes of the frieze are set with
ox-skulls alternating with carbuncles. Above the
*'a These were originally projected to may deduct £120.' Many other modifi- by W. Page in the Trans. St. Albam and
have had columns in front of them (S. cations of the original design are to be Herts. Arch. Soc. 1901-2, i (4) (new
P. Dom. Jas. I, xlv, 69). 'If front traced in the same place, and in ibid. ser.), 534, in which the correspondence
of gallery be built with pilasters as it is c. 84, where estimates of reduction of ex- regarding the building of the house is
begun, and leave out the columns, he penses are set out in full. See article printed.
96
ijesty's Stationery Office)
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
material has been re-used in repairs, making it a matter
of extreme difficulty to distinguish between old and
new. In 1 846 the cloister was glazed, and from
1868 to 1869 considerable interior alterations were
made in the third stage. The forecourt on the north
front was enlarged in the latter year, and the modern
walls which surround it are pierced in imitation of the
parapet of the house. The present gardens are
apparently modern. The great hall was redecorated,
and its ceiling painted, in 1878.
Though the design as it now stands is sufficiently
imposing, it is not so magnificent as it was originally
intended to be. A much more ambitious scheme
was originally projected, and the State Papers Domestic
of James I contain many detailed references to the
saving of expense by the curtailing of ornament. The
Earl of Salisbury does not appear to have employed
an architect, and probably the design was largely his
own. Thomas Wilson, his servant, seems to have
made the plans ; this Wilson was afterwards knighted
and made Keeper of the State Papers. He had the
assistance at Hatfield of William Basill, Surveyor of
the King's Works. A very large part of the respon-
sibility appears, from the correspondence in the State
Papers Domestic, to have fallen on the shoulders of
Robert Lemming, who was clerk of the works and
who was entrusted with the actual designing of much
of the detail. The joiners' work and wainscoting
and the designing of the chimney-pieces were in the
hands of one Jenever, a Dutchman living in London.
Hoocker of St. Martin's Lane, who made the turners'
work, would seem from his name to have been of the
same nationality. A French engineer devised an
elaborate system of water supply, and French gardeners
laid out and maintained the gardens.
The house consists of a north main wing with east
and west wings projecting southwards and inclosing a
courtyard, and may be described as E shaped, the
serif of the E being represented only by the very
slight projection of the central south entrance. Its
principal interior features are the great hall, in the
north wing, with its screen and gallery, the grand
staircase immediately to the east of the hall, and the
long gallery on the first floor of the north wing and
running the whole length of its south side. Below
it the cloisters now form a second inclosed gallery on
the ground floor.
The north wing is exactly regular, having a
central entrance porch of three stages, of slight pro-
jection on the north or exterior face, which opens to
the screens. The doorway is of stone, much restored,
and has a semicircular head ; it is flanked by pairs of
stone columns with a complete Doric order, and
above it a curvilinear pierced cresting of stone. The
screens continue through the building to the cloisters,
into which they open exactly opposite the central
entrance on the courtyard side. On either side of
the north entrance are three windows of three lights,
those to the east being the windows of the hall.
Flanking them to east and west are two bay windows,
the eastern being the last window of the hall and the
western that of the steward's room. The east and
west extremities of the north face are the plain butts
of the east and west wings, each with a central pro-
jecting bay with lights of four stories, containing
stairs, and a six-light window carried up to the full
height next the central portion of the north side.
The east and west wings are irregular in plan on
both their sides, but almost exactly correspond to one
another. On the east face the summer drawing room,
occupying the north-east angle, has two bay windows,
one of three and the other of five sides, this latter
being answered by a flat six-light window in the
west wing and constituting almost the only external
difference between the two wings. The yew room,
with a single oriel, balances the northern of the two
drawing room windows. The face of the wing is
then set back somewhat, and in the recess rises the
oriel of the morning room. The study, with an
external door in its out-set north wall, has a square
projecting window in the east face, and at the corner
of the room beyond it to the south stands a turret
rising above the parapet — one of four finishing the
southern extremities of the east and west wings. In
the west wing the upper part of the kitchen answers
the drawing room of the east wing, the maple room
corresponds to the yew room and the chapel to the
morning room. On each inner face of these wings is
a central doorway from the courtyard, with flat
pilasters supporting a complete Doric order over
an archway, flanked on either side by a bay window
rising to the full height of the first two stages. Above
this the third stage is set back behind a flat cornice
and is crested with a pierced parapet concealing the
roof and stopped at the ends by the third stage of the
north-east and north-west blocks and by the angle
turrets at the south.
The most ornate portion of the exterior is the
south face of the centre wing. It is of two pr' icipal
stages of stone with an open parapet, and behind it a
third stage, set back with four stepped and curved
gables, masking the stacks of the north side of the
wing and connected by a second pierced parapet.
These gables are set in pairs on either side of the third
stage of the central compartment containing the prin-
cipal south entrance-porch. This third stage is blind
and forms a screen for the display of the full achieve-
ment of the Earl of Salisbury. Behind this screen
rises a wooden clock-tower of three stages, the first
two with pairs of columns at the angles on each face
supporting an entablature ; the lowest order is
Doric, with arches between. In the second stage
is the clock face, between Ionic columns, and above
the second entablature the third stage rises, from a
square balustrade with figures at the angles, in the
form of an octagonal rusticated arcade surmounted by
a cornice and cupola with a vane.
The ground stage of the south front is occupied
wholly by the arcade of the cloister and the central
porch, the whole consisting of nine bays. The
arcade has semicircular arches, four on each side of
the porch, forming par: of a Doric arcade, with flat
pilasters enriched with arabesques and fluted,60*
between the responds, and elaborate carving in the
spandrels. The metopes of the frieze are set with
ox-skulls alternating with carbuncles. Above the
*>» These were originally projected to
have had columns in front of them (S.
P. Dom. Jas. I, xlv, 69). 'If front
of gallery be built with pilasters as it is
begun, and leave out the columns, he
may deduct £120.' Many other modifi-
cations of the original design are to be
traced in the same place, and in ibid,
c. 84, where estimates of reduction of ex-
penses are set out in full. See article
96
by W. Page in the Tram. St. Albans <md
Herts. Arch. Soc. 1901-2, i (4) (new
ser.), 334, in which the correspondence
regarding the building of the house it
printed.
Plan of Ground Floor, Hatfield House
{Adapted from the Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Hertfordshire -with the permission of the Royal Commission and the
t of the Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office)
BROADWATER HUNDRED
frieze a deep cornice, mitred and broken out over the
pilasters, forms the basis of the second stage (the
exterior of the long gallery), which has eight rect-
angular windows of two lights with a transom, four
on each side of the central bay, and separated by flat
Ionic pilasters on flat plinths to the sill level, the
plinths being sculptured with trophies of arms,
including both classical and later forms, even fire-
arms. The continuous frieze is of flowers, fruit and
grotesques. Above the cornice of this stage is the
openwork parapet, the strapwork piercing being
interrupted above the pilasters of the lower stages and
at midway intervals between those points by flat
balusters, from which, above the coping, rise figures.
The central bay, containing the porch, resembles
the rest, but projects some 5 ft. from the wall face.
On either side of the entrance archway are pairs of
round Doric columns, over which the entablature
breaks out. Similarly on the first stage pairs of
Ionic columns flank the central three-light rectangular
window with two transoms of the long gallery, and
the Cecil achievement in the third stage (mentioned
above) has on either side of it a pair of slender
coupled Corinthian columns, with a frieze like that
of the second stage. Above the cornice of this stage
is a solid parapet with the date 161 1 in large raised
figures, and on it above the coupled columns are four
lions carrying shields. The centre of the parapet is
surmounted by the Cecil crest in open stonework.
The screens, entered from the north porch, have
on the west side a stone arcading of three Doric
bays, either wholly modern or much restored. On
the south a doorway with pilasters and a pediment
opens to the cloister, and has over it the Cecil arms
and quarterings in painted wood, with the date 1575,
possibly brought from Theobalds. On the east side
is the oak screen of the hall in five bays. On the
screens side the posts form a plain Doric arcade, the
arches filled with large moulded panels and pierced
lunettes. The frieze is of pierced strapwork, which
appears to be modern. The central bay contains
the doorway to the hall. On the side facing the
hall this screen is elaborately carved and decorated.
The posts are carved as grotesque caryatides, and the
panels, four in each bay, are filled with large oval
cartouches and scroll-work. The lunettes above are
carved as shells, and above them are bold carved
brackets with grotesque work and heads supporting
the upper stage, which overhangs and may originally
have been an open balcony. It is divided into five
bays by flat carved pilasters rising from breaks in the
cornice above the brackets, with blind-pierced designs
between in the side bays, and in the centre two panels
containing scrolled cartouches of the Cecil arms with
quarterings. Above these panels, and divided by
grotesque pilasters with heads below the capitals, is
an arcade with carved spandrels and flatly ornamented
panels, obviously a later addition, in the four side
bays, while the centre bay contains two small arched
sight-holes with carved spandrels between, and over
them a panel with two putti supporting the Cecil
crest and an earl's coronet of the Caroline form,
which must therefore necessarily be of later date
than the original building. 60b It is set in an arch like
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
that of the rest of this arcade. The sight-holes
open into the ante-room of the winter dining
room on the first floor. At the east end of the hall
is a gallery of similar design to that of the screen,
supported on grotesque brackets. The coved soffit is
plastered, and was painted in 1878. The front forms
an open arcade of twelve bays, with grotesque pilasters
and a cornice and a balustrade of pierced strapwork.
In the centre at the top is an achievement of the
Cecil arms. The screen and the gallery have both
undergone much restoration, but the constructional
parts, with their decoration, are all original. The
panelling of the hall, divided into bays by Doric
pilasters, is either modern or very much restored.
The fireplace and mantel on the south are modern.
The south wall above the panelling is covered with
17th-century tapestry.
Below the gallery are two doorways with round
heads and square stone architraves ; one of them has
one of the few original doors in the house ; it has
small oblong and oval panels and moulded styles
and rails.
The hall ceiling is plastered and decorated with
bands of ornament in low relief, these bands inclosing
flat panels, which were filled with paintings in 1878 ;
the ceiling is coved, and is divided into four bays by
moulded principals with pendants, and decorated with
scroll work. These descend to carved lions holding
shields, and resting on the moulded wall-plate. The
lunette spaces inclosed in the line of the coved ceiling at
each end of the hall have a low-relief filling of flat
arabesques. There was no dais in the original con-
struction of the floor, which is in squares of black
and white marble. Among the furniture are two
long tables of early 1 7th-century date,61 with pierced
square baluster legs.
The cloister, entered from the south end of the
screens, is altered in character by the filling of the
arcade with pierced stonework containing glazing, of
a monotonous honeycomb pattern, converting it from
an exterior to an interior feature. It is now paved
with squares of black and white marble, and has on
the north wall four 1 7th-century panels of tapestry,
and on both sides are stands of armour, mostly of the
late 1 6th century, but a good deal restored, and
including some pieces of doubtful antiquity. At
each end of the cloister three steps lead up to the
wings. The ceiling is modern, plastered with an
arabesque design in low relief.
The grand staircase, at the east end of the hall,
is of open newel construction, and has quarter-
landings at every six steps. The moulded balusters
are square-raked, are herm-shaped with Ionic capitals
in the place of heads, and have between them arches
with carved spandrels, and the balusters and newels
are carved in high relief with trophies and grotesque
designs. The newels rise to some height above the
moulded rail in herm shape, and are surmounted by
nude amorini holding various objects, and lions
supporting shields. The soffits and string are orna-
mented with strapwork and pendants. Against the
wall is a similar balustrade with newels and figures,
and on the first landing is a pair of carved dog-
gates.
6°l> S. P. Dom. Jas. I, Ixiii, 88 (1).
17 May 161 1 : 'The hall is fully joined
with tables and forms fitting to it, the
lower part of the screen is set up and
finished by the carpenters and carvers,
and the upper part of the screen is
framed and carved and is now fitting
up.' This cannot refer to the filling of
97
the upper arcade as at present, but may
quite well refer to the arcade minus its
filling.
61 See note 6ob above.
r3
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
At the foot of this stair is the doorway to the
summer drawing room, with the original stone archi-
trave and semicircular head. The moulded abaci
and stopped jambs are semi-classical in type. The
summer drawing room retains its original panelling,
which is elaborately mitred, and divided into bays by
fluted Doric pilasters, supporting a heavy cornice and
a frieze of a small order of Ionic pilasters. The
panels contain inlaid and ' planted ' arabesque work.
The mantelpiece is a marble copy of the oak original,
which is now in King James's bedroom. The ceiling
is either completely restored or modern.
In the morning room is a large mantelpiece of
I 7th-century date, of various coloured marbles with
caryatides and herms on either side, and some carvings
of figure subjects in high relief brought from else-
where. The remaining five rooms in the wing are
modern, but have mantelpieces made up of pieces of
1 6th and 17th-century carving, probably Dutch.
The Poplar staircase is modern.
In the west wing the Adam and Eve staircase,
which takes its name from a picture hanging on its
wall, is either wholly remodelled or so restored as to
present scarcely any original feature. It has turned
balusters and a moulded rail. At the head of the
stairs is a doorway leading to the west ante-room of
the long gallery, with two wooden Corinthian columns
attached to pilasters on either side, of early 1 8th-
century work. The walls of the staircase are panelled
with made-up old material. In the chapel the bay
window on to the court forms the sanctuary, and is
glazed with 17th-century glass with Biblical subjects ;
this glass seems to be of French, Flemish and Dutch
workmanship.613 It was certainly made expressly for
these windows. The walls are covered to the soffit
of the gallery with panelling, original but much
restored ; the front of the gallery has a carved arcade
with closed panels below ; the openings are round-
headed, the pilasters between them are carved, and
the cornice is moulded. The ceiling is coved, and is
set with carved grotesque brackets of late 1 6th-century
date, which were brought here from Hoddesdon,
where they formed part of the old Market House.
The ceiling and gallery have been painted in modern
times. The oldseating61b has been replaced by modern,
and the west screen is also modern. The floor is
paved with marble.62
The long gallery, running the whole length of
the north wing above the cloister, has its walls
covered with panelling divided into bays by fluted
Ionic pilasters. For these pilasters square columns
are substituted at either end, where the gallery opens
to the ante-rooms. The cornice has a considerable
projection, and is much enriched, and above it is a
small Corinthian order with detached columns and
a dentil cornice. The upper part of the panelling
in the bays of the lower arcade consists of rusticated
arcading, with arabesque decoration, all worked in
thin applied planking. The panels of the upper
order and the lower part of the bays of the lower
order are filled with extremely elaborate mitred and
moulded panels, of the fitted L and square type.
This panelling is of the original design, and contains
a large proportion of original material, though it is
said to have been entirely renewed early in the 19th
century. The ceiling is original though much restored,
and is flat, richly decorated with pendants and a flat
arabesque pattern.6'" The mantelpieces are not original.
The ante-rooms at each end, and that of the winter
dining-room, have modern decoration copied from
that of the gallery. The door on the north side of
the west ante-room of the gallery opens on to the
Adam and Eve staircase through the Corinthian
portico described with the staircase.
In the library, which also opens off this ante-room,
is no decoration of original date except the mantel
piece, which is of large size in black and white
marble. It is of two orders, Doric and Ionic, with
detached circular columns. In a central panel is a
mosaic portrait of Sir Robert Cecil, 1608.
The summer dining room is lined with panelling,
either modern or wholly re-worked, and contains a
large marble mantelpiece with figures in high relief
and an achievement of the Cecil arms. This mantel-
piece is made up of portions of two 17th-century
mantelpieces.
King James's bedroom, facing outwards in the
middle of the east wing, contains the original oak
mantelpiece which was formerly in the summer
drawing room. This has square baluster columns,
moulded and enriched with carving, supporting a
heavy mantelshelf. Above this are three small Ionic
columns, and between them moulded panels contain-
ing arabesques surmounted by a deep cornice with
elaborate enrichment. There is some late 17th-
century furniture in this room. It is completely
covered with yellow damask, which is glued to the
woodwork. The Wellington room, on the opposite
side of the same wing, contains some 17th-century
tapestry panels.
King James's drawing room, which occupies the
whole of the north-east angle of the first stage, con-
tains a massive original mantelpiece of black, white
and veined marble. The lower part has in the angles
black fluted Doric columns, with architrave and
metope. Above is the shelf, supported where it pro-
jects in the centre by a fluted bracket flanked by
modillions. The upper portion consists of four
black Corinthian columns on pilasters with scrolled
cartouches, forming part of an order with a heavy
modillioned cornice, above which are panels, those
at the sides containing circles inclosing profiles in low
relief in black marble, and the central one a rectan-
gular black slab. The two side bays between the
columns have panels of veined marble, and the cen-
tral bay contains a semi-domed niche, in which stands
a statue of King James I, painted to represent bronze.
The ceiling of this room has elaborate arabesques
61a S. P. Dom. Jas. I, lviii, 9. 'Mon-
tague Jenings . . . intreats him to tell
Mr. Bowie that he will bring a just
mould of the light of the chapel windows
according to the proportion concluded of
between them, at his next return to
London.'
61b
Ibid.
lxv,
3-
«
1
July
161 1.
The
Cha;
?PeU.
Th
c c
los
ett chi
mney
peece
and
hangi
nges
cha
a and stooles
sutable readie (wanteth good andirons).
The chappell, the (rise and pulpit to be
don uppon Thursdaie.'
62 Ibid, lxiii, 88 (1). '17 May 161 1.
The chapel is now a-paving by the
mason.'
6Ja Ibid. '17 May 1611. The frett
ceiling in the gallery will be fully
finished with the whitening of it on
Tuesday, the gallery will then be ready
for the joinery work which is framed at
London.' '1 July 1611. The Gallerie.
The chimney peeces of plain wainscott
sett uppe. The south side wilbe wains-
cotted but not the frise, by Thursdaie.
Both the ends wainscotted but to be
hanged. The retorne to be hanged for
the tyme and the prospect in the haule
over the skreene to be meuved up this
daie. The north side to be hanged.'
98
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
At the foot of this stair is the doorway to the
summer drawing room, with the original stone archi-
trave and semicircular head. The moulded abaci
and stopped jambs are semi-classical in type. The
summer drawing room retains its original panelling,
which is elaborately mitred, and divided into bays by
fluted Doric pilasters, supporting a heavy cornice and
a frieze of a small order of Ionic pilasters. The
panels contain inlaid and 'planted' arabesque work.
The mantelpiece is a marble copy of the oak original,
which is now in King James's bedroom. The ceiling
is either completely restored or modern.
In the morning room is a large mantelpiece of
I Jth-century date, of various coloured marbles with
caryatides and herms on either side, and some carvings
of figure subjects in high relief brought from else-
where. The remaining five rooms in the wing are
modern, but have mantelpieces made up of pieces of
1 6th and 17th-century carving, probably Dutch.
The Poplar staircase is modern.
In the west wing the Adam and Eve staircase,
which takes its name from a picture hanging on its
wall, is either wholly remodelled or so restored as to
present scarcely any original feature. It has turned
balusters and a moulded rail. At the head of the
stairs is a doorway leading to the west ante-room of
the long gallery, with two wooden Corinthian columns
attached to pilasters on either side, of early 1 8th-
century work. The walls of the staircase are panelled
with made-up old material. In the chapel the bay
window on to the court forms the sanctuary, and is
glazed with I Jth-century glass with Biblical subjects ;
this glass seems to be of French, Flemish and Dutch
workmanship.61" It was certainly made expressly for
these windows. The walls are covered to the soffit
of the gallery with panelling, original but much
restored ; the front of the gallery has a carved arcade
with closed panels below ; the openings are round-
headed, the pilasters between them are carved, and
the cornice is moulded. The ceiling is coved, and is
set with carved grotesque brackets of late 1 6th-century
date, which were brought here from Hoddesdon,
where they formed part of the old Market House.
The ceiling and gallery have been painted in modern
times. The oldseating61b has been replaced by modern,
and the west screen is also modern. The floor is
paved with marble.62
The long gallerv, running the whole length of
the north wing above the cloister, has its walls
covered with panelling divided into bays by fluted
Ionic pilasters. For these pilasters square columns
are substituted at either end, where the gallery opens
to the ante-rooms. The cornice has a considerable
projection, and is much enriched, and above it is a
small Corinthian order with detached columns and
a dentil cornice. The upper part of the panelling
in the bays of the lower arcade consists of rusticated
arcading, with arabesque decoration, all worked in
thin applied planking. The panels of the upper
order and the lower part of the bays of the lower
order are filled with extremely elaborate mitred and
moulded panels, of the fitted |_ and square type.
This panelling is of the original design, and contains
a large proportion of original material, though it is
said to have been entirely renewed early in the 19th
century. The ceiling is original though much restored,
and is flat, richly decorated with pendants and a flat
arabesque pattern.6'1 The mantelpieces are not original.
The ante-rooms at each end, and that of the winter
dining-room, have modern decoration copied from
that of the gallery. The door on the north side of
the west ante-room of the gallery opens on to the
Adam and Eve staircase through the Corinthian
portico described with the staircase.
In the library, which also opens off this ante-room,
is no decoration of original date except the mantel
piece, which is of large size in black and white
marble. It is of two orders, Doric and Ionic, with
detached circular columns. In a central panel is a
mosaic portrait of Sir Robert Cecil, 1608.
The summer dining room is lined with panelling,
either modern or wholly re-worked, and contains a
large marble mantelpiece with figures in high relief
and an achievement of the Cecil arms. This mantel-
piece is made up of portions of two 17th-century
mantelpieces.
King James's bedroom, facing outwards in the
middle of the east wing, contains the original oak
mantelpiece which was formerly in the summer
drawing room. This has square baluster columns,
moulded and enriched with carving, supporting a
heavy mantelshelf. Above this are three small Ionic
columns, and between them moulded panels contain-
ing arabesques surmounted by a deep cornice with
elaborate enrichment. There is some late 17th-
century furniture in this room. It is completely
covered with yellow damask, which is glued to the
woodwork. The Wellington room, on the opposite
side of the same wing, contains some 17th-century
tapestry panels.
King James's drawing room, which occupies the
whole of the north-east angle of the first stage, con-
tains a massive original mantelpiece of black, white
and veined marble. The lower part has in the angles
black fluted Doric columns, with architrave and
metope. Above is the shelf, supported where it pro-
jects in the centre by a fluted bracket flanked by
modillions. The upper portion consists of four
black Corinthian columns on pilasters with scrolled
cartouches, forming part of an order with a heavy
modillioned cornice, above which are panels, those
at the sides containing circles inclosing profiles in low
relief in black marble, and the central one a rectan-
gular black slab. The two side bays between the
columns have panels of veined marble, and the cen-
tral bay contains a semi-domed niche, in which stands
a statue of King James I, painted to represent bronze.
The ceiling of this room has elaborate arabesques
611 S. P. Dom. Jas. I, lvjii, 9. ' Mon-
tague Jenings . . . intreats him to tell
Mr. Bowie that he will bring a just
mould of the light of the chapel windows
according to the proportion concluded of
between them, at his next return to
London.'
61>> Ibid, lxv, 3. 'i July 161 1.
The Chappell. The closett chimney
peece and hanginges chaires and stooles
sutable readie (wanteth good andirons).
The chappell, the frise and pulpit to be
don uppon Thursdaie.'
62 Ibid, lxiii, 88 (1). '17 May i6n.
The chapel is now a-paving by the
mason.'
6a» Ibid. '17 May 161 1. The frett
ceiling in the gallery will be fully
finished with the whitening of it on
Tuesday, the gallery will then be ready
for the joinery work which is framed at
London.' ' I July 161 1. The Gallerie.
The chimney peeces of plain wainscott
sett uppe. The south side wilbe wains-
cotted but not the frise, by Thursdaie.
Both the ends wainscotted but to be
hanged. The retorne to be hanged for
the tyme and the prospect in the haule
over the skreene to be meuved up this
daie. The north side to be hanged.'
98
{Adapted from the Inventory of the Historical Mi
Plan of First Floor, Hatfield House
of Hertfordshire -with the permission of the Royal Commission and the consent of the Controller of His Majesty s Stationery I
BROADWATER HUNDRED
and pendants, which are modern. The walls, of
which the lower part is panelled, are covered with
portraits.
The Abbots of Ely claimed in Hatfield the com-
prehensive franchises granted to them by successive
royal charters. These included exemption from suit
at the shire and hundred courts, and freedom for the
abbot's men from toll throughout England.681'
In 1 25 i a grant of free warren was obtained from
Henry III.63 In 1534 the freedom of the bishop's
men from tolls in all markets and fairs in England
was again claimed and confirmed.64 A fair was granted
to the Bishop of Ely in Hatfield in 1226. It was to be
held annually for four days, on the vigil and feast of St.
John the Baptist and two days following (2 3-6 June).65
In I 3 18 the date was changed to the vigil and feast
of St. Etheldreda the Virgin and two days following 6*
(16-19 October). In 1466 it was restricted to three
days, the vigil, feast and morrow of St. Etheldreda.6'
In 1538 the fairs were held on the feasts of St. Luke
the Evangelist (18 October) and St. George
(23 April),68 but there is no charter recording the
alteration until the manor was granted to the
Earl of Warwick in 1550. The right to hold a
court of pie powder is mentioned in this grant.69
The two fairs are still held ; that on 1 8 October
is for toys.70
The right of holding a weekly market on Thursday
was granted to the bishop in I 226." The day was
altered to Tuesday in 1 3 1 8,72 and to Wednesday in
1466," but before 1538 was changed back to
Thursday," and was confirmed on that day in I 550.'5
A market was held in 1792, but was discontinued
before 1888.76
Hatfield possessed four mills in 1086,77 of which
three survive, all on the River Lea : Lemsford Mills
at the southern extremity of Brockett Park, Cecil
Mill at the north-eastern corner of the Home Park,
and the third, which gives its name to Mill Green, a
little north of the park. In 1277 the bishop had
two mills ' under one roof.' 78
The free fishery of the bishop in the River Lea
extended in 1 277 from Hatfield Mills, which would
probably be Cecil Mill, to the bridge of Stanberue
(Stanborough), and from there to the mill of Simon
Fitz Adam (Lemsford Mill), where the latter had
joint rights of fishery with the bishop. Beyond this
the bishop's right extended to Stonenbrig " (later
Stoken Bridge).80 The same extent of fishery is
mentioned in 1538.81
In 1 391 the Bishop of Lincoln granted to the
Bishop of Ely licence to confirm, elect and celebrate
orders, prove wills and consecrate oil in his manor of
Hatfield."
In the account of the manor of Hatfield given in
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
the Domesday Survey there is no mention of parks, but
the domain is said to possess woods sufficient to feed
2,000 swine,83 which indicates a large area of forest.
In fact, the manor was given to the monks of Ely by
King Edgar in order that they might have wood for
their building.6* In the 13th century at least two
parks had already been inclosed. The Great Park, or
Hatfield Wood, had an area of about 1,000 acres,
and provided pasture for the horses and cattle and
pannage for the swine of the tenants in chief of the
bishop, all of whom had rights of common and
' woderight ' in it in 1277.85 In 1538 all free-
holders and copyholders holding within' Bukamwyke-
hide ' had rights of common feeding in it. Lanes and
highways passing through it were common to all
inhabitants of the lordship indifferently ,66 It was in
the custody of a bailiff in the 14th century,87 who
later became keeper or master of the game. This
office was held in 1538 and later by Sir Anthony-
Denny, the king's servant.88 At this time the Great
Park contained 10,000 oaks and beeches, valued at
Sd. each."9 It seems to have extended over the south-
eastern projection of the parish, which lies between
Essendon and Northaw, and probably stretched from
Woodside eastward to the hamlet of Newgate Street,
for in the reign of Henry VIII a house was pur-
chased there to form one of its lodges.90 At this
time it had a circuit of 7 miles, and extended from
' a place called Fisshes Grove to Hansmeregate.'
There were within it eighteen deer of antlers and
sixty-two raskells.91 The breed of deer kept there
was evidently a good one, for in 162 1 the king
requested the Earl of Salisbury to spare him a brace
of bucks from his park to bestow on the men
of Northaw, his own stock of deer being ' much
wasted.' 92
The Middle Park had an extent of 350 acres,
and in 1277 was stated to be the private property of
the lord of the manor, the tenants having no rights
in it.93 In 1538 it contained 2,000 oaks and
beeches. The pasture was scant but sufficient for the
deer, of which there were seventy-three raskells and
seven deer of antlers. At that date it is recorded
that the little lodge was not thoroughly repaired,91
and about this time payments are recorded for build-
ing a new house there, with a frame-house and new
kitchen.95
It was probably this park which in 1252 was the
scene of an outrage by William de Valence, after-
wards lord of the manor of Gacelyns. It is re-
counted by Matthew Paris that William came from
his castle of Hertford and violently and against the
decree of the king entered the park of the Bishop of
Ely near his manor of Hatfield and hunted therein
without the licence of anyone, and afterwards he
went to the bishop's house, and because they would
"b Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 279.
63 Assize R. 325 ; Charter quoted in
Dugdale, Mon. i, 4.86.
64 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 3764.
K Close, 10 Hen. Ill, m. 17.
66 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, m. 16, no. 58.
67 Ibid. 5-7 Edw. IV, no. 12.
■ Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
69 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 8.
70 Rep. on Mar ken and Tolls, i, 170.
71 Close, 10 Hen. Ill, m. 17.
78 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, m. 16, no. 58.
73 Ibid, s-7 Edw. IV, no. n.
74 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
75 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 8.
76 Rep. on Markets and Tolls, i, I/O.
77 V.C.H. Herts, i, 311*.
78 Cott. MSS. Claud, cxi.
79 Ibid.
80 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
81 Ibid.
88 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Bucking-
ham, fol. 376.
83 V.C.H. Herts, i, 31 lb.
84 Liter Ellen, is (Impensis Soc), i,
115.
99
85 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
fs Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
87 Feet of F. Herts. 1 7 Edw. II, no. 3 84.
88 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 692.
69 Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 276.
90 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. xvi (6).
91 Ibid, cexvi ; Exch. Spec. Com. Eliz.
no. 1026.
92 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 278.
93 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
94 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi ; Rentals
and Surv. R. Herts. 276.
95 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. xvi (6).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
not give him any drink but ale he broke down the
door of the buttery, making a great tumult, swearing
and using evil language. He drew out the taps from
the casks, spilling a great quantity of choice wine,
and when he had drunk enough distributed the same
amongst his grooms, as if it had been water or common
ale. Having drunk their fill they departed with
ribald laughter and derision. When these things
were related to the bishop, he said with a serene
countenance, ' Ut quid necesse fuit rapere et praedari,
quae satis civiliter sponte et abundanter postulantibus
distribuuntur r Maledicti igitur tot in uno regno reges,
sed tiranni.' 96
The Innings Park, a little park of I oo acres, seems
to be of later origin than the two former, as it is not
mentioned in the register of I 277. There was, how-
ever, at that date a grove of oaks of 5 acres,97 which
was perhaps the nucleus of the 10 acres of great
oaks included in the Innings Park in the time of
Henry VIII. 9S This park lay near the manor-house
on the north-east, and in 1538 contained five deer of
antlers and thirty-five raskells. There were then
8 acres of great timber in two places, which could
not be spared for the shadowing of the deer. There
was also 'a warren of coneys conveniently stored with
game, and most part of the game black.' The pas-
ture was then said to be very bare and mossy, and
scarcely enough to feed the deer," and in 1 5 78 it
was found to be so much overgrown with moss that
the deer ' had been corrupted and wanted sufficient
feeding whereby many had died.' It was recom-
mended that, in order to remedy this, portions of the
park should from time to time be inclosed, ploughed
and sown with corn, and afterwards thrown open
again. But the queen's hunting was not to be im-
paired nor her walks in the said park, ' wherein she
took great pleasure.' 10° Either the proposed remedy
was successful or the Cecils found some other means
of providing pasture, for deer were not only kept as
late as 1735, but seem to have been in a flourishing
condition, as the Earl of Salisbury sent a supply of
red deer from his own woods to Windsor Forest in
that year.1
Hatfield Park was improved by the first Earl of
Salisbury after the manor of Hatfield had been
granted to him by James I in exchange for Theobalds.
He apparently formed it from part of the Great
Wood, for he was designated in a local epitaph
' Not Robin Goodfellow, nor Robin Hood,
But Robin the encloser of Hatfield Wood.' 2
In 161 I the cottagers consented to the 'improve-
ment ' of Hatfield Wood.3 In a letter 4 of George
Garrard describing a house party at Hatfield in July
1636 we read of Lord Salisbury killing a deer in his
woods, but Lord Cottington, who had attracted
attention on his arrival by 'his white beaver with
a studded hatband,' was at first less fortunate.
When a bow was placed in his hands he bungled
and shot thrice before he killed, all the ladies
standing by.6
The Hatfield parks no longer retain the old names.
Hatfield Park, which surrounds the house and is of
the greatest extent, is very finely timbered, and
includes Coombe Wood. This wood is mentioned
in the Survey of 1 538 as having an extent of
2 1 acres, and as having been replenished with oak,
hornbeam, sallow and hazel,6 but is not said to be
within a park. North of this is the Home Park, much
more thickly wooded, at the edge of which stands
the oak under which Queen Elizabeth is said to have
been seated when she received the news of her acces-
sion. This was the Innings Park and includes the
warren, which is separated from it by the River Lea,
in this part artificially widened. On either side of
the water is a vineyard, which was planted by the
first earl," who, like his father,8 took a keen interest
in plant cultivation. This vineyard was considered
by John Evelyn, who saw it in 164.3, ' tne most
considerable rarity next to the house.' 9 This was an
expert's enthusiasm ; his fellow diarist Pepys, who
visited Hatfield in 1659, was more delighted by 'the
gardens, such as I never saw in all my life ; nor so
good flowers, nor so great gooseburys, as big as nut-
megs.' 10 Probably ' Mr. Looker my Lord's gardener '
would have found Evelyn a more interesting if less
lively visitor ; he certainly seems to have been a safer
one, for Pepys' second visit is thus recorded : 'At
Hatfield we bayted and walked into the great house ;
and I would fain have stolen a pretty dog that fol-
lowed me, but could not, which troubled me.' u
South of the main park, and extending from it to
the Great North Road, is a large wood, traversed by
many paths. This is the old ' Middle Park,' which
was later called ' Miller's Park,' 12 and so became
' Millward's,' by which name it is known at the
present day.
The manor of ASTWICK (Alswyk, Halewyk,
xiii cent. ; Alstwyk, xvi cent.) was held of the Bishop
of Ely as of his manor of Hatfield by military
service,13 and afterwards of the Earls of Salisbury
when Hatfield came into their possession. The lords
of the manor had the right of feeding their pigs in
the Great Park of Hatfield, belonging to the Bishop
of Ely,14 as tenants in chief of the bishop. Together
with the manor of Woodhall it was assessed at one '
knight's fee, and was held from an early date by the
family of Bassingburn. The first actual mention of
the manor occurs in 1274,15 but as early as I 198 a
John de Bassingburn held Woodhall,10 so it is possible
that he held Astwick also at that date. In 1274
John de Bassingburn and Agnes his wife made a
96 Matt Paris, Chron. Majora (Rolls
Ser.), v, 344.
« Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
98 Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 276.
'» Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
100 Exch. Spec. Com. Eliz. no. 1026.
1 Cal. Trios. Bis. 1725-38, p. 112.
» G.E.C. Complite Peerage.
3 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-1S, p. 32.
4 Ibid. 1636-7, p. 75,
s Ibid.
6 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
7 Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and Wales,
vii, 279.
8 Lord Burghley had made John Gerarde
superintendent of his gardens in the
Strand and at Theobalds, and to him
Gerarde dedicated his ' Herball ' in 1597.
It is not clear if Gerarde was ever at
Hatfield, though he lived until 16 12 ; he
is described as Herbarist to the king in
1605, in which year he granted to Lord
Salisbury his interest in a garden near
Somerset House (Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10,
p. I+i).
9 Diary and Correspondence of John
Evelyn (ed. Bray), i, 39. Evelyn records
on the same date the appearance of 'what
IOO
amazed us exceedingly ... a shining
cloud in the air in shape resembling a
sword, the point reaching to the north ;
it was as bright as the moon, the rest of
the sky being very serene. It began
about eleven at night and vanished not
until above one.'
10 Pepys' Diary (ed. Wheatley), ii, 69.
11 Ibid. 77.
12 P. F. Robinson, Vttru-vms Bntan-
nicus, 16.
13 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi. » Ibid.
15 Feet of F. Herts. 2 Edw. I, no. 27.
10 Ibid. 9 Ric. I, no. 21.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
settlement of the manor on themselves." John died
in 1276.18 In 1277 his lands were held by Albreda
de Bassingburn.19 She was succeeded by Stephen de
Bassingburn,80 whose son John received a grant of
free warren in 1300" and was holding in 1303."
He was followed by his son Stephen before 1333,
Joan his widow keeping a third of Astwick as dower.83
Stephen was still holding the manor in I 347" and
was followed by Thomas de Bassingburn, who was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1370." In 1428 Edward
Tyrell was returned as holding the ha'f fee of John
de Bassingburn *" (who succeeded his father Thomas
before 1397)," but he was possibly a feoffee, for the
inquisition taken at his death in 1 442 states that he
held no lands in Hertfordshire.89 In 1493 the manor
was held by Thomas Bassingburn, and according to
Clutterbuck had been held by his father John.89
Thomas married Katherine, the sister of Sir William
Say, and in the year mentioned settled the manors of
Astwick and Woodhall to her use for life, with
remainder to himself and his heirs, Thomas Earl of
Surrey being the trustee.30 After her death Astwick
came to her son John Bassingburn,31 who some years
before this had ' entered into her house and wounded
her contrary to right, and attacked her servants,'
denying his father's settlement and claiming the
manor by right of a fine levied to him by his father.38
He died in 1535, leaving as his heirs two daughters,
Katharine the wife of Nicholas Hare and Anne
wife of Thomas Gawdy.33 The manor of Astwick
was apportioned to Katharine Hare, who held it with
her mother Etheldreda Bassingburn.31 Nicholas and
Katharine Hare both died in 1557. The manor was
held by their eldest son Michael Hare35 in 1607.36
He died without issue, and in 1 6 14 it was conveyed
by trustees to Ralph Thrale.37 He and Mary his
wife, together with a certain William Grimwyne and
his wife Elizabeth, joined in 1625 in a conveyance to
William Deyes.33 In 1656 it was held by John
Deyes,39 from whom it came to Sir Henry Tulse,*0
who is said to have married Deyes's daughter.41 Sir
Henry was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in
1673,48 Lord Mayor of London in 1684 and
Lieutenant of the City in 1690." He had a daughter
and heir Elizabeth, who brought his lands in marriage
to Sir Richard Onslow, created Lord Onslow m
1716." In 1712 he sold Astwick to Sidney Lord
Godolphin," whose son and heir Francis married
Henrietta, eldest daughter and co-heir of John
Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough. Astwick
passed with the other Marlborough lands to her
nephew Charles, third Earl of Sunderland, who
became in 1733 Duke of Marlborough.46 He was
chcveron between thr
•wolves' heads razed a.
gent.
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
succeeded in 1758 by his son George, who died in
1817." George, the fifth duke, sold Astwick in I 8 19
to John Lloyd,48 from whom
it passed to his son John, who
died in 1875, then to the
latter's son John Lloyd of
Abbey Gate, St. Albans.49
The manor now belongs to
Mr. John Lloyd, J.P.
BROCKETT HALL,
WATERSHIPS or
DURANTSHIDE was held
of the manor of Hatfield for
the service of half a knight's
fee.50 It seems to have been
formed by the union in the
same hands of several tene-
ments. In 1234-5 Adam Fitz William held rent
in ' Watershepe ' from Robert and Alice de Crane-
mere, to whom he paid id. rent.51 In 1413 John
Mortimer held Waterships of Philip Asshe and John
and Christine Muslee (heirs of the Fitz Simons
of Symondshyde and Almshoe),58 and in that year
granted it to the Bishop of Winchester and others,
apparently to the use of his wife Eleanor.55 In 1277
Simon Fitz Adam (see Almshoe) held Durantshide
of the Bishop of Ely for a rent of 60/.,54 and in 1477
Thomas Brockett held both Waterships and Durants-
hide50 ; so we may conclude that the latter descended
in the same manner as Symondshyde in the interval.
The term ' manor ' does not actually occur until
1532.56 After 1477 Brockett Hall continued in the
family from which it took its name until the death of
Sir John Brockett in 1598.57 His heirs were his
five daughters and a grandson, the child of his sixth
daughter.59 Ultimately the whole came to the fifth
Brockett. Or a cross
faty sable.
Reade. Gules
siltire between fou
sheaves or.
daughter Mary and her husband Sir Thomas Reade
before 1637." The manor since that date has followed
17 Feet of F. Herts. 2 Edw. I, no. 27.
18 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 344, quoting
Plac. Hil. 5 Edw. I, rot. 40.
19 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
89 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 270.
81 Chart. R. 28 Edw. I, m. 10.
88 Feud. Aids, ii, 428 ; Cat. Pat.
■3°7-i3. P-+72-
23 Feet of F. Div. Co. 7 Edw. III.
81 De Banco R. 350, m. 3 d.
85 P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 43.
86 Feud. Aids, ii, 449.
87 See Hoddesdon.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Hen. VI, no. 58.
39 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 344.
30 Close, 9 Hen. VII, no. 34-6.
31 Ct. of Req. bdle. 1 3, no. 84 ; Recov.
R. Hil. 17 Hen. VIII, rot. 347.
32 Ct. of Req. bdle. 1 3, no. 84.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), bcii, 64.
34 Feet ofF. Herts. Mich. 28 Hen.VIII.
35 Diet. Nat. Biog.
33 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
271.
37 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 12 Jas. I.
38 Recov. R. East. 1 Chas. I, m. 2.
» Ibid. Trin. 1656, rot. 164.
40 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 2 8 Chas. II.
41 Cussans, loc. cit.
48 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1673-5, P- 4><>.
43 Ibid. 1689-90, p. 502.
** G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
45 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 1 Anne ;
Salmon, op. cit. 212, states that Sarah
Duchess of Marlborough, Henrietta's
mother, was holding Astwick in 1721,
IOI
46 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. " Ibid.
48 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 353.
49 Cussans, loc. cit.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 47 ;
(Ser. 2), eclvii, 42.
41 Feet of F. Herts. 19 Hen. Ill,
no. 218.
58 See Almshoe in Ippollitts, Hitchin
Hundred.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. VI, no. 14.
5< Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 47.
56 Ibid. (Ser. 2), liii, 29.
57 Ibid, eclvii, 42.
53 See Feet of P. Midd. and Herts. Trin.
10 Jas. I; Div. Co. Trin. 41 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. East. 1 1 Jas. I, rot. 30.
59 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 13 Chas. I.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the same descent as that of Westingtons (in Ayot
St. Peter, q.v.). Brockett Hall passed on the death
of the seventh and last Lord Cowper to his sister
Lady Amabel Kerr, and at her death to her husband,
the late Admiral Lord Walter Kerr.
Sir Thomas Reade obtained a grant of free warren
in 1 6 1 5.60
The manor of BLOUNTS is first mentioned,
together with the manor of Hornbeamgate, in 1370,
when it was granted by John de Louth to Nicholas
and Robert his uncles.61 It descended with the latter
manor, and with it was granted by Robert Louth to
Nicholas Britte and Nicholas Leventhorpe in 1468."
These were apparently trustees for Sir John Say, who
was in possession in 1 468." After this there is no
further record of the manor.64
CHEU'ELLS (Chivalls, xvi and xvii cent.) was a
small reputed manor situated in Cromerhyde and held
of the manor of Hatfield.64 It is not called a manor
until the 15th century,66 but is first mentioned in the
reign of Henry III, when Nigel son of Richard de
Chewell held land in this district.6' In the register of
I 277 Nigel de Chewell is entered as holding two parts of
a fee.6S Shortly afterwards it came into the possession
of John de Queye or Coye, who held it in l^c^1,9
and in 1317-18 conveyed it to John Benstede,70 lord
of the manor of Benington, who died seised of it in
1324." From this date Chewells follows the descent
of the manor of Benington until the end of the 15th
century." Sir John Benstede possessed it at his death
in 1 47 1, but his son and heir William evidently sold
it, for he died in 1485 seised of Benington only. In
the reign of Henry VIII the owner was named Blake,"
but by 1555 it had been acquired by John Brockett '*
of Brockett Hall and Symondshyde, and continued in
his family, following the same descent as Symondshyde75
(q.v.) and presumably becoming merged in it. The
only trace of it now remaining is Benstead's Wood,
which lies a little south of the village of Cromerhyde.
CROMERHTDE (Creymore Hyde, xvi cent.) is
situated between the estates of Symondshyde and
Brockett Hall. There is no early mention of the
manor ; it first appears in the possession of Sir John
Brockett,76 lord of both the above manors, who
probably acquired it as a connecting link between his
two estates. After this date Cromerhyde followed
the descent of the manor of Symondshyde 77 (q.v.).
The manor of GACELYNS (Gastlyn, Gasselyns)
was held partly of the manor of Hatfield and partly
of the manor of Bayford,78 and took its name from
Geoffrey Gacelin, who held land in Hatfield in
1 255." In 1268 Geoffrey Gacelin and his wife
Joan conveyed it as a messuage and 2 carucates of
land to William de Valence Earl of Pembroke,6"
from whom it passed to his son Aylmer de Valence."
The latter died in 1323 without issue seised of 'a
tenement called Gacelines,' his three heirs being
John de Hastings, son of his sister Isabel,82 and
Elizabeth Comyn and Joan, wife of the Earl of
Atholl, daughters of his sister Joan.81 Gacelyns,
under the name of the manor of Bishop's Hatfield,
was apportioned to Joan and David de Strathbolgi,8*
the latter of whom died in 1327.85 His son and heir
David complained in 1332 that the ponton of the
lands of Aylmer de Valence assigned to his parents
had not been delivered, and procured an order for
their proper delivery.86 The manor was shortly after
granted for a fixed rent of £6, and at the death of
this David in 1335 was in the occupation of Ralph
de Blithe, a citizen of London.87 The rent remained
in the king's hands owing to the minority of David's
heir, and was granted to Adam de Walton.88 Next year,
however, the £6 rent from these lands was granted as
dower to Katherine, widow of David de Strathbolgi,
who gave it back to the king in exchange for lands in
Northumberland.89 Robert de Blithe possibly alienated
the manor to Sir Simon de Lek of Cottam, co.
Nottingham, for in 1377 he enfeoffed of it
William Batesford, Richard Halle, Roger Assheburn-
ham and Edmund del Clay, who released their right
to Walter Frost and others.90 In 1387 Walter
Frost with other feoffees conveyed the manor to
Solomon Fresthorp.91 This may possibly have been
in trust for Walter Marewe, or Fresthorp may have
alienated to Marewe, for in 1429 John Marewe son
and heir of Walter remitted his right in the manor
to John and Elizabeth Kirkeby.9' In 1432-3 John
Kirkeby granted back rents in the manor to John
Marewe.93 Kirkeby, however, seems to have held
the manor (through feoffees) at the time of his death
in I44I.91 He left a daughter Alice, aged four.
In 1447-8 a certain Richard Clynt and his wife
Elena, whose connexion with the manor is not clear,
conveyed it to John Fortescue,95 who about five
years later obtained a release from Elizabeth wife of
John London, daughter and heir of John Marewe.96
This is the last record of the manor, and it perhaps
became absorbed in the Ponsbourne estate.
The park of Gacelyns is first mentioned in I 300,
when Aylmer de Valence complained that while he
60 Pat. 1 3 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
« Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B4213.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Edw. IV, no. 14..
63 Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 269.
For transactions between Britte and
Leventhorpe and Sir John Say see Anct.
D. (P.R.O.), B 1443.
64 It is a curious coincidence that there
was a manor of Blounts which descended
in the Leventhorpe family. There seems
no doubt, however, that this manor was
in Sawbridgeworth (Braughing Hundred)
and that in the case of Blounts in Hat-
field Leventhorpe was not buying for
himself.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 43 ;
Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 276 ; Cott.
MSS. Claud. C xi.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Edw. IV, no. 57.
67 Harl. Chart. 54 C. 30.
» Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
69 Feud. Aids, ii, 428.
70 Feet of F. Herts. 1 1 Edw. II, no. 270.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 43.
n Ibid. 11 Hen. VI, no. 38 ; 11
Edw. IV, no. 57 ; Add. R. (B.M.),
28767.
73 Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 276.
74 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 & 2 Phil,
and Mary.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclvii, 42 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chas. I, rot. 47 ;
East. 3 Anne, rot. 31.
76 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 26 Eliz.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclvii, 42 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chas. I, rot. 47 ;
East. 3 Anne, rot. 3 1 ; Mich. 43 Geo. Ill,
rot. 17.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75 ;
1 Edw. Ill, no. 85.
79 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 39 Hen. Ill,
no. 458.
I02
80 Ibid. Trin. 52 Hen. Ill, no. 599.
81 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. b- Ibid.
88 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II,
no. 75.
84 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 446.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. Ill, no. 85.
86 Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 456.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 46.
88 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 258.
89 Cal. Close, 1337-9, pp. 27, 166. She
held no lands in Herts, at her death.
90 Close, 51 Edw. Ill, 1
91 Ibid. 11 Ric. II, pt. i, m. I7d.
»» Ibid. 7 Hen. VI, m. 6.
93 Ibid. 1 1 Hen. VI, m 5.
94 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen.
o. 26.
95 Feet of F. Herts. 26 Hen.
0. 140.
96 Ibid. 31 Hen. VI,no. i6i.
VI,
VI,
BROADWATER HUNDRED
was in Scotland on the king's service certain persons
broke into his park at Hatfield, hunted therein and
carried away deer.1 Apparently he failed to obtain
immediate justice, for in I 31 2 he again advanced his
complaint of this offence,2 and in 1313 was at length
awarded damages.3 In 1323 the extent of the park
was 60 acres, the wood being valued at 8/. a year.4
Free warren was granted to Aylmer de Valence in
his demesne lands at Hatfield in 1309.5
The name of LITTLE HOLEWELL was given
to certain tenements in Holewell or Holwell which
first appear in the possession of Aylmer de Valence,
when they were valued at 23/. I J</.6 They were held
of the manor of Symondshyde.6a Little Holewell passed
in the same manner as Gacelyns to Joan and David de
Strathbolgi, the latter of whom died seised of it in
I 327, holding it of Hugh Fitz Simon of Symondshyde.7
It is still mentioned in connexion with Gacelyns in
I 336 s and 1 3 77,9 but disappears after this date.
HJNDSIDE (Haneshyde, xiii cent.) is now repre-
sented by a hamlet in the extreme north of the parish.
It was held of the Bishop of Ely by service of a quarter
of a knight's fee.10 It seems to have had its origin in
the lands held by John Polayn in Hatfield in 1324.11
John son and heir of John Polayn also held lands in
this parish previous to 1 35 1.12 Both were lords of
the manor of Ayot Montfitchet (Ayot St. Peter,
q.v.), which manor passed at the death of the
second John to the Fish family. The ' manor
of Handside ' first appears in the possession of
a member of the Fish family in the reign of
Henry VIII.13 A little later it was held by Thomas
Fish.14 Elizabeth widow of Thomas Fish married
secondly William Perient, and continued to hold
Handside.15 Some time between 1558 and 1579
Edward Brockett brought an action against her, stating
that Edward and George, the sons of Thomas Fish, had
granted him the reversion of the manor after her
death, and protesting because he had heard that she
and her husband intended to cut down the wood on
the estate, which was valued at 1,000 marks.16
Edward Brockett died seised of Handside in 1599,
his heir being his son John.17 After this there is no
further mention of the manor ; probably it became
absorbed in the Brockett estates.
HERONS was a small reputed manor situated
in Cromerhyde, and seems to have been held of
Symondshyde.18 Its origin is uncertain, but as early
as the reign of Henry III one Simon le Heron held
land in this district. At this time 4 acres of land
granted to Nigel de Chewell are described as lying
' between the land of Simon le Heyrun and the way
which leads across Croymer,' 19 which proves that
Simon's land lay in a locality corresponding with the
later manor of Herons. In 1293 Geoffrey le Heron
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
received damages from John de Bassingburn and others
because they had broken down 10 ft. of his hedge.20
In 13 1 5— 16 there was a conveyance from Simon
Heron to John Benstede of the reversion of a messuage,
240 acres of arable land, rent of money and rent of
three clove gillyflowers, one goose, two fowls and
five sheep and rights of pasture in Hatfield,21 these
tenements being probably coincident with the manor.
This John de Benstede died in 1359 seised of land
in Hatfield called Chewells, some of which was held
of the Bishop of Ely and the rest of Hugh Fitz
Simon 22 (of Symondshyde). As Chewells was held
of the bishop only, and Herons at a later date is said
to be held of Symondshyde, it seems as if ' the rest '
here was synonymous with Herons. Edward Benstede
was certainly possessed of it at his death in 1432,23
so it is probable that it followed the descent of the
manor of Benington from an earlier date. After this
it is not again separated from Chewells.
POPES or HOLBE4CHES (Holbeches,Holhedies,
Holbaches) was held of the manor of Hatfield by
fealty and free socage.233 In 1330 John de Hotham,
Bishop of Ely, granted to Robert de Holbeaches and
Emma his wife in tail-male a messuage and lands in
Hatfield for the rent of one rose yearly at the Nativity
of St. John Baptist.24 Emma, after the death of Robert
de Holbeaches, married John Molyn, the king's
envoy, and in I 35 I granted these same lands to John
de Berland of Prittlewell to hold during her life.25
In the reign of Edward III the manor is said to have
been held by William Stalworth,211 from whom it
descended successively to his son John and his grandson
William, the latter of whom left two daughters,
Elizabeth and Jane, between whom the manor was
divided. Elizabeth is said to have married Richard
Hall, and her moiety to have descended to two grand-
daughters, Elizabeth the wife of Laurence Woodhall,
who had a son Fulk, and Alice, who married John
(James ?) ap Jenkyn. Jane, the second daughter of
William Stalworth, is said to have married Charles
Blount, and her moiety to have come to her daughter
Margaret, who married Thomas Woodhall.27
In 1542 Thomas Woodhall and Margaret his wife
conveyed the ' manor of Popes Park,' which was pre-
sumably the name given to their moiety, to Fulk
Woodhall,28 who thus became possessed of three-
quarters of the original manor, which he held in
I 545-29 In I 529 James ap Jenkyns and Alice his wife
sold a quarter of the manor of Popes to Roger
Belamy.30 This quarter came to William Belamy,
son and heir of Richard Belamy, in 1538,31 who sold
it in 1548 to William Tooke,32 auditor-general of
the Court of Wards and Liveries.
Chauncy says that Fulk Woodhall afterwards joined
with William Belamy in a conveyance to William
1 Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 352.
I Ibid. 1307-13, p. 542.
8 Ibid. p. 575.
Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edv
5 Chart. R. 2 Edw. II, no,
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw
Cat. Close, 1323—7, p. 446.
'a Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw.
» Ibid.
8 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 258.
9 Close, 51 Edw. Ill, m. 14.
10 Rentals and Surv. R. 276.
II Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 17 Edw. II,
n. . 384.
« Add. Chart. 1988.
r. II, no. 75.
23.
■ II, no. 75 ;
III, no. 8 c.
13 Rentals and Surv. R. 276.
" Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. S, no.
30.
15 Ibid,
is Ibid.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dvii, 48.
18 Ibid. 11 Hen. VI, no. 38.
19 Harl. Chart. 54 C. 30.
20 Assize R. 1298, m. 71.
21 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Edw. II, no. 229.
23 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. no.
23 Ibid, n Hen. VI, no. 38.
53» Ibid. (Ser. 2), cccxviii, 163.
" Feet of F. Herts. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 57.
IO3
25 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 360.
26 Chauncy, op. cit. 310.
27 Ibid. 310-n. The pedigree is so
far unsupported by documentary evidence,
but if authentic explains the existing
documents which follow.
28 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 34
Hen. VIII.
2a Ibid. Herts. Mich. 37 Hen. VIII.
80 Ibid. East. 21 Hen. VIII.
81 Ct. of Wards Misc. Bks. dlxxviii, fol.
330.
32 Plac. de Banco, Trin. 2 Edw. VI,
m. 6d. ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2
Edw. VI.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Tooke,33 who appears in possession of the manor in
1548.34 His son Walter died seised of it in 1609,35
and was succeeded by his son Ralph, who died un-
married in 1635.36 George, his brother, inherited
the manor,37 but died also without heirs, and the
manor came to his brother Thomas. Thomas Tooke
sold Holbeaches in 1664 to Stephen Ewer and
Joshua Lomax,38 who sold it in the following year to
Thomas Shatterden,39 who possessed it as late as
1696.40 Before 1705 it came into the possession of
Vice-Admiral Sir David Mitchell,41 who died there
in 1710,42 leaving the manor to his nephew David
Cooke, who took the surname of Mitchell.43 The
latter was succeeded by his son David Mitchell,44
who sold Holbeaches in 1 744 to William Hulls.45
Thence it passed to Rebecca Assheton, daughter of
William Hulls,46 and to her son William Assheton,47
who in 1 8 1 7 sold it to James Marquess of Salisbury,48
and it thus became united to Hatfield.
The manor-house was burnt down in January
1745-6, and a farm-house now occupies the site.
The manor of HOLWELL alias HOLU'ELL GRaT
was held of the Bishop of Ely in chief for half a fee,49
and later of the Earls of Salisbury as of the manor of
Hatfield,50 but a mesne lordship vested in the Peyvre
family (of Willian) is mentioned in the 14th century.51
The first sub-tenant mentioned is John de Grey,
who held the manor in 1265, for in that year his
manor-house there was broken into.62 He was suc-
ceeded by his son Reginald,63 who held the half fee
in 1303.54 His son John succeeded him in i3o8.5!
In 1309 he complained 'that certain men entered his
manor at Holwell, broke into the houses thereof, carried"
away his goods, felled trees in
his wood of Frythewood, and
with nets snared rabbits in
his free warren.' °6 John de
Grey died about 1 324." He
had settled Holwell on his
second son Roger,58 and the
latter obtained a release of
the manor from his elder
brother Henry in 1328.59
He was succeeded by his son
Sir Reginald Grey of Ruthyn.
Reginald died in I 3 8 8 60 ;
his widow Eleanor continued
to hold the manor until her
death in I396.01 Holwell then passed to their son
TnTTT
Grey of Ruthyn,
Barry argent and a-zurt
•with three roundels gule:
in the chief.
Reginald.02 Early in the next century it came into
the possession of John Perient, who held it in
1428,03 and who also held the manors of Digswell
and Ludwick. From this date Holwell followed the
descent of Ludwick Manor until 1642,64 when it
was held by Frances Weld,65 but it does not seem to
have passed with Ludwick to the Shallcross family,
and it is lost sight of until the beginning of the next
century.
Some time previous to 1728 Thomas Goddard
inherited Holwell from his mother and mortgaged it
to Charles Chrke.66 Thomas died intestate, and
Charles Clarke entered as mortgagee and was in
possession in the year mentioned.67 In 1 743 William
Clarke and Mary his wife and Anna Clarke, widow,
sold the manor to John Edwards.68 Later it was
held by Sir Thomas Cave and Sarah his wife,69 and
passed from them to their daughter Sarah, the wife of
Henry Otway, who possessed it as late as 1 794. 70
After this there is no further record of the manor.
HORNBEAMGATE (Hermebemgate, xiv cent.)
was a small manor held from an early date by the
family of Louth or de Luda. This family held land
in Hatfield early in the 14th century,71 when Roger
de Louth and Joan his wife were living. In 1366
Roger, possibly son of the first- named Roger, and
Margery de Louth are mentioned. They possessed
a messuage and curtilage in ' Herinbenegatestrat,'
which may possibly be the same as Hornbeamgate.72
The first actual mention of the manor of Horn-
beamgate is in 1370, when John son and heir of
Roger de Louth granted it to Nicholas and Robert,
his uncles.73 Nicholas died some time before I 392,74
and the manor apparently continued to descend in
the Louth family. John son of Roger was still li\ ing
in 1372 75; another Robert de Louth appears in
1420.76 In 1466 Robert Louth and Edith his wife
conveyed the manor of Hornbeamgate to Nicholas
Leventhorpe and Nicholas Britte,77 apparently in
trust for Sir John Say, who was in possession in
1468. "8 There seems to be no further trace of it.
The manor of LUDl/'ICK (Lodewyk, xiv and xv
cent.) was held successively of the Bishops of Ely, the
king and the Earls of Salisbury 79 as of the manor of
Hatfield. It seems to have belonged early in the
13th century to a family of the name of Ludwick.
The first mentioned is Roger de Ludwick, whose
name occurs in a document of 1220.80 William
de Ludwick is mentioned in 1 248 81 and Adam de
33 Chauncy, op. cit. 310-11.
34 Chant. Cert. 27, no. 5 ; sec also Inq.
quoted in next note.
86 Chan. Inq. p.m.(Ser. 2), cccxviii, 163.
36 Ibid, cccclxxx, 103.
37 Diet. Nat. Biog.
88 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 16 Chas. II.
3» Close, 17 Chas. II, pt. iv, m. 26.
40 Feet of F. Herts. East. 4 Will, and
Mary ; Mich. 8 Will. III.
41 Ibid. East. 4 Anne.
48 Diet. Nat. Biog.
48 Salmon, op. cit. 212.
44 Recov. R. Mich. 1 1 Geo. II, rot.
328 ; Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 352.
4i Recov. R. Trin. 17 & 18 Geo. II,
rot. 296.
46 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 352.
47 Recov. R. Mich. 53 Geo. Ill,
rot. 265.
4^ Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Iluiui.
272.
43 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi : Anct.
Extents, no. 78 (1) ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
1 Edw. II, no. 54.
50 Ibid. (Ser. 2), ccccii, 132.
61 Feud. Aids, 11,4.28 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
12 Ric. II, no. 23.
52 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 158.
53 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Flea R.
14.
54 Feud. Aids, ii, 428.
hh Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. II, no. 54.
56 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 170.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 7 Edw. II, no. 74 ;
Anct. Extents, no. 78 (1).
i9 Feet of F. Herts. 5 Edw. II, no. 101.
59 Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 399.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Ric. II, no. 23.
61 Close, 19 Ric. II, m. 4 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 19 Ric. II, no. 30.
63 Ibid.
ra Fend. Aids, ii, 449.
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 29 ;
(Ser. 2), lxiii, 61 ; lxxiii, 89 ; Recov. R.
Hil. 1566, rot. 643 ; Trin. 1573, rot. 633 ;
IO4
Feet of F. Herts. East. 30 Eliz. ; Ct. of
Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
65 Recov. R. Trin. 18 Chas. I, rot. 47.
66 Salmon, op. cit. 213.
67 Ibid.
68 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 17 Geo. II.
69 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 359.
70 Recov. R. Hil. 34 Geo. HI.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 94.
72 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 409S.
73 Ibid. B 4213.
74 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. i,
no. 71.
::> Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B4215.
78 Ibid. D 894.
77 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 6 Edw. IV,
no. 14.
75 Rentals and Surv. R. 269.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 29;
(Ser. 2), lxxiii, 89 ; Feod. Surv. Ct. of
Wards, 17.
80 Cal. Pat. 1216-25, P- 263-
81 Assize R. 318, m. 5.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Ludwick in 12 84." In 1 294 John de Ludwick
conveyed ' the manor of Ludewyk ' to William de
Melksop,83 who held the manor of Digswell. After
the death of William de Melksop, however, the
manor apparently returned to the Ludwicks, as the
family seems to have been settled at Hatfield through-
out the 14th century. In 13 16 William de Ludwick
went ' beyond seas ' on the king's service with Aylmer
de Valence,84 and in 1332 accompanied his neighbour
Hugh Fitz Simon on a pilgrimage to Santiago.85 In
1 342 there is an order for the arrest of William de
Ludwick and his brother John,66 upon what charge is
not stated. He seems, however, to have been a some-
what turbulent neighbour, for in 1348 Stephen de
Bassingburn of Woodhall complained that William
and his sons John and Thomas ' broke his close and
house in Bishop's Hatfield, entered his free warren,
carried away his goods and hares, rabbits, pheasants
and partridges from the warren, and assaulted his
servant.' ~7 John de Ludwick succeeded his father at
some date before 1377, and in that year, and for
many years up to 1406, was justice of the peace for
Hertfordshire.68 In 141 3 John Ludwick and Alice
his wife held Ludwick with John Deram, Philip
Thornburyand Nicholas Rys,89andin 1413-1411 was
released to John Peryan or Perient of Digswell."
In 142 1— 2 John Bassingburn and Alice Countess of
Oxford and John Mortimer her husband released to
him some interest which they had in the estate.5'1
Ludwick descended in the Perient family in the same
manner as Digswell 92 until it came to Thomas Perient,
who died in 1545.98 His heirs were four daughters,
but his brother John, being the nearest male heir, held
Ludwick 94 until his death without male issue, when
this manor was apportioned to Anne the third
daughter of Thomas Perient and the wife of Anthony
Carleton,95 who held it in 1566,96 and sold it before
1569 to Edward Denton.97 Edward and Joyce
Denton conveyed it in I 575 to John Lacy.98 The
latter sold Ludwick in 1588 to Humphrey Weld,99
who died possessed of it in 16 10 and was succeeded
by his son John.100 In 1622 it came to his son
Humphrey, a minor,1 who held the reversion of the
manor after the death of his mother Frances, who
survived until after 1642.' Some time before 1 7 16
Ludwick came into the possession of Thomas
Shallcross,3 who held it then, and in 1720 sold it to
Jeremy Hale of King's Walden,1 who held it in 1728,5
and in whose family Ludwick descended6 until 1819,
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
when William Hale gave it to the Earl of Salisbury in
exchange for Quickswood in the same county,' and it
thus became united to the main manor.
William de Melksop obtained a grant of free
warren in this manor in 1301-2.8
PONSBOURNE (Pomelesborne, Ponnysbourne,
xvi cent.) was held of the manor of Hatfield.' There
is no early mention of it by name, but as members of
the family called Ponsbourne held lands in Hatfield
in the 13th and 14th centuries it seems likely that
they were the early possessors. The first of these to
be mentioned is William de Ponsbourne in 1281.10
The name of John de Ponsbourne occurs in 1293,11
and of Robert the son of William de Ponsbourne in
1308.1' In 1346 the heir of Robert de Ponsbourne
is mentioned,'3 after which there is no further record
of the family, but in 1 44 1 John Kirkeby died seised
of lands formerly of Robert Ponsbourne." It
probably was acquired with Gacelyns by Sir John
Fortescue, the chief justice. He forfeited in 1462,
when Lord Wenlock was granted his lands.16 John
Fortescue, who ultimately succeeded, was sheriff in
1481 and 1485; he died in 1499-1500 and was
succeeded by his son John.16 This John Fortescue
died seised of the manor of Ponsbourne in 1517.17
His son and heir Henry Fortescue next held it.
He leased Ponsbourne to Sir William Cavendish
for eighty years and sold the reversion in 1538 to
Sir Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral of England, who
conveyed it to the Crown in exchange for other
lands.18 In 1553 Ponsbourne was granted by
Edward VI to Sir John Cock,19 who died in 1558
and was succeeded by his son Henry." In 1622 the
manor was held by Sir Edmund Lucy, the husband
of Elizabeth daughter of Henry Cock." He conveyed
it in that year to Edward Sheldon, who in 1630 sold
Ponsbourne to Sir John Ferrers,22 who died seised of
the manor and disparked park called Ponsbourne Park
in 1640." Sir John's eldest son Knighton Ferrers
predeceased him, leaving a widow Katharine and an
infant daughter of the same name." In 1649
Ponsbourne was in the possession of Thomas
Viscount Fanshawe of Dromore and Katharine his
wife, the daughter and heir of Knighton Ferrers, K
who in 1655 conveyed the manor to Stephen Ewer.'6
In 1660 Stephen Ewer repaired the chapel at
Ponsbourne," and in 1672 obtained a licence as a
Presbyterian, presumably to hold services in his house.'8
In 1674 he sold the manor to John Woollaston,'9
88 Assize R. 1256, m. 49.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 22 Edw. I, no. 306.
54 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 573.
83 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 136.
86 Ibid. 1340-3, p. 442.
67 Ibid. 1348-50, p. 248.
88 Ibid. 1377-81, p. 38; 1405-8,
p. 492.
*9 Close, 14 Hen. IV, m. 11.
90 Ibid. 1 Hen. V, ra. 6.
91 Ibid. 9 Hen. V, m. 24.
M Feet of F. Herts. 23 Hen. VI,
no. 122 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV,
no. 29 ; (Ser. 2), lxiii, no. 61.
'3 Ibid, lxxiii, no. 89.
" Recov. R. Mich. 4 Edw. VI, rot. 546.
05 Plat, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 1 57.
96 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. Hil. 1566, rot. 643.
97 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 1 Eliz. ; see
Recov. R. Trin. 1572, rot. 427.
98 Feet of F. Herts. Mich! 17 & 18
Eliz.
99 Ibid. East. 30 Eliz.
100 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii,
'73-
'Ibid, ccccii, 132; Feod. Surv. Ct.
of Wards, no. 17.
s Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 15 Chas. I,
m. 7 ; Recov. R. Trin. 15 Chas. I,
rot. 60 ; Trin. 18 Chas. I, rot. 47.
3 Ibid. 2 Geo. I, rot. 15.
4 Ibid. Mich. 7 Geo. I, rot. 13 ; Close,
7 Geo. I, pt. xi.
5 Salmon, op. cit. 213.
6 Recov. R. Mich. 1 1 Geo. Ill, rot. 1 8 5 ;
Hil. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 248.
7 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
*7v
8 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, no. 17.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 126.
10 Assize R. 1256, m. 7.
11 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 318.
'-Ibid. 1 307-1?, p. 54; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 1 Edw. Ill, no. 85.
18 Cal. Close, 1346-9, p. 142.
IO5
14 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI,
no. 26.
15 Cal. Pat. 1 46 1 -7, 192.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xv, 3.
17 Ibid, xxxiii, 126.
18 Feet of F. Herts. 29 Hen. VIII,
no. 3 ; Aug. Off. Proc. xxvii, fol. 65.
19 Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. v.
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iii, 82.
21 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 20 Jas. I ;
Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund. 270.
22 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Chas. I.
23 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxciv,
61.
24 Harl. MS. 411, p. 146 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxciv, 59.
25 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Hil. 1649.
26 Recov. R. East. 1655, rot. 192.
87 Sessions R. (Hertford Co. Rec), i,
134.
28 Cal. S. P. Don:. 1672, p. 402.
89 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 26 Chas. II.
H
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Carlile. Or a cross
paty gules and a chief
gules ivith a saltire or
who sold it again to Paris Slaughter, whose son Paris
succeeded in 1693.30 His daughter and heir married
a Mr. Clarke, whose son William Clarke31 sold
Ponsbourne to Samuel Strode, who was lord of the
manor in 1728.3- He was succeeded by his son
William, who died in 1756,
and by his grandson William,
who in 1 76 1 conveyed the
manor to Lawrence Sullivan.33
From Lawrence it passed to
his son Stephen, who sold it
in 181 1 or 1812 to William
Busk,34 from whom it was
purchased in 1 8 1 9 by his
brother Jacob Hans Busk. In
1836 the manor was again
sold to Mr. Wynn Ellis, who
disposed of it in 1875 to
Mr. James William Carlile.38 therein.
The latter is the present lord
of the manor, and resides at Ponsbourne Park. Pons-
bourne Manor House is the residence of Colonel Sir
E. Hildred Carlile, M.P. for Mid-Herts.
The manor of STMONDSHTDE was held of the
manor of Hatfield for the service of half a knight's
fee and suit of court every three weeks.36 In the
Inqu'isitio Eliensis, compiled about 1086, Adam is
stated to hold 2 hides of the abbot, which may
represent Symondshyde.37 Adam is the only tenant
mentioned as holding as much as 2 hides, which was
the quantity held by the Fitz Simons in 1277.38
Moreover, Adam Fitz Hubert was the Domesday
holder of Almshoe, and this manor and Symondshyde
appear later in the hands of the same sub-tenants, the
Fitz Simons. At the beginning of the 13th century
William Fitz Simon was holding half a knight's fee
in Hatfield, and in 1237 Adam Fitz William was a
party to a conveyance of land there.39 The manor
then follows the same descent 40 as Almshoe (Hitchin
Hundred) until 1805, when Symondshyde was sold
by Sir Robert Salusbury to John Fordham.41 John
Fordham was succeeded by his son John Edward
Fordham, who in 1852 sold the manor to the Mar-
quess of Salisbury,42 after which it became merged
in the main manor of Hatfield.
TOLMERS or NEWGATE STREET was held
of the Bishop of Ely and later of the Crown.43 Its
early history is very obscure ; the name Tolmers
suggests that it was formerly in the possession of a
family of that name. In the register of the lands of
Ely, compiled in 1277, a certain Walter de Tolymer
was entered as holding land of the bishop in Hatfield,
together with the right as a tenant in chief of pasturing
his cattle in the Great Park of Hatfield belonging
to the bishop.44 In 1308 John the son of William
Tolvmer released the lands in Hatfield which he had
acquired from his brother William to John le Hay-
ward.45 These lands were probably the manor of
Tolmers, but there is no record of their descent for
two centuries following. The first actual mention
of the manor of Tolmers occurs in 1 5 1 6, when
Edmund Chyvall and Alice his wife, in whose right
he held the manor, conveyed it to William Tattorn.46
Thirteen years later Sir William Say, the holder of
many Hertfordshire manors, died seised of it.47
Tolmers then descended with the manor of
Benington48 (q.v.), and in 1566 the reversion was
granted to Robert Earl of Leicester.49 He died
without heirs in 1588, and his lands reverted to the
Crown.50 In 1608 Tolmers was granted to Sir
Henry Goodere or Goodyer, to be held of the king
as of his manor of East Greenwich by fealty and free
socage.51 Sir Henry was perpetually in straits for
want of money, and was much given to composing
flattering poems, perhaps with a view to bettering
his fortunes. In 16 19 he wrote an ode to the
Marquess and Marchioness of Buckingham on the
occasion of their marriage,52 and in 1623, when
Prince Charles made his journey to Spain in search
of a bride, he addressed poems to him both on his
departure and his return.53 In 1626 he petitioned
to be admitted a Gentleman Usher of the Queen's
Privy Chamber, saying that he ' desired only meat,
drink and lodging, with some dignity, in that place
where he had spent most of his time and estate.' 54
It is not recorded whether he was successful, but he
died in the following year, and his son-in-law Francis
Nethersole was granted £1,000 in consideration of bis
own and his father-in-law's services.55 He left four
daughters, Lucy the wife of Francis Nethersole,
Elizabeth, Mary and Anne,56 but the manor passed
to another Sir Henry Goodere and Etheldreda his
wife,57 who was succeeded by his son Francis before
1638.58 In 1649 Francis Goodere sold Tolmers to
Robert Shiers of the Inner Temple 59 ; he was
succeeded by his son George Shiers,60 who is said
to have died in 1685, and devised his estates to
charitable uses.61
In 1 7 14 Hugh Shortridge, S.T.P., was lord of
the manor.62 In 1 71 5 he conveyed Tolmers to
Sir Francis Vincent and other trustees to hold to his
own use for life, with remainder to the trustees to
carry out his charitable bequests, among which was
an annual payment of £220 to Exeter College,
30 Chauncy, op. cit. 310.
31 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 9 Anne.
38 Salmon, op. cit. 212.
83 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 348.
34 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 52
Geo. III.
85 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Cussans, op. cit.
Broadivater Hund. 270.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 56 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 428 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
17 Edw. IV, no. 47 ; (Ser. 2), iv, 30;
Uii, 29.
37 Inquisitio Eliensis (ed. Hamilton), I 25.
38 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
39 Feet of F. Herts. 21 Hen. Ill,
no. 228.
40 Feud. Aids, ii, 428 ; Feet of F. Div.
Co. 5 Edw. Ill, no. 10 1 ; Add. R. 2S799 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 450 ; Feet of F. Herts.
16 Hen. VI, no. 88; 15 Edw. IV,
no. 42 5 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. IV,
no. 46 ; (Ser. 2), cxvi, no. 83 ; Feet of
F. Div. Co. Trin. 41 Eliz. ; 10 Jas. I ;
Recov. R. East. 1 1 Jas. I, rot. 30 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxiv, 4 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chas. I, rot.
47 ; East. 3 Anne, rot. 31 ; Feet of
F. Herts. Trin. 12 Anne; Recov. R.
Mich. 4 Geo. Ill, rot. 17.
41 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 357.
« Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
275-
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50 ;
Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
44 Cott. MSS. Claud. C xi.
45 Close, 1 Edw. II, m. 9 d.
46 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Hen. VIII.
47 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
I06
46 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33 Hen. VIII.
4D Pat. 8 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 26.
50 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
51 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
58 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 556.
53 Ibid. p. 585 ; 1623-5, p. 105.
54 Ibid. 1625-6, p. 403.
55 Ibid. 1627-8, p. 432.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxliv,
93-
57 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 Chas. I.
58 Ibid. 14 Chas. I ; Visit, of Herts.
(Harl. Soc. xxii), 58.
id Close, 1649, pt. xlvi, m. 22.
60 Feet of F. Herts. East. 35 Chas. II.
61 Cussans, op. cit. Dacorum Hund. 292.
This may be a confusion with the next
owner.
62 Recov. R. Mich. 1 Geo. I, rot. 64.
Hatfield Church : The Chancel and Brockett Chapel
Hatfield Church : Salisbury Chapel
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Oxford.65 In 1 802 Sir William Geary and others,
who seem to have been the trustees succeeding Sir
Francis Vincent and the others, sold Tolmers to
Garnet Terry.64 In 1827 it was sold by Margaret
wife of Charles Mousley, who may have been the
daughter of Garnet Terry, to Charles John Dimsdale.60
He sold it in 1834 to Samuel Mills, who died in
1847,66 and was succeeded by his son Thomas Mills,67
from whom it passed to his brother John Remington
Mills, who was lord of the manor in 1 8 7 J.63 He died
in 1879,69 and his eldest son John Remington Mills
having predeceased him in 1865, his estates passed to
his two granddaughters, who were co-heiresses.70
One of them was lady of the manor in 1880. It
now belongs to Mr. J. Henry Johnson.
WOODHALL was held of the manor of Hatfield
for the service of one knight's fee.71 The earliest
mention of the manor occurs in 1198, when it was
held by John de Bassingburn and Albreda his wife,
and leased to Hamelin de Andeville and Alice for her
life.78 Albreda was still living in 1 248." Woodhall
descended in the Bassingburn family in the same way
as the manor of Astwick'4 until the death of John
Bassingburn in 1535, when Woodhall passed under
a settlement to Thomas Gawdy, the son of Anne,
second daughter of John Bassingburn.75 In 1564
Thomas Gawdy and Honor his wife conveyed the
manor to Sir John Boteler of Watton Woodhall.76
Sir John's eldest son Philip sold Hatfield Woodhall
to his brother Henry, who died in 1609 seised of it
jointly with his son John.77 Sir John Boteler the
younger died in 1637,78 and his two elder sons
Henry and Philip having died without issue the
manor came to his third son William, an idiot,79 who
died in 1665. His next heirs were his five sisters,
two of whose husbands, Francis Lord Dunmore and
Endymion Porter, had been his guardians. The
manor, however, was held in tail-male, so that it
passed to Francis son of Ralph Boteler, the third of
Sir John Boteler's eight half-brothers.80 Francis
Boteler died in 1690 and was succeeded by his
daughter Juliana, the wife of Francis Shallcross.81 She
died in 1726 and Woodhall passed by will to her
sister Isabel, the wife of Charles Hutchinson,82 who
died in 1728. Their son Julius Hutchinson suc-
ceeded 83 and was followed by his son Thomas, who
died in I 774." Woodhall then passed to his nephew,
the Rev. Julius Hutchinson, son of his brother Norton,85
and in 1 792 was sold to the Earl of Salisbury, and
thus became merged in the manor of Hatfield.86
Free warren was granted to the lord of the manor
in 1 300. 87
The parish church of ST. ETHEL-
CHURCH DREDJ™ standing on high ground on
the east side of the town, is built for
the most part of flint rubble with stone dressings.
The roofs are tiled and the tall spire is shingled.
HATFIELD or
BISHOP'S HATFIELD
It consists of a chancel, north and south chapels,
north and south transepts with western chapels, nave,
west tower of four stages with angle buttresses,
embattled parapet and tall spire and north and south
wooden porches.
The original church of the early 13 th century
appears to have been cruciform with a central tower,
of which evidence remains in the thickened east wall
of the nave and a flying arch on the north side. The
chancel and transepts appear to have formed part ot
this church, and the north wall of the nave probably
stands on the foundations of the nave wall of the
13th century. Late in the same century the small
chapels on the west side of the transepts were built
and a south chapel was added ; this chapel was
widened late in the 15th century. In the 15th
century also the nave was widened to the south,
when the central tower was destroyed and the pre-
sent west tower built. The north chapel, known
as the Salisbury chapel, was added about 1600-10.
In the 19th century the walls of the nave were
rebuilt, the porches were added, and all the window
tracery and most of the external stonework were
renewed.
The chancel has a two-centred east window of
three lights with tracery above. The shafted inner
jambs with foliated capitals are of the 13th century.
The north arcade, built about 16 10, is of three bays
of semicircular arches on Roman Doric columns.
The soffits are richly decorated and the arches have
modillion-shaped keystones. On the south side are
a two-light window and an arcade of two bays of
the 15 th century. The central pillar and responds
are of clustered shafts with ogee rolls between, and
there are angels bearing shields in the capitals on
the north and south sides. The middle shield on
the central pier has the arms of Fortescue, Azure a
bend engrailed argent cotised or on the bend in chief
a molet sable. The two-centred chancel arch is
modern, and has detached shafts with capitals carved
with lilies and a label with mask stops. Under the
south-east window is a piscina of the 13th century,
with a modern arch.
An iron screen of the 18th century separates the
chancel from the north chapel, which has three
three-light windows — one at the east and two in the
north wall — all of about 1610. On the west two
modern arches, supported on responds and a central
pillar, open to the north transept. The walls of the
chapel are richly decorated with modern coloured
mosaics and marble work, and the panelled and
painted roof is also modern.
The south chapel has an east window of five lights
and two south windows of four lights each, probably
of the late 15th century, all with much restored
tracery, and a small south doorway under the western-
most of the two south windows. The windows and
63 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 43 Geo. Ill,
m. 183.
64 Ibid.
65 Feet of F. Herts. East. 8 Geo. IV.
66 Cussans, loc. cit.
67 Ibid.
65 Ibid.
69 Burke, Landed Gentry (1882).
70 Ibid.
71 Rentals and Surv. R. 276 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxii, 64 ; cccviii, 113.
78 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Ric. I, no. 21.
76 Assize R. 318, m. 5.
74 Abbrcv. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 270 ;
Feet of F. Div. Co. 7 Edw. Ill ; Close,
9 Hen. VII, no. 36 ; Feet of F. Herts.
East. 14 Hen. VII ; East. 20 Hen. VII ;
Recov. R. Hil. 17 Hen. VIII, rot. 347.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxii, 64.
76 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 6 Eliz.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccviii,
'3 Ibid, dxxix, 56.
79 Ibid, cccclxxxi, 150.
8U Ibid, dxl, 90.
51 Chauncy, op. cit. 309,
I07
0 Salmon, op. cit. 211.
83 Recov. R. Trin. 2*3 Geo. II.
^ Cussans, op. cit. Broad-water Hand.
270.
33 Ibid.
« Ibid.
87 Chart. R. 28 Edw. I, m. 10.
88 Dimensions : chancel, 40 ft. by 26 ft.
6 in. ; north chapel, 40 ft. by 21 ft. ;
south chapel, 25 ft. by 17 ft.; nave,
100 ft. by 29 ft. ; north transept, 24 ft.
by 15 ft. 6 in. ; south transept, 21 ft. by
1 5 ft. 6 in. ; tower, 16 ft. square.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
doors all have four-centred he.ids. The two-centred
arch at the west end, opening into the south transept,
is of the 13th century, of three continuous chamfered
orders, and immediately to the south of it is a plain
narrow doorway of the 15th century, also leading to
the south transept, which was inserted when the
chapel was widened.
In the east wall of the chapel are two brackets,
each carved with an angel bearing a shield, one on
each side of the east window. The roof retains
much of its late 15th-century woodwork.
The nave, of which the axial line is about 6 ft.
south of that of the chancel, has a 13th-century arch
at the north-east and south-east, opening into the
chapels west of the transepts. Both bases and capitals
of the arch on the south side are modern, but on the
north side the bases are old. The responds are
The chapel, which opens to the transept through
the semi-arch, has a modern west window of two
lights.
The south transept retains older detail than any
other part of the church. In the east wall is a lancet
window of the 13th century, now blocked, and to
the north of it is a large trefoiled recess of the same
period. Both are set high in the wall, and the latter
is cut into on the north side by the arch leading to
the south chapel. The archway which opens to the
chapel west of the transept is a fine example of the
work of about 1 240, and shows traces of having been
rebuilt in the position it now occupies. The arch
is of two orders, deeply moulded with richly under-
cut rolls and hollows. The two innermost rolls have
fillets and the rest are plain. The responds have
their engaged round shafts with dog-tooth ornament
Hatfield Church from thf. South
half-octagonal, and the arches are two-centred, of
three chamfered orders. There are three two-
centred modern windows of three lights, with
tracery of three quatrefoils, in the north and in the
south walls. The north door, which is much re-
paired, is of the 1 ;th century, and the south doorway
is modern. To the north of the chancel arch is a
moulded piscina of the late 14th century. In the
roof are six small modem dormer lights.
The north transept has a north window of four
trefoiled lights with tracery above ; it is possibly of
the 15 th century, but has been wholly restored.
Below it is a doorway with a two-centred head. In
the west wall is a I 5th-century doorway leading to
the vestry, which is modern, with a two-light window
in the north wall and an exterior doorway and
another two-light window in the west wall. To
the south of the doorway from the transept is a
semi-arch or flying buttress of the 13th century.
between them, which has been much restored. The
capitals are foliated and the bases are modern.
The south window of the transept is wholly
renewed, and is of four trefoiled lights with geometri-
cal tracery in a two-centred head. The chapel
has modern south and west windows, both of two
trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over, in a two-
centred head.
The roof of the south transept is largely of late
I jth-century date, and is ornamented with modern
colour ; the wall plates rest on modern foliated
corbels.
The lofty tower arch is of about 1440, and is of
three weakly moulded orders. It is two-centred and
has a label with return stops. The west doorway has
a two-centred arch in a square head, with tracery in
the spandrels. Both it and the window above it are
original work of the 15th century. At the south-
west angle of the tower a door gives access to a turret
108
109
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
stairway leading to the upper stages of the tower,
built in the thickness of the wall, and not projecting
externally. This turret rises very slightly above the
parapet of the tower. The top stage of the tower
is lighted by four windows of two cinquefoiled lights,
with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. They are
arranged in pairs on the north and south sides.
The oldest monument in the church is now in the
north chapel, and consists of a small coffin-lid with
the figure in low relief of a knight in armour of
about I 1 60. The body is almost wholly covered by
a large heater shield.
Also in the north chapel, to the south of the coffin-
lid, is the large and elaborate marble altar tomb with
the effigy of Robert first Earl of Salisbury, the founder
of the chapel, who died in 1 61 2. The altar slab,
with the recumbent effigy of the earl wearing an
armet with the visor open and the collar of the
Garter, and holding a staff in his right hand, is sup-
ported by four finely-sculptured kneeling figures hold-
ing a sword, vases, broken columns and a skull.
Beneath the slab, and between the four figures, is the
representation of a skeleton.
Immediately to the south of this tomb is one with
a life-size recumbent effigy, of about I 560, said to be
that of Sir Richard Kyrle.
A brass in the chancel commemorates Fulk Onslow,
1602, and his wife, with a shield of arms and an in-
scription. There is another brass with inscription to
Fulk Onslow in the tower.
In the south chapel is a large monument between
the south windows to Dame Elizabeth Saunders, 161 2,
and Dame Agnes Saunders, 1588. It consists of an
altar-tomb with marble panelled sides, with the effigies
of the two ladies, half-recumbent, with their heads to
the west, lying, one on the tomb itself and the other
behind it raised upon a step. Behind them a recess
is formed by a semicircular arch resting on modillions,
with Renaissance foliation in the flat spandrels. This
recess contains the inscription on a rectangular slab.
On the cresting of the cornice are two shields and a
lozenge in the centre. The left-hand shield bears
Moore : Argent a fesse dancetty gobony gules and sable
between three molets sable. The right-hand shield
has the arms of Saunders : Party cheveronwise sable
and argent three elephants' heads razed and counter-
coloured, and on the lozenge is Moore impaling
Barry ermine and gules, for Hussey. There is also
in the south chapel a tomb of John Brockett, 1598,
with shields of Brockett impaling and quartering
other coats.
In the tower is an iron-bound chest dated 1692.
There are eight bells : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 by John
Briant of Hertford, 1786; 6 by Thomas Mears,
London, 1 841 ; and 8 with the names of Charles
Pratchell and William Woodards, churchwardens.
The plate consists of a silver gilt chalice, paten,
flagon and almsdish, each inscribed 'The parish
church of Bishop's Hatfield in ye county of Hertford
1685,' two other silver chalices and patens, and
another silver flagon.
The registers are in eight books : (i) baptisms 1653
to 171 3, burials 1653 to 1690, marriages 1653 to
1740 ; (ii) burials 1678 to 1 7 1 3 ; (iii) burials 1695
to 1750; (iv) baptisms 1713 to 1782, marriages
1741 to 1753 ; (v) baptisms 1783 to 1812 ;
(vi) burials 1751 to 1812 ; (vii) marriages 1754 to
1772 ; (viii) 1772 to 1812.
The chantry at the altar of St. Anne in the
parish church of Hatfield was founded in 1330 by
Roger de Louth, ' for the good estate of himself and
his wife Joan in life, for their souls after death, and
for the souls of Thomas de Louth, late treasurer of
the Church of St. Mary, Lincoln, John Hayward and
Katharine his wife.' s9 He gave ten messuages, 40
acres of land and 10/. rent in Hatfield to the Prior
and convent of Wymondley for a chaplain to celebrate
daily service.90 In 1392 John de Wendelyngburgh
and others, apparently trustees of Nicholas de Louth,
added two messuages, 33 acres of land, 2 acres of
meadow and 2 acres of wood for the benefit of the
soul of Nicholas de Louth 91 (or Luda). The advow-
son was held by the Louth family.
In the report made to Edward VI in 1 548 the
revenue from the tenements was reckoned at £9 8/. %d.
James Shawe, the incumbent, was ' an impotent man of
the age of seventy years.' '•'- After its suppression the
lands were granted in the same year to Ralph Burgh
and Robert Beverley.93
A chapel connected with the lords of the manor of
Ponsbourne existed in the parish church of Hatfield,
and was situated next to that of the Blessed Mary of
Ludwick.94 In I 5 1 8 John Fortescue left provision
for ' an honest clerk ' to celebrate mass there
annually for the souls of himself and his ancestors.95
In 1660 the 'Chapel of Ponsbourne ' adjoining the
church was repaired by Stephen Ewer, who had
refused to pay the assessment for the repair of the
parish church unless his own chapel was also repaired.96
The image of the Blessed Mary of Ludwick in
Hatfield Church is mentioned in 1470,9" also the
images of the Blessed Mary of Pity (de Pete),9s
St. Anne, St. Etheldreda and the Holy Trinity.99
There are references in the I 6th century to a Gild
or Fraternity of St. John the Baptist. In 15 10 a
bequest was made to it by John Lowen 10° and others,
in 1 5 14 by Nicholas Lanam,1 and in 1520 by
William Clarke.2 In 153S a tenement in Woodside
yielding a yearly rent of 4/. belonged to ' a brother-
hood,'3 and in 1545 a Fraternity is entered as
paying 6d. towards a subsidy.4 After this it disappears.
Lemsford, in the north of the parish, was formed
into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1858,6 and the
church of ST. JOHN, LEMSFORD, was erected in
that year by the Dowager Countess Cowper of
Brockett Hall and her children as a memorial to her
husband, the sixth earl.
The church of ST. MART, NEWGATE STREET,
was built in 1 847 by Thomas Mills of Tolmers.
The living is a perpetual curacy.
ST. MARK'S chapel of ease at Woodhill was built
in 1852 by the Marquess of Salisbury.
89 Cal. Pat. 1 3 30-4, p. 1 5.
9U Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edv,
0.94.
91 Cj/.iV.i 391-6, p. 177; Chan
.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. i, no. 71.
93 Chant. Cert. 27, no. 5.
93 Pat. 2 EJw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
*).
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Se
III, 126.
9i Ibid.
Inq. 96 i'«Honi R. (Herts. Co. Rcc),
I3+-S-
9? Will, P.C.C. I Wattys.
ss Ibid. 34 Vox.
99 Ibid. 1 Watt)'!.
,ll° Ibid. 36 Bennett.
1 Ibid. 5 Holder.
1 Wills, Arch J. of St. Albans, 152a.
8 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. ccxvi.
* Hens. Gen. and Antiq. i, 324.
■ Lund. Gaz. Index, 996.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
The chapel of ease at Hatfield Hyde was erected
in 1882, also by the Marquess of Salisbury.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON St. Etheldreda at Hatfield 6 belonged
from the earliest times to the Abbots
and Bishops of Ely," and remained in their hands
until it was conveyed with the manor to King
Henry VIII in 153 8.8 The church was never
appropriated, and the living has always been a rectory.
It remained in the hands of the sovereign until 1549,
when it was granted to the Earl of Warwick.9 It
must have been conveyed with the manor to
Elizabeth, for she granted it in free socage to
Thomas Poyner and William Wolriche in 1563,10
from whom it is said to have been purchased in the
same year by Richard Onslow.11 About 1570 the
latter gave the rectory as a lay estate to his brother,
for his own and his wife's life.12 Richard Onslow
was Speaker of the House of Commons and Solicitor-
General in 1566.13 In 1574 the advowson was
held by Fulk Onslow,14 and in 1604 by Edward
Onslow,16 who in that year conveyed it to Goddard
Pemberton.16 The latter is said to have sold it to the
Earl of Salisbury in 1607 17 ; it was certainly in the
hands of the second earl,18 and has remained in
the possession of the same family since.19 In 1534
a survey of the parsonage was made by command of
Thomas Cromwell for purposes of repair. It then
consisted of a hall and parlour with chambers over,
an entry between the hall and kitchen, a kitchen,
bake-house, malt-house, oat barn, ox-house, sheep-
house, cart-house and hen-house,20 so it must have
been a considerable establishment.
In 1 307 the parson of Hatfield was granted free
warren in the lands belonging to the church.21
In 1538 there was a church-house called the
' common church-house,' which was used for bridal
feasts, and was let at other times to provide funds for
its maintenance.22
The advowson of St. John's, Lemsford, belongs to
Countess Cowper, that of St. Mary, Newgate Street,
to Mr. Joseph Trueman Mills of Leighton Buzzard.
KNEBWORTH
Various meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters
were certified in Hatfield from 1694 onwards.22a
There is a Union chapel in Park Street, built in
1823, and a Wesleyan chapel. The Roman Catholic
Church of the Blessed Sacrament was completed in
1 9 10.
In 1678 Sir Francis Boteler and
CHARITIES Dame Elizabeth Boteler his wife by
deed conveyed to trustees a messuage
and farm called Clarke's Farm, situate at Ludwick in
this parish, the rents and profits thereof to be applied
for such purposes as the said Dame Elizabeth Boteler
should direct. The said Dame Elizabeth by her will,
dated in 1 68 1, directed that the objects of the bounty
should be five widows, four to be chosen from the
inhabitants of Bishop's Hatfield and one an inhabitant
of the parish of Tewin. The trust property now
consists of .£2,397 4'- id. consols held by the official
trustees, arising from sales of land and accumulations
of income, and producing £59 18;. \d. yearly.
In 1667 Thomas Tooke by deed charged his
manor of Wormley with an annuity of £3 to be
distributed on St. Thomas's Day to the six poorest and
most aged men and women, and in 1720 Mrs. Julia
Shallcross by a codicil to her will directed £g a year to
be paid out of her estate of Hatfield Woodhall to
three widows of the parish for ever. It appears that
the payment of these charges is now in abeyance.
Edward Smith's charity, being an annual charge of
£z, is received (less tax) from the agent of Earl
Cowper, the owner of Place Farm, which lies in the
parishes of Wheathampstead23 and Sandridge.
In 1733 Ann Countess of Salisbury by deed gave
a fee-farm rent of £50 (subject to deduction of £10
for land tax) towards clothing and teaching twenty
girls. The fee-farm rent is understood to be vested
in the Corporation of Southampton, and is duly paid.
In 1 807 Mrs. Mary Ross by her will, proved in the
P.C.C. I 2 March, charged certain land and heredita-
ments at Bather Dell with an annuity of £■$ to be
applied on St. Thomas's Day in clothing for six old
and poor widows.
KNEBWORTH
Chenepeworde (xi cent.) ; Cnebbeworth, Knebbes-
wrth (xiii cent.) ; Knybbeworth (xiv cent.) ; Knecb-
worth, Knebbeworth.
The parish of Knebworth has an area of 2,6 7 7 acres.
The north-eastern part is over 400 ft. above the
ordnance datum, and rises to a height of 461 ft.
From this point the ground slopes downwards to the
south and more gradually to the east ; south of the
village it rises again to 426 ft. The greater part of
the parish is arable land, which covers 1,284 acrcs ;
66 1 £ acres are permanent grass and 277 acres are
wood.1 The main road from Hitchin to London passes
through the centre of the parish. A road turns off
from it to the west and forks, one branch going north
to St. Paul's Walden and the other south past Three
Houses. Another road turns east from the Hitchin
road, runs along the south of Knebworth Park and
turns north, forming its eastern border. The village
is situated on this road on the opposite side from
the park.
Knebworth House is a building of two stories, and
the whole of the external detail is of a florid late
Gothic type, executed in stucco during the early part
of the 19th century. The original 16th-century
house inclosed a courtyard, but in 181 1 the north,
south and east sides were pulled down, and the west
6 P.C.C. 1 Wattys ; 36 Bennett.
7 Cat. Pat. 1225-32, p. 234 ; Cott.
MSS. Claud. C xi.
8 Close, 30 Hen. VIII, pt. i, no. 61.
9 Deeds of purchase and exchange,
96.
10 Pat. 5 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 30.
11 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 36;,
12 Hist. MSS. Com. Rip. xiv, App. h,
475-
" Ibid.
11 Feet of F. Herts. East. 16 Eliz.
15 Ibid. Trin. 2 Jas. I.
16 Ibid.
17 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 362.
18 Recov. R. Mich. 20 Jas. I, rot. 90.
Ill
19 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
70 L. and P. He,,. Fill, vii, I 55 I.
21 Chart. R. 35 Edw. I, no. II, m. 5.
73 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. cexvi.
7JaUrwick, op. cit. 586-7.
» See under Wheathampstead, V.C.H.
Urti. ii, 313.
* Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
wing which remained was altered and added to and
completely renewed externally. From plans Ia and
sketches of the old building prior to its demolition
it would appear that the house must have been
altered during the 17th and perhaps 1 8th century,
but the entrance gateway in the centre of the east
side of the courtyard, now partly incorporated in the
West Lodge referred to below, appears to have been
untouched, and was the last portion to be pulled
down. The old plan of the west wing, as it existed
before 181 1, can still be traced in the present build-
ing, though no detail of the 1 6th century now
remains except a plain tablet fixed in the entrance
porch, which bears the arms of Sir Rowland Lytton
and the date I 563. In the centre of the east front
was the porch entering directly into the screens, on
ficaji adapted fjvm an illustmlion to IxKiu^ionfrom
Czmetton tbjhndim and thence ixbtferfs (Snf.IMcfJddMSJ. 'Xt6il/Z02j
Ground Plan of Knebworth House in 1805
the right was the hall, which still remains, and on the
west side of the hall was the library, now occupied by
a modern stair, and at the north-west corner was the
main staircase, now the library ; this portion of the
building was probably a later addition to the 16th-
century house. At the north end of the hall was the
dining parlour, now a modernized drawing room.
The south end of the wing was occupied by the
domestic offices, but all that portion facing the west
has been formed into a long picture gallery ; a back
staircase at the south-east angle still retains its old
position, but the stair is modern. A modern south
wing has been added. The hall, which is of the
same extent as formerly, and which is carried up
'"'Excursion from Camerton to London and thence into
Herts.' Add. MS. 33641, fol. 202 ; Gent. Mag. Nov. 1790.
two stories, underwent considerable alterations
during the 17th century. It has a coved ceil-
ing with moulded oak principals, ribs and cornice
and carved brackets. The spaces between the
timbers are plastered. It w.is probably put up under
the original open-timber roof early in the 17th cen-
tury. The screen belongs to the same period, and
behind it, over the screens, is the musicians' gallery.
The oak screen is in three bays with semicircular
arched openings. The central opening, which is the
entrance, is flanked by caryatides formed of demi-
human figures on tapering pedestals, the panels of
which are carved. The spandrels of the arches are
filled with pierced ornament. Above the arches is
a bold entablature with moulded cornice and carved
frieze and brackets, surmounted by the oak front to
the gallery, which is carved with
an open arabesque pattern. Each
side arch is partly filled with solid
panelling surmounted by a broken
pediment with moulded cornice ;
in each panel is a cartouche con-
taining arms of the Lytton and
allied families.
The other three sides of the
hall are covered with deal panel-
ling, the design of which is
attributed to Inigo Jones, and
which may date from about 1650.
The north end is an elaborate
design with detached fluted
Corinthian columns dividing the
end of the hall into three bays,
with an enriched entablature with
moulded cornice ; this is broken
over the middle bay by a round-
arched pediment with moulded
cornice and panelled soffit ; in the
side bays are doors opening into
the drawing room, formerly the
dining parlour of the old house.
The east and west sides of the hall
are panelled in a more simple
manner, with fluted Corinthian
pilasters as divisions ; in the centre
of the west side is a plain fireplace
with a large picture panel over,
surmounted by a moulded cornice
and pediment. The whole of the
woodwork, both oak and deal, has
been recently scraped and cleaned
and left in its natural colour. The
hall is lighted by windows in the east wall only.
The drawing room has been completely modernized.
There is a quantity of old panelling, chiefly of the
17th century, in some of the rooms on the upper
floor, most of which appears to have been '-"•ought
from elsewhere.
Part of the original gateway of the old house,
which was pulled down in 1 8 1 1 , was incorporated
in the West Lodge of the park on the Hitchin road,
and the fact is recorded on a tablet, dated 1 816, on
the walls. The lodge is in two parts, connected by
the old arches which span the drive. Two old
windows and a turret doorway have also been reset
in the walls of the lodge, which have been partly
built with old thin bricks at the back. All the old
work, which is of clunch, belongs to about the
BROADWATER HUNDRED
middle of the 1 6th century. The two four-centred
arches which span the drive are of two double-ogee
continuously moulded orders, a good deal restored
and with cement panelled bases. The windows are
of two lights with four-centred arches under square
moulded labels ; the jambs and mullions are moulded.
The turret doorway has a moulded four-centred arch
with carved spandrels under a square head; one
spandrel is carved with foliage, the other with a tun or
barrel and vine leaves and fruit. The ornamental iron
gates under the eastern arch and the fencing to the
windows next the park are of 1 8th-century work.
From the centre of the village a road runs east-
ward to Deard's End, where there is an interesting
late 16th-century farm-house of timber and brick
nogging and a tiled roof. The church of St. Mary
KNEBWORTH
is a gravel-pit at Deard's End and another near
Three Houses. There is a railway station on the
Great Northern main line, situated in the extreme
east of the parish near Deard's End.
The inclosure award was made in 1 8 19, the
authorizing Act being passed in 1810.2
In 1882 a portion of the parish on the east,
including Swangley's Farm, was transferred to Datch-
worth.3
Place-names mentioned in 1638 are Courtfield,
Blackhouse Ground, Coxe, Black Pitt, Neze Field,
Blackwell Field and Wellfield.4
The manor of KNEBWORTH was
MANORS held in the time of Edward the Con-
fessor by Aschil, a thegn of the king.
In 1086 it formed part of the lands of Eudo Dapifer,
Knebworth House : West Lodge Arches from the West
is situated in the park which surrounds Knebworth
House, and lies a short distance north-west from the
village. Rustling End is a hamlet in the north-west
of the parish, with Crouch Green about half a mile
south. Little Rustling End Farm is a 1 7th-century
timber and brick and timber and plaster house. Part
of the hamlet of Broadwater lies on the north-eastern
boundary of the parish. There are two tumuli in
Graffridge Wood, somewhat damaged.
The subsoil of the parish is chalk. There are
chalk-pits beside the railway and disused ones in
Knebworth Park and west of Rustling End. There
son of Hubert de Ryes, and was assessed at %\ hides.6
About the middle of the 12th century the 'honour
of Eudo Dapifer ' was in the hands of Warine
Fitz Gerold.6 This honour evidently included
Knebworth, for it is found in the possession of
Margery or Margaret daughter and heir of Warine
son of Warine Fitz Gerold, who married Baldwin
de Redvers Earl of Devon, after whose death in
1 2 1 6 7 she received Knebworth in dower.8 She
married secondly Falkes de Breaute, who held the
manor in right of his wife, but was banished in
1224, when his lands were taken into the king's
* Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 63-4.
* Divided Parishes Act, 1882.
' Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 185.
5 V.CM. Hem. i, 3 2 84.
6 Black Bk. Exch. (ed. Hearne), i,
237-9 ! RedBk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 38.
7 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. Henry,
brother of the elder Warine, held the
113
honour in 1 1 66. The younger Warine was
chamberlain early in the 13th century (Red
Bk. of Exch. i, 94, 175, 356; ii, 461).
8 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.). 160.
15
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
hands.9 Certain timber which Falkes had felled at
Knebworth was then granted by the king to William
Earl Marshal for building purposes.10 The manor
was restored to Margaret, being part of her own
inheritance. Baldwin, Earl of Devon, her son, died
in February I 244.-5, an<^ his son Baldwin in 1262,11
leaving no issue. In 1267 there was a process con-
cerning Knebworth between Margaret his widow and
her sister-in-law Isabel, the wife of William de
Fortibus Earl of Albemarle and heir of Baldwin.1-'
Isabel died without surviving issue in 1293,13 where-
upon the descendants of Warine Fitz Gerold became
extinct. The overlordship of Knebworth then passed
to the descendants of Henry Fitz Gerold, brother of
Warine. Henry's daughter and heir Alice, wife of
Robert Lisle, had two sons, Robert and Gerard.14
Robert Lisle, the grandson of the elder son Robert,
therefore became heir of the Fitz Gerold property
in 1293.15 He was summoned to Parliament as
Lord Lisle of Rougemont from I 3 1 1 .16 He was
succeeded by his son John,17 of whom Knebworth
was held in 1 346.18 He died in 1356, and was
succeeded by his son Robert
Lord Lisle,19 who probably
died without issue about
1399,20 when Knebworth
presumably passed to Thomas
Lord Berkeley, husband of
Margaret, a descendant of
Gerald Lisle, younger son of
Alice Fitz Gerold and Robert
Lisle.-1 The overlordship of
Knebworth would thus pass
through Elizabeth daughter of
Thomas Lord Berkeley and
wife of Richard Earl of War- ""■""• °r-
wick to her daughter Mar-
garet Countess of Shrewsbury, whose son John Talbot
was created Lord and Baron
of Lisle and died in 1453.
His granddaughter and heir
Elizabeth Talbot married Sir
Edward Grey, who was also
created Lord Lisle,22 and
Knebworth was held of him
in 1482. 23 His son John
died in 1 504 without male
heirs, when the overlordship
escheated to the Crown, for
in I 5 1 7 and after it was held
of the king as of the duchy
of Lancaster, of the fee of
Lisle, by knight's service and
suit of court of the duchy at
Walbrook.24
The sub-tenant of Knebworth
Lisli. Gule
leopard argent ivii
Grey, Lord Lisle.
Barry argent and azure
■with three roundels gules
in the chief and a label
Humphrey d'Ansleville 25 or Andevill, whose imme-
diate heir is not known. Thomas de Andevill held
lands of Eudo Dapifer's fief in 1166,-'6 and Richard
son of Thomas de Andevill seems to have been
lord of the manor of Knebworth in 1214.2' This
Richard held the lands in Cambridgeshire which
belonged to Humphrey d'Ansleville in 1086, and so
was apparently his descendant.28 In 1 214-15
Richard settled the advowson of the church on
Hamelin de Andevill.29 In 1 2 1 5 20 librates of
land in Knebworth, ' which were of Hamon de
Ablevill,' were granted to Hugh of Bath, clerk,
to hold as long as the king pleased.30 This was
possibly owing to a forfeiture, for Richard de
Andevill was holding Knebworth before 1224, and
received seisin of it again in that year, with corn and
timber, &c, for a payment of £50, after the king
had taken it into his hands at the banishment of
Falkes de Breaute.31 The successor of this Richard
is not known, and Knebworth next appears in 1292
in the possession of Robert de Hoo,32 who seems to
have held the Andevill lands in Cambridgeshire as well.
He was still holding Knebworth in 1303,33 but died
before I 3 1 6, when his widow Beatrice conveyed the
manor to Richard and Joan de Perers, who were to
pay her 50 marks annually during her life, and after-
wards a rose at Midsummer to her heirs. Failing
the heirs of Richard and Joan de Perers, the manor
was to return to Beatrice de Hoo and her heirs.34
Richard and Joan, who appears to have been Beatrice's
daughter,30 had a son Richard, who died before 1 346,
leaving a son Edmund, who enfeoffed Walter de
Mauny and his heirs of the manor and died
without issue.36 In 1 346 Knebworth was said to
be held by Walter de Mauny and Thomas de
Hoo 37 (grandson of Robert and Beatrice),38 who
possibly had a life interest. The heirs of Edmund
de Perers were his three sisters, Isabel, Margaret
wife of John de la Ryvers, and Joan,39 and in 1348
they confirmed Knebworth to Walter de Mauny,40
who died seised of it in 1372.41 After his death
it seems to have been acquired by Guy de Bryan,
who in 1388 conveyed it to Thomas Beauchamp
Earl of Warwick.42 The latter forfeited his lands in
1397, about which time Knebworth was conveyed
by his brother Sir William Beauchamp43 and others
to Richard Forster, who held it jointly with Thomas
Thorneburgh, John Onyng and John Shordich.44
In 1398 an action was brought against Richard
Forster by William de Hoo, who stated that he was
son of Thomas grandson of Beatrice de Hoo, and
claimed the manor by the terms of the fine of I 3 16
(see above), by which Beatrice had conveyed Kneb-
worth to Richard and Joan de Perers, with reversion
on failure of their heirs. Edmund de Perers and his
three sisters, the grandchildren of Richard and Joan,
a Fine R. 8 Hen. Ill, m. 2.
10 Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), i, 611 4.
11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
u lb\A.;Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 1 60.
18 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. " Ibid.
15 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. II, no. 60.
16 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
17 Ibid. '8 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
19 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 42 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 53 ;
46 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 38.
90 See G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
91 Ibid. « Ibid.
n Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, no. 39.
94 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 5 ; Ct. of
Wards, Feed. Surv. bdle. 17.
9= V.C.H. Herts, i, 328A.
26 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 355.
87 Feet of F. Herts. 16 John, no. 131.
28 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 273.
39 Feet of F. Herts. 16 John, no. 131.
80 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 242A.
31 Fine R. 8 Hen. Ill, m. 2.
32 Chart. R. 20 Edw. I, no. 34.
33 Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
34 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Edw. II, no. 221.
35 De Banco R. East. 21 Ric. II,
m. 279. M Ibid.
II4
37 Feud. Aids, ii, 437.
88 Wrottesley, Ped. from tht Plea R.
212-13.
39 De Banco R. East. 21 Ric. II,
m. 279.
40 Feet of F. Herts. 22 Edw. Ill,
no. 350; De Banco R. 355, m. 299.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 38.
« Feet of F. Herts. 12 Ric. II, no. 105.
Guy was an executor of this earl's father,
who died in 1369 (Dugdale, Baronage,
1,234). ia Ibid. 238.
" De Banco R. 21 Ric. II, in. 279.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
had all died childless. William de Hoo was their
cousin and heir, but he also claimed that their father
had had two sisters, Margaret and Rose, and that
Margaret's grandson Richard Fitz Herbert, or Twy-
crosse, and Rose's great-grandson Walter Touneford
should have been the rightful heirs, but were also
dead without issue, and that the line being extinct
the manor reverted to him. Richard Forster denied
the existence of Rose de Perers and the descent of
Richard Fitz Herbert, and apparently based his claim
on the various conveyances of the manor since the
death of Walter de Mauny. Judgement was given
for Richard Forster,45 and William de Hoo finally
surrendered his claim to him in 1401-2.46 In 1407
Richard conveyed Knebworth to Robert Brome,47
who released it to William Askham and others in
141 1— 1 2,48 apparently for the purpose of a convey-
ance to John Hotoft, who
was in possession of the manor
soon afterwards. In 1426 a
claim to the manor was made
by William Beleverge, who
also declared himself to be a
descendant of Beatrice de
Hoo, and based his claim on
the fine of I 3 1 6. The pedi-
gree he gave claimed that
Beatrice had had a son James,
whose daughter Margaret had
a son William Beleverge,
whose son Stephen was the
father of the claimant. The
descent, however, seems to
have been entirely spurious,
and his claim was unsuccess-
ful.49
John Hotoft was holding
Knebworth in 1428,50 and in
1430— 1 received a release of
all right in the manor from
William Perers.51 In 1440
he settled it on himself for
life, with remainder to his
daughter Idonia, wife of Sir
John Barre, and her heirs.52
Sir John Barre died in 1483,
and was succeeded by his
daughter Isabel, widow of
Humphrey Stafford Earl of
Devon, who married secondly
Thomas Bourghchier.53 Isabel
and Thomas settled Kneb-
worth on themselves in the
same year,54 and again in
1 49 1,55 and afterwards sold
the reversion to Robert
Lytton,56 to whose son
William Lytton two-thirds of
the manor came upon Thomas
Bourghchier's death in 1 492," one-third being claimed
by Anne, Thomas's second wife, who survived him
KNEBWORTH
William Lytton died in
and was living in I 5 ig.;
I 5 1 7, leaving an infant son
Robert, the custody of whom
was granted to Sir Richard
Weston,59 then a knight of the
body to King Henry VIII.60
In 1 5 1 8 Sir Richard was
made a Knight of the Bath,
and next year was one of the
' sad and ancient knights put
into the king's privy cham-
ber.'61 In 1520 he accom-
panied the king to the Field
of the Cloth of Gold, and in
the following year sat on the
jury which condemned
Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham. In
UM&M
Lytton of Kneb-
worth. Ermine a chief
indented azure -with three
crowns or therein.
Knebworth House ; West Lodge
1525 he was made Treasurer of Calais and in 1528
Under-Treasurer of England.62 In 1533-4 his
45 De Banco R. 21
4e Close, 3 Hen. IV, Pt
Ric. II,
16 Close, 3 Hen. IV, pt. i, m. 6.
47 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Hen. IV, no. 62.
4S Close, 13 Hen. IV, m. 41, 31, 30.
49 Wrottesley, Ped.from the Plea R. 329.
Feud, Aids. ii. A4.Q.
50 Feud. Aids,
51 Close, 9 H
. 449-
. VI, m. 10.
s-' Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 18 Hen. VI,
o. 101.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, no. 39.
51 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 Ric. Ill,
o. 1.
« Ibid. Herts. Hil. 6 Hen. VII.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 5.
115
57 Ibid, vii, 3.
58 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii, 154.
39 Ct. of Wards, Bks. of Liveries, lii
fol. 87a.
60 Diet. Nat. Biog.
61 Ibid, quoting HalPs Chronicle.
61 Diet. Nat. Bioz.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
connexion with Knebworth ceased, for in that year
Robert Lytton came of age and received his in-
heritance.63 Upon Robert's death without male
heirs Knebworth passed by will to his brother
Rowland," whose son Rowland inherited it in 1582."
William Lytton, son of the second Rowland, succeeded
to Knebworth at his father's death in 161 5 ,66 and
held it until 1 660, when he was succeeded by his
son, another Rowland.6' William son of Sir Rowland
Lytton inherited the manor in 1674, and died in
1705 without issue, when Knebworth passed to
Lytton Strode, grandson of William's sister Judith
and son of George Strode and Mary Robinson.68
He assumed the surname of Lytton, which was also
taken by his cousin William Robinson, who succeeded
him in 17 10, but had no Lytton descent. John
Robinson-Lytton inherited the manor from his
father in 1732, but died without issue in 1762,
when his nephew Richard Warburton succeeded
and took the name of Lytton. His daughter
Elizabeth Barbara Warburton-Lytton married William
Lytton, Earl of Lytton
Earle Bulwer, and upon inheriting Knebworth in
1 8 10 assumed the surname of Lytton in addition.
She died in 1843, leaving Knebworth to her third
son Edward George, the famous novelist, who became
Lord Lytton of Knebworth in 1866 and died in
1873. His son Edward Robert was created Earl
of Lytton, and was succeeded in 189 1 by his
third but eldest surviving son Victor Alexander
George Robert Lytton, second earl, who is the present
lord of the manor.69
The great park of Knebworth is mentioned in
1472. n There is still a deer park of i 56 acres, which
is finely wooded and surrounds the house. A fair was
granted to Robert de Hoo in 1292, to be held
annually on the vigil, day and morrow of the Decol-
lation of St. John the Baptist :l (28-30 August). It
was confirmed in 1 547," but was discontinued before
the end of the I 8 th century. Free warren was gran ted
and confirmed at the same time as the fair and was
also confirmed to Richard de Perers in 131773 and to
William Lytton in 1616/4
A mill is mentioned in Knebworth in 1086" and
in 161 1,'6 but does not appear to exist now. In
1274-5 l^e 'ord °f tne manor held view of frank-
pledge, gallows and the assize of bread and ale ; he
paid 1 js. \d. yearly to the sheriff's tourn." Court
leet was granted to William Lytton in 1616."
The manor of THREHOVS (Trehus, le Trehouse,
Treyhouse) is first mentioned in 1303." It seems
to have been a part of the manor of Knebworth and
was perhaps the two messuages, 160 acres of land and
100 acres of wood which were excepted in the fine
of 1 3 16, settling Knebworth on Richard and Joan de
Perers.80 This estate was conveyed by William de
Beauchamp to Richard Forster and others, but owing
to its omission from the fine could not be claimed
by William de Hoo in 139s.8' It followed the same
descent as the manor of Knebworth,88 and presumably
became eventually merged in it. The manor of
Threhous is last mentioned separately in l6l6.a It
lay in the western part of the parish, and the locality
is still marked by a tenement called Three Houses.
The parish church of ST. MARY
CHURCH AND ST. THOMAS OF CANTER-
BURY** stands to the north-east 0/
Knebworth House in the park. It is built of flint
rubble, with clunch dressings and the roofs are tiled.
It consists of a chancel and nave, north chapel, west
tower, south porch and north vestry.
The nave was built about the middle of the 12th
century and the chancel is probably of the same date.
The west tower dates from about 1420, the north
chapel from a century later, and the south porch from
about 1600. The nave was re-roofed in the 15th
century and the north chapel was rebuilt about 1700.
In the 19th century the chancel was almost entirely
rebuilt and the north vestry was added.
The chancel, which is almost wholly modern, still
has in the north wall a blocked window with an edge-
roll moulding of about 1 1 50, and below it is an arched
recess of the early 1 6th century. To the west of the
recess and of the same date is the arch which opens
into the north chapel. It has been much repaired
and has half-octagonal responds supporting the inner
order. The round chancel arch, of about 1 150, has
engaged shafts with rudely scalloped capitals. On
the south side of the chancel under the easternmost
window is a 14th-century piscina, with an ogee
63 Ct. of Ward Bks. clxxiii, fol. 7;.
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xcv, 99.
Robert had three daughters, Ellen, Eliza-
beth and Anne.
65 Ibid, excix, 89 ; Ct. of Wards, Feod.
Surv. bdle. 17 ; Rccov. R. Trin. 30 Eliz.
rot. 21 ; Hil. 9 Jas. I, rot. 99.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix, 1 14 ;
Recov. R. Hil. 6 Chas. I, rot. 53.
67 Visit, of Hens. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 73.
•» V.C.H. Herts. Families, where a de-
tailed descent is given.
6S Ibid.
70 Harl. Roll, H 13.
71 Chart. R. 20 Edw. I, m. 5, no. 34.
78 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. ii, m. 47.
78 Chart. R. 10 Edw. II, no. 28,
1. 13.
71 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
74 V.C.H. Herts, i, 328*.
76 Recov. R. Hil. 9 Jas. I, rot. 99.
77 Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
78 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
79 Feud. Aids, ii, 430, 437.
Il6
80 De Banco R. East. 21 Ric. II,
m. 279.
5' Ibid.
85 Close, 13 Hen. IV, m. 41 ; Feet of
F. Herts. 18 Hen. VI, no. 101 ; Hil.
6 Hen. VII ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
vii, 3 ; xxxiii, 5 ; xcv, 99.
63 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
84 Dimensions : chancel, 27 ft. 6 in.
by 13 ft. 6 in. ; north chapel, 27 ft. 6 in.
by 12 ft.; nave, 57 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft.;
tower, 12 ft. square.
Knebworth House : West Lodge : 16th-century Window
Knebworth Church : The Chancel Arch
BROADWATER HUNDRED
cinquefoiled head. The sill is modern. The chancel
roof has an oak-panelled wagon ceiling.
The north chapel has two square-headed windows,
at the east and north, of about 1700, with wooden
frames. An elaborate ironwork screen of the same
date, set in the arch on the south side, separates the
chapel from the chancel. The flat plaster ceiling is
of about the same date also.
The nave is approached from the north chapel by
a square-headed skew doorway emerging at the north-
east corner of the nave. Beside it, in the north wall,
is a single-light window with modern tracery. Im-
mediately above this window is the upper doorway of
the rood-loft stair, and the blocked lower doorway
with a moulded two-centred arch is visible to the
west of the window. To the west of this is a much
repaired two-centred arch, which now leads to a
vestry, and west of this is a wide single-light window,
KNEBWORTH
head. There are shields in the spandrels, one of
which bears the arois of Hotoft : Sable three
dragons' heads erect and razed argent.
On the north and south sides of the second stage
are narrow loops, and in the bell chamber are four
windows of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil
over.
The nave is seated throughout with a complete
set of 15th-century oak seats, moulded and having
rich tracery in the end panels. At the north-east is
a high pew with pinnacles at the corners and a
pierced cresting. The pulpit is of richly carved
16th-century Flemish panelling, made up in the
1 8th century. One of the panels is dated 1567.
There is similar panelling on the east wall of the nave
behind the pulpit.
The font is octagonal, of limestone and plainly
moulded. It dates from about 1480.
Knebworth Church from the South-east
a modern insertion, which probably marks the
position of an earlier two-light window.
On the south side are a modern single-light
window, a square-headed window of three lights
with much restored tracery of about 1350, and a two-
light window of the 15 th century, which is also much
restored. To the west of these is the south doorway,
of about 1380. It has a two-centred arch, much
repaired, leading to the south porch, which is heavily
covered with ivy and shows only traces of the
original windows. The entrance archway is four-
centred and coated with cement. To the west of
the south doorway is a window of about 1500, from
which the central mullion is gone.
The tower arch, of about 1420, is of two moulded
orders with engaged shafts. The tracery of the west
window is modern, but the window itself is original
with grotesque heads on the stops of the labels. The
west doorway has a two-centred arch in a square
In the chancel is a brass of Simon Bache, 1 4 14, a
priest in eucharistic vestments, with figures of saints
on his cope, and an inscription ; under the archway
between the chancel and the chapel and partly
covered by the iron grille another, to John Hotoft,
of about 1470, with an inscription on six strips of
brass, and three shields of arms. The brass is said to
have been on an altar tomb and is not now on its
original slab. On the chancel wall is a slab to Judith
Lytton, wife of Nicholas Strode, 1662 ; and a floor
slab is to John Ham, dcricus, 1684.
The monuments in the chapel are mostly to
various members of the Lytton family. There are a
brass of Rowland Lytton and his two wives, 1582, with
arms and an inscription ; a monument, 160 1, to
Anna the wife of Rowland Lytton, with arms ; a tomb
of Sir William Lytton, 1704-5, with a recumbent
marble figure under an elaborate canopy with the
arms and quarterings of Lytton. There are floor
117
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
slabs to Judith the wife of Rowland Lytton, 1659 ;
to Sir William Lytton, 1660 ; Sir Rowland Lytton,
1674 ; Judith (Lytton) wife of Sir Thomas Barring-
ton, 1657, with arms, and to the son of Giles
Strangways, 1646. In the nave, on the west splay of
the north window, is a defaced inscription, said to be to
John de Hall, rector, with the date of birth, 1395.
There are five bells : (1) by John Waylett, 1716 ;
(2) and (3) by Edward Hall, 1730 and 1732 ; (4)
dated 1697 ; and (5) by J. Briant, 1812.
The plate includes a 1 7th-century cup, with the
date erased, and a paten of 1668.
The registers are contained in four books : (i)
all entries 1606 to 1702 ; (ii) baptisms and burials
1703 to 18 I 2, marriages 1703 to 1 753 ; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1709 to 1 81 2, marriages 1 709 to 1753 ;
(iv) marriages 1754 to 181 2.
The advowson of the church has
ADVOWSON always belonged to the lord of the
manor. In 1214-15 it was granted
by Richard de Andevill to Hamelin de Andevill and
his heirs s5 (see manor). The Earl of Lytton is the
present patron.
A terrier of 1638 describes the parsonage as 'con-
tayning a hall, two parlours, a kitchin, a larder and
buttery below stayres and seaven severall roomes
above stayres.' There were also ' a milke house and
bolting house, a barne contayning five bayes, a
garner, a stable, an hayhouse, a carthouse, a little
stable, hogscoate and hennhouse ; a garden and oar-
chard.' The glebe lands consisted of 5 1 acres, with
a cottage ' tyled contayning three rooms below and
one above.' 86
There seems to be no record of early Dissent in
Knebworth, but a Congregational chapel was erected
in 1887.
In 1 8 1 1 William Johnson by his
CHARITIES will bequeathed £100 consols, the
annual dividends, amounting to
£z 10/., to be distributed among eight poor house-
keepers, with a preference to those attending divine
worship. The stock is held by the official trustees.
In 1836 Mrs. Elizabeth Barbara Bulwer Lytton
erected five almshouses on the Codicote road for old
and deserving people of the parish, supported by the
Earl of Lytton.
LETCHWORTH
The parish of Letchworth, containing about 888
acres of land, lies between Walsworth and Willian ;
its northern boundary is formed by the Icknield
Way, the southern by the main road between Great
Wymondley and Baldock. The detached part of the
parish surrounding Burleigh Farm, 8 miles south of the
town of Letchworth, was transferred to Knebworth
by a Local Government Board Order of 1907. By
the same order Norton and Willian were amalgamated
with Letchworth for civil purposes, but by a further
order of 1908 the latter was made a civil parish.
The town of Letchworth stands on the borders of
Bedfordshire. It has a station on the Hitchin and
Cambridge branch of the Great Northern railway.
The grounds of Letchworth Hall, now an hotel
belonging to the Garden City, adjoin the churchyard
on the south side. It is said to have been built by
Sir William Lytton about the year 1620, on the site
of an earlier house, and all the old parts of the existing
building are Jacobean in character. In plan it
resembles the letter T, the hall and some rooms to
the southward forming the vertical portion, while a
wing on the west containing the dining room, &c,
and another on the east, occupied by the kitchen
offices, form the upper part of the T- A large block
of buildings was erected on the north side by the
Rev. John Alington before 1 846. He also built some
detached stables to the south of the hall. The old part
of the building is of thin 2-in. bricks. Some blocks of
clunch and flint in a small disused porch at the extreme
south end may be a portion of the former building.
The eaves of the central hall are low, but rooms are
formed in the roof, lighted by dormer windows at the
back, and on the front by a window in a brick gable
which seems to be a much later addition or a re-
building. The principal entrance is by a porch, with
a room over, on the east side of the hall. This porch
has a low entrance of brick with a flat three-centred
arch. Each of the gables has a brick coping, with an
octagonal terminal at the apex, but the top of the
finial at the apex has disappeared. All the roofs are
tiled. At the back or west side of the hall is a
boldly projecting chimney, with offsets above the
roof, and finished on the top with two square
detached shafts set diagonally. All the older windows
have oak mullions, but many of the others are more
modern in construction. On the south wall of the
west wing are three stone panels ; the central one,
which has been rebuilt into a modern bay window,
bears a shield with the following arms : Quarterly
of 4 : (1) Ermine a chief indented with three crowns
therein, for Lytton ; (2) Three boars' heads, for
Booth ; (3) A fesse between six acorns with three oak
leaves on the fesse for Ogden ; (4) Ermine a cross with
five escallops thereon. The shield on the right bears
the arms of Lytton impaling St. John. The panel
on the right is carved with two birds holding a ring
between them, with the inscription above : ' Sic nos
junxit amor.' Beyond the porch is a passage running
the full width of the hall, under what was, until
Alington's time, the musicians' gallery, now built up
and thrown into a bedroom. A small modern stair
at the end of the passage no doubt occupies the
position of the old gallery stair. Some old balusters
and newels have been re-used on this stair. The oak
screen next the hall is a very fine and highly enriched
piece of work of the time of James I. It is in a
perfect condition, though one section of it has been
moved about 2 ft. forward to give more room for
the stair behind, and the upper part has been removed.
There are two openings in the centre, each about
4 ft. wide, with flat arches over, the openings being
separated by a circular column with Doric capital.
The remainder of the screen is filled in with diagonal
Feet of F. Herts. 16 John, no. 131.
86 Herts. Gen. and Anliq.
118
Knf.bworth Church : The Pulpit
BROADWATER HUNDRED letchworth
crowned by a cornice. All the work is elaborately
carved. The upper floor of the main building,
including over the hall, is subdivided into a number
of rooms, most of them small, and containing little
of interest. There is a fine fireplace, however, over
that in the dining room, but owing to the formation
of new rooms it is now in a passage. The lower
part is of clunch, having a four-centred arch with
mouldings similar to that in the dining room ; on
either side are half female figures undraped, on carved
pedestals, supporting the projecting portion of the
entablature, which has a moulded cornice, with dentil
enrichment, moulded architrave, and carved frieze
panelling. The spandrels of the arches and the
mouldings are carved. Above is the cornice which
formerly supported the front of the gallery. It
projects about 2 ft. On the frieze is a row of small
squares and circles alternating, with leaves carved in
them. There are carved consoles at intervals along
the cornice. On the small brackets carrying the outer
ends of the arches thistles are carved. The hall is a
large apartment 47 ft. by 2 1 ft. It has windows on
each side and is flat ceiled with plaster. There is a
large fireplace 6 ft. wide with splayed three-centred
arch on the west side near the screen. Over the fire-
place a carved stone shield has been inserted, bearing
Modern Additions
tfM^JPL
Dining Hoc
Dsszi^p^
Letchworth Hall (now hqteuj
Ground Plan
jSc»1e of feet
m I7B Century
S3 Modern
"S^
the arms of Alington, which are Sable a bend engrailed
between six billets argent. On the other side there
is a brick seat along part of the wall, which, how-
ever, appears to be modern. The floor is paved
with modern bricks. At the north end of the hall
is the modern entrance to the additions of last
century. The dining room, about 37 ft. by 1 6 ft.,
extends to the west of the hall. The old doorway,
now built up, still remains. A modern doorway has
been opened into the dining room, which contains
a good stone fireplace and carved oak chimneypiece.
The fireplace is of the usual early 17th-century type
with four-centred arch with the outer moulding
carried square above it. The overmantel is carried
up to the ceiling, and is divided into two panelled
compartments flanked by human demi-figures and
with consoles at intervals. All this work appears to
be Jacobean, but above it is a large panel reaching to
the ceiling containing four figures in high relief,
representing the Judgment of Paris, which is probably
of late 1 7th-century date. It is executed in plaster
and the figures are only slightly draped. Paris stands
in the centre offering the apple to Venus, who has a
Cupid clinging to her knees ; beside her are Juno with
a peacock at her feet and Minerva with a helmet.
North of the church is a timber-framed house now
divided into cottages ; it is of early 17th-century date
with a projecting porch. The post-office is a house of
the same age and style of construction, now |_-shaped,
a south wing having apparently been removed.
Little Rustling End Farm, a mile and a half west
of Knebworth Church and now in that parish, is a
119
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
rectangular two-storied timber-framed house of the
17th century. The construction, with brick filling
below and plaster above, is only seen at the back of
the house, the front being cemented. The kitchen
has an open timber roof supported by a beam. At the
back of the house is a small staircase wing.
The Garden City Pioneer Company are now the
sole landowners in Letchworth parish, which is being
laid out by them for residential and business pur-
poses ; it is said that over 9 miles of new roads have
been made.
The soil is sandy loam, in some parts clay with
beds of sand and gravel ; the subsoil is chalk.
Letchworth Hall : Part of Stair
LETCHWORTH [HJNCHETS or
MANORS MONTFITCHETS).— Before the
Norman Conquest Letchworth was
held by Godwin of Souberie (Soulbury), a thegn of
King Edward the Confessor. In 1086 it formed
part of the domain of Robert Gernon, and
was assessed at 10 hides.1 Robert Gernon's estates
were acquired early in the reign of Henry I by
William de Montfitchet,2 who with his wife Rohais
seems to have been holding Letchworth at the
beginning of the 12th century.3 His son William4
succeeded him before I I 3 5 and married Margaret5
the daughter of Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare.6
His wife outlived him and was still holding some of
the Montfitchet lands in 1 1 85/ The rest of William's
lands seem to have passed about 1167 to his son
Gilbert,8 whose wife's name was Avelina.9 Gilbert
was succeeded by his son Richard
about 1190,10 whose son, also
named Richard,11 was one of the
confederate barons of I 2 I 5 who
demanded the Charter of Liberties
from King John.12 He was among
those excommunicated by Pope
Innocent III in 1216,13 and was
taken prisoner by Henry III at
Lincoln in 121 7. u In 1244. he
was one of the barons' deputies
chosen to consider the king's
demand for a subsidy.15 He ap-
pears in connexion with Letch-
worth in 1240.16 He died without
issue about 1258,17 his heirs being
his three sisters : Margery wife of
Hugh de Bolbek, Aveline wife of
William de Fortibus Earl of Albe-
marle, and Philippa wife of Hugh
de Pleyz.18 The third of his in-
heritance, including the portion
held by his widow Joyce in dower
until 1274, was assigned to the
children of Margery de Bolbek,
the eldest sister, and was divided
between her daughters Philippa
de Lancaster, Margery Corbett
and Maud de la Val,19 Letch-
worth being apportioned to the
second daughter Margery and her
husband Nicholas Corbett.20
Margery afterwards married Ralph
Fitz William.21 She is known to
have conveyed her lands in Ayot
St. Peter to Robert Burnell,
Bishop of Bath and Wells and
chancellor of Edward I, and as
Philip Burnell, Robert's nephew
and heir,22 died seised of Letch-
worth in I 294,23 it seems probable
that Margery conveyed Letchworth also to Philip's
uncle. In 1295 Letchworth was assigned to Philip's
widow Maud in dower,24 and passed after her death
to her son Edward, who died childless in 1315, and
1 V.C.H. Hens, i, 323*.
' V.C.H. Essex, i, 34.7.
3 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 229. * Ibid.
5 Ibid, v, 586-7.
6 S. Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus, 45.
7 Ibid.
8 Dugdale, Mon. v, 586-7 ; Red Bk.
Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 3+9, 38.
9 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 231.
10 Ibid. ; Red Bk. Exck. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
730.
11 Dugdale, Man. iv, 231.
12 Matt. Paris, Chron. Majara (Rolls
er.), ii, 585.
13 Ibid. 644.
" Ibid, iii, 22.
15 Ibid, iv, 362.
16 Feet of F. Herts. 24 Hen. Ill,
o. 283.
17 Banks, Dormant and Extinct Peerages,
140.
18 Close, 52 Hen. Ill, m. 8 ; G.E.C.
I20
Complete Peerage ; Wrottesley, Fed. from
the Plea R. 2.
19 Close, 52 Hen. Ill, m. 8. Alice de
Huntercombe, a fourth daughter, had
presumably died between 1268 and 1274.
J° Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 82.
81 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 303.
» Diet. Nat. Biog.
'3 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I,
no. 45.
-' Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
subsequently to his sister Maud, the wife of John
Handlo.25 Nicholas son of Maud and John assumed
the surname of Burnell ; he was holding Letchworth
in 134626 and died in 1382, when he was succeeded
by his son Hugh.27 Hugh Burnell died in 1420
seised of the Montfitchet lands on the Essex border,28
which may have included Letchworth, though it is
not mentioned by name. His heirs were his three
granddaughters Joyce Erdington (who died childless),
Katherine RatclifFe and Margaret Hungerford.29
Edmund Hungerford, husband of Margaret, was
seised of the Montfitchet lands in Essex, but the over-
lordship of Letchworth cannot be definitely traced
any further.
Very little is known of the early sub-tenants of
Letchworth. In 1086 William of Letchworth, a
Norman and one of the Domesday jurors for Broad-
water Hundred,30 held the manor of Robert Gernon.31
LETCHWORTH
1 346 it was held by
Edmund Barrington
holding it as late as 1314s7; in
another Richard Montfitchet.38
was assessed for it in 1428,39
but it is not clear whether he
acquired it from the Mont-
fitchets. About the middle
of the 15 th century it came
into the possession of Thomas
Hanchet of Bedford, who was
holding it in 1474.40 He
was succeeded by William
Hanchet, who died seised of
it in 15 1 5, leaving a son
Andrew.41 Andrew, however,
died in the following year
and his lands passed to his
brother John, an infant of
two.42 Letchworth had been settled to the use of
Snagge of Letch-
worth. Argent three
pheons sable.
Letchworth Hall : West Front
Later the sub-tenancy seems to have been acquired
by a younger branch of the Montfitchet family. In
1274, when Margery and Nicholas Corbett acquired
the manor, the sub-tenant was a John Muschet,32
whose name is probably a corrupt form of Mont-
fitchet.33 In 1295 Letchworth is said to have been
held of Maud Burnell by ' the heirs of Richard de
Montfitchet,' 34 and a Richard de Montfitchet claimed
the advowson in 1302.35 In 1303 Custancia Mont-
fitchet was assessed for the fee,36 and seems to have been
John's mother Margery for her life.43 John attained
his majority in 1535,44 and together with Bridget
his wife sold Letchworth in 1 547 to Thomas
Snagge.45 Thomas was succeeded at Letchworth by
his second son Robert Snagge,46 who was lord of the
manor in 1574.47 His brother and successor William
Snagge48 died before 1596, leaving a widow
Margaret, who by that time had married William
Walford, and a son William.49 William Snagge, jun.,
soon after conveyed the manor to Sir Rowland Lytton
26 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Feud.
Aid:, ii, 430.
26 Feud. Aids, ii, 436. The name of
Burnell is here ascribed to John as well
as Nicholas.
" G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. V, no. 116.
29 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
30 V.C.H. Herts, i, 265.
31 Ibid. 323*.
32 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 82.
33 Cf. the spelling in Feud. Aids, ii, 930.
34 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463.
85 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 246.
36 Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
37 She was then assessed for property
in Letchworth (Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120,
no. 9).
3» Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
89 Ibid. 448. See also Montfitchets in
Wallington.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 35.
121
41 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxi, 57.
42 Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 301,
no. 6 j L. and P. Hen. V1U, iv, g. 297 (21).
43 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 272 d.
44 Ibid.
45 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 Edw. VI.
46 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. rail), 22.
47 Recov. R. Mich. 1574, rot. 1304.
4S Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 22.
49 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. z91.no. 5.
16
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Knebworth,50 who died seised of it in 1615."
Letchworth then followed the descent of Knebworth
Manor62 until 181 I,53 but a few years later it was
sold to John Williamson of Baldock, who possessed
it in 1821.54 He died in 1830 and left Letchworth
to his grandson the Rev. John Alington, son of his
daughter Sarah, who died in 1863." The manor
then passed successively to John Alington's second
but eldest surviving son William, who died childless
in 1874, and to his youngest son the Rev. Julius
Alington of Little Barford.56 The latter possessed
Letchworth until 1903, when the First Garden City
Pioneer Company acquired the whole parish by
purchase."
William Lytton was granted court leet and free
warren in Letchworth in l6l6.5s
Haifa fee in Letchworth was held by the Knights
Templars in the 13th century, and 120 acres in
addition were granted to them by Richard de Mont-
fitchet for a term of fifty years.59 Nothing more is
known of the descent of this half fee.
NEVELLS or NEVILLS was a small manor which
was held of the manor of Letchworth.60 It is not
called a manor until 1324. In I 198 John de Nevill
claimed 4 virgates of land in Letchworth as his
inheritance from Alban his grandfather, who was
seised of it.61 A John de Nevill appears again in
1247-8,62 and in 1324 Walter de Nevill, son of this
or another John, conveyed the reversion of the manor,
which another Walter de Nevill held for life, to
John de Blomvile,63 lord of the manor of Chesfield in
Graveley. Following the descent of this manor 64
(q.v.) it passed to the Barringtons,60 and remained in
that family until it came to John son of Nicholas
Barrington 66 in 1 515. In 1 524 the wardship of
John Barrington was granted to Henry Earl of Essex,67
but John seems to have attained his majority in the
following year.68 Soon after this the Barringtons
must have conveyed Nevells to the Snagge family,
who acquired Letchworth in 1547, for in 1596
William Snagge and his mother conveyed Nevells to
Sir Rowland Lytton.69 Sir Rowland died in 1615
seised of the reversion of the 'capital messuage called
Nevill ' after the death of Margaret Walford (William
Snagge's mother), and was possessed of the residue of
the manor.70 He already held Letchworth, and from
that date Nevells and Letchworth followed the same
descent and were presumably amalgamated.
BURLEIGH or BURLE7' (Bomeleyc, Boureleghe,
xiii cent. ; Borleye, xiv cent. ; Burlee, xv cent.) is
now represented by Burleigh Farm in a detached
portion of Letchworth parish between Stevenage and
Knebworth, situated about 8 miles south of Letch-
worth. In the 14th century it appears held with
Wollenwich as a quarter of a knight's fee, so it is
possible that in 1086 it was included in the half hide
and half virgate in Wollenwich (Wlwenewiche) held
of Robert Gernon by the William who held Letch-
worth.71 The overlordship of Burleigh appears in
the same hands as that of Letchworth (q.v.), passing
from the Montfitchets (the successors of Robert
Gernon) to the Burnells. Philip Burnell died seised
of a quarter fee in Burleigh in I 294," and in 1303 a
quarter fee in Burleigh and Wollenwich was held of
the heirs of Philip Burnell by Laurence de Brok.73
The family of Brok had probably been holding the
fee in sub-tenancy for some time previous to this, for
a Laurence de Brok, who died about 1275, appears
as grantee in conveyances of land in Wollenwich.71
He had a son Hugh, who was the father of the
Laurence of 1303.75 This Laurence '6 was holding
Burleigh in 1 294," and died before 1 3 30, leaving
a widow Ellen,'8 after whose death his lands passed
to their son Ralph.'9 Ralph's heirs, who were
holding Burleigh in I346,80were his three daughters,
Joan, who died childless, Ellen and Agnes.81 There
is no evidence to show which of the two latter
inherited Burleigh, but Agnes is known to have had
a daughter Joan and a granddaughter Katrine, whose
daughter was named Cecily.82 Possibly the Thomas
Vinter who was holding the property in 1428 83
was the husband of Katrine or Cecily, in which case
Burleigh would have descended to one of Cecily's
granddaughters, Joan Alington, Elizabeth Taillard
and Margaret Langley, who claimed some of the
Brok lands in 1468.84 Early in the 1 6th century
Burleigh came into the hands of Ralph Fraunces, son
of William Fraunces, from whom he perhaps inherited
it. Ralph died seised of it in 1533, leaving an infant
son William, who was placed in the wardship of
Sir Henry Sacheverell.85 In 1557 William Fraunces
and Elizabeth his wife conveyed the property to
John Godfrey or Cowper.86 The latter died in 1565,
leaving Burleigh to his younger son Francis, then
under age.87 The latter died in 1631, leaving
' Burley Ground and the Hault ' to be divided between
his three sons Edward, William and John,88 after
which all records of the estate cease, but it seems to
50 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 39 Eliz.
51 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix, 114.
52 Recov. R. Hil. 6 Chas. I, rot. 53 ;
Chauncy, op. cit. 385 ; Salmon, op. cit.
176 ; Recov. R. Trin. 21 Geo. II, rot.
*73-
58 Ibid. Hil. 51 Geo. Ill, rot. 41.
51 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 385.
55 Burke, Landed Gentry.
56 Ibid.
57 Prospectus First Garden City Co., Ltd.
58 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii.
59 Assize R. 323, m. 40 d.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 3 5 ;
(Ser. 2), lxxx, 13 ; /.. and P. Hen. VIII,
iv, 297 (21).
61 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 166.
68 Assize R. 318, m. 17.
68 Feet of F. Herts. East. 17 Edw. II,
no. 375.
64 Feet of F. 25 Edw. Ill, no. 387.
65 Ibid. 12 Ric. II, no. 103 ; Feud. Aids,
ii, 448 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV,
no. 35.
66 Ibid. (Ser. 2), lxxx, 1 3.
67 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, 297 (21).
68 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. cxxix,
fol. 36.
69 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 38 & 39
Eliz.
70 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix, 1 14.
71 V.C.H. Herts, i, 323. There were
also ij virgates in Wlwenewiche held by
a certain Roger of Peter de Valognes
(ibid. 336A).
,s Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I, no. 45.
73 Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
74 See Add. Chart. 15467 and Harl.
Chart. 45 B. 1.
75 See Brooks in Stevenage. This
seems to be the last mention of Wollen-
wich in connexion with this holding, so
that the Wollenwich held by Robert
Gernon in 1086 is probably coincident
122
with the later Burleigh. There was, how-
ever, other land at Wollenwich attached
to the Argenteins' manor of Wymondley
(see Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. no).
The name seems to be now lost.
76 See Add. Chart. 977.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I, no. 45 d.
78 Chart. R. 4 Edw. Ill, m. 14, no. 28.
79 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R.
428.
80 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
81 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 428.
85 Ibid.
83 Feud. Aids, ii, 448.
84 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 428.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lvii, 4.
86 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 & 4 Phil,
and Mary.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 57 ;
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 210, no. 25.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxiv,
50.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
have subsequently come into the possession of the
Lyttons of Knebworth,89 whose estates it adjoined.
The parish church, the dedication of
CHURCH which is unknown, stands to the north
of Letchworth Hall and about half a
mile to the south of the village. It is built of flint
rubble with freestone dressings, and the roof is tiled.
It consists of a chancel and nave, with a south porch,
and has a bellcote at the west end.90 The original
church of the 12th century is represented by the
nave, while the chancel of the 13th century appears
to have been rebuilt, as it leans to the south. In the
I 5th century the south porch was added and the church
was re-roofed. About 1500 windows were inserted
in the nave, and the bellcote appears to date from
about the same time, though it has been altered ex-
ternally. The church was repaired in the 1 9th century.
The east wall of the chancel appears to have been
rebuilt in the 16th or early in the 17th century,
and the east window of three lights under a square
head is of that date. In the north wall is a 13th-
century lancet window, and there is a low-side window
of about 1350 in the west end of the north wall.
In the south wall are similar windows and a 14th-
century doorway, which has been blocked and can
only be seen on the outside. The chancel arch has
very coarse mouldings, and appears to have been
rebuilt in the I 6th century. The roof is plastered,
but the 15th-century trusses and wind-braces are
visible. The nave has two single-light windows in
the north wall, of about 1500, with tracery in four-
centred heads. The easternmost of these contains
15th-century glass, with a shield of Montfitchet :
Gules three cheverons or and a label azure. There
is also in this wall a blocked doorway, apparently of
14th-century date. At the north-east angle a
thickening of the wall probably indicates the position
of the rood-loft stair, of which the foundations have
recently been discovered. At the same angle is an
early 15th-century niche for an image. The head
is partly buried in the north wall, and the south
jamb has been cut back. The windows in the south
wall are modern, of two lights, in 13th-century style.
The west window, of two cinquefoilcd lights, is of
about 1500, and contains some fragments of mediaeval
glass. The ceiling of the nave is plastered, but the
beams and wall cornices of the 1 5th-century roof are
still in position. The south doorway, of two moulded
orders, with a four-centred head, is of the same date,
and on the door is some ironwork of the 1 3 th century.
The south porch has a two-centred entrance arch of
two moulded orders, with shields in the spandrels ;
the western shield is carved with lozenges, the other
is illegible. There is the base of a stoup in
the north-east corner. The bellcote, which is
cemented externally, has north and south windows
with two-centred heads, and is supported on a four-
centred wooden arch, now painted, which spans the
nave at the west end. Its roof is pyramidal and
tiled. It contains a bell, probably of the 14th
century, by an unknown founder, with the inscription
' Ave Maria Dracia {sic) Plena.'
LETCHWORTH
The bowl of the font is probably of the 14th
century, and there are some 15th-century benches
with broken ends in the nave. A remarkable
monument on the sill of the north-east window of
the nave is a miniature recumbent effigy (2 ft. 2 in.
long by 1 ft. wide) in chain armour and a long surcoat,
holding a hf art in his hands. The figure is of about
1300 and is much defaced. In the chancel is a
brass of a priest in eucharistic vestments, with an
inscription and the date 1475. In the nave is a
brass with the half-length figures of a man and his
wife, with a fragmentary inscription which records
the name of the wife, Isabelle ; the man is said to
be William Overbury, and the date is about 1470.
The plate includes a cup and cover paten of late
16th-century style, but without hall-marks.
The registers are in four volumes : (i) 1695 to
1748; (ii) baptisms 1749 to 1806, marriages
1749 to !754> burials 1749 t0 '804 ; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1807 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1754 to
1805.
There is mention of a priest at
ADVOWSON Letchworth in 1 086." The church
of Letchworth was granted, with
all appurtenances and 12 acres of land in the
parish, to the monastery of St. Albans by William
de Montfitchet and Rohais his wife and William
their son at the beginning of the 12th century.92
The living was not appropriated and is still a
rectory. About 1297 John de Ulseby, rector of
Letchworth, was deprived of his living for his
connexion with Cardinal James Colonna, who
was excommunicated by Boniface VIII for his
opposition to that pope's election.93 The Abbot of
St. Albans then presented Robert de Donnebrugge,
but the Bishop of Lincoln refused to institute him ;
in I 301, however, Pope Boniface VIII sent a mandate
to his successor commanding the institution.9' In
1302 and in 1 320 the king presented by reason of
the voidance of St. Albans " ; on the first occasion
Richard Montfitchet claimed the right, but his claim
was not allowed.96 The advowson remained to the
monastery of St. Albans until its surrender at the end
of I 539," after which it was presumably held for a
while by the Crown. Some time before 1 610 it was
granted to Sir Henry Cock, who died possessed of it
in that year, and was succeeded by his grandson
Henry Lucy, son of his elder daughter Frances and
Edmund Lucy.98 Soon after this the advowson was
acquired by the Lytton family, William Lytton
presenting in 1676," and after this it followed the
descent of the manor until 1903, when it was sold
to Mr. Walter Plimpton, Mr. Henry William Hill and
Major Gilbert E. W. Malet, who form a syndicate.100
In 1544, after the dissolution of St. Albans
Abbey, a pension of 1 3/. from Letchworth rectory
was granted to George Nodes ' of Shephall, and
apparently remained in his family, for in 1643 a
George Nodes died possessed of ' rent from the
rectory of Letchworth,' leaving a son Charles.2
In 1638 the parsonage contained 'one hall, one
pallor, one kichin, two buttries, one milkhouse, one
89 Information kindly supplied by Mr.
E. B. Lindsell.
9U Dimensions : chancel, 19 ft. by 14 ft.;
nave, 32 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.
91 V.C.H. Hertz, i, 323A.
92 Dugdale, Man. ii, 229, 232.
98 Biog. Univerulle, viii, 654.
M Cal. Papal Letters, i, 597.
^ Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 40 5 1317-21,
p. 446.
96 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 246.
97 Dugdale, Man. ii, 207.
123
98 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccrvi, 29.
"Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
100 Information kindly supplied by Mr.
E. B. Lindsell.
1 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xix (1), 278 (2).
' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcclxxi, 91.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
larder, five chambers with a study.' The glebe lands
then consisted of about 45 acres.3
The mission church of ST. MICHAEL in Norton
Way was built before 1910.
A Roman Catholic church dedicated in honour of
St. Hugh was built in Pixmore Way in 1908 ; the
Presbytery adjoins it. There is a meeting of the
Society of Friends at Howgills, Sollershott ; the
Wesleyan Methodists hold services in the Pixmore
Institute, and the Salvation Army in the Co-operative
Hall. There is also a Free Church in Norton Way,
which was built in 1905 and enlarged in 1907.
A chapel existed at Burleigh at the beginning of
the 13th century, and is mentioned in 1 2 1 8 as
attached to the church of Letchworth, and therefore
as belonging to St. Alban's Abbey.4 In 131 I licence
was given to the Broks, lords of Burleigh, for a
chantry in the chapel of Burleigh,5 and the whole
seems to have been subsequently known as Brook's
Chapel or Burleigh's Chapel. It seems to have soon
decayed, for in 1548 it possessed no plate, ornaments,
goods or chattels beyond the tithes of the land
attached. The incumbent was then William ap Rise.6
Upon its dissolution the site and lands pertaining
were granted in 1 5 5 3 to John and William Dodington
and their heirs,7 but seem to have come not long
after into the possession of John Godfrey or Cowper,
who held the manor of Burleigh (q.v.) and died in
1565. He held the 'tithe called Brokes Chappell
or Burleves Chappell ' of the queen as of her manor of
East Greenwich in socage,8 and left it to his younger
son Francis, who died in 1 63 1 seised of ' Burley
Ground, le Hault, and Brooks Chappell,' which he
had settled on his younger sons William and John.9
There are no endowed charities. The children
attend the school at Willian.
GREAT MUNDEN
Mundene(xi cent.); Mundun, Mundon (xiii cent.).
The parish of Great Munden has an area of 3,758
acres, of which 1,895! acres are arable land, 92 7 1
permanent grass and 97 wood.1 The elevation of
the parish is for the most part well over 300 ft., and
in the north-west and along the eastern border of
the parish it is over 400 ft. The village of Great
Munden lies on the road which branches off west-
wards from Ermine Street at Puckeridge ; the road
from Little Munden to Westmill crosses it in the
centre of the village, and passes through the hamlet of
Nasty to the north of it. The church of St. Nicholas,
with Munden Bury adjoining, is at the west end of
the village, and the rectory about three-quarters of a
mile further along the road to the south. The old
rectory, with the remains of a moat, is about the same
distance due west of the village. In 1 606 it is described
as a house consisting of eleven bays built of timber
and covered all (excepting one bay) with tile, ' five
bayes being chambred over and boorded, these five
bayes being contrived into two heights or stories and
the whole building disposed into 1 7 roomes vizt.
the halle, buttrey, parlour, three bedchambers below
and six chambers above (the dayrie having a cornloft
over it boorded), kitchin and three other roomes
adioyning.' There was also a dove-house within the
moat and a bridge with a gate of timber and boards
over the moat. The glebe lands consisted of about
53 acres."
Near the old rectory is an early 17th-century
cottage, with weather-boarded timber framing and
thatched roof. Brockholds Farm, with the remains
of a moat, is on the eastern boundary of the parish,
a short distance north-east of Levens Green. There
are remains of homestead moats also at Mill Farm and
Rush Green. Rowney Priory, with the site of the small
house for Benedictine nuns, founded in 1 1 64 by Conan
Duke of Britanny, is in the extreme south. The
present house is modern, but there is a wall within it
about 3 ft. 6 in. thick, faced with flint, which may have
been a part of the priory. In the grounds a stone
coffin and a stone mortar with two handles have been
found. Potter's Green is a little to the north.
About a mile and a half south of the village is High
Trees Farm, an early 17th-century timber and plaster
house of two stories with later additions. It still
retains its original brick chimney stacks. Within, the
hall is now divided into two rooms, the south end
being cut off by an oak panelled screen. Much
original oak panelling, an oak staircase and an old
kitchen fireplace still remain.
The nearest station is Braughing, 2| miles east, on
the Buntingford branch of the Great Eastern railway.
The parish lies on a subsoil of chalk, and there are
chalk-pits in use west of the old parsonage and west
of Levens Green.
The inclosure award was made in 1852, with
an amendment in 1858. Both are in the custody of
the clerk of the peace.3
In 1888 a detached portion of Little Munden was
added to this parish.'
In the time of King Edmund GREAT
MANORS MUNDEN or MUNDEN FURNIVALL
belonged to one Ethelgifu, who by her
will of 944-6 demised it to one Elfwold for his life-
time.4 Immediately before the Norman Conquest it
was held by Eddeva the Fair.6 William the Conqueror
gave it to Count Alan of Britanny, in whose time,
it was assessed at 7 hides and half a virgate.7 The
overlordship of Munden Furnivall remained in the
hands of the subsequent holders of the honour and
earldom of Richmond.8
The earliest sub-tenant recorded is Gerard de
Furnivall, who died in Jerusalem at the beginning of
the reign of Henry III. The manor came into the
king's hands by his death, presumably owing to the
minority of the heir, and was granted, saving the
dower of Gerard's widow, to Lady Nichola de Haye,
3 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 185-7.
4 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 232.
5 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Dalderby,
fol. 24.3 d.
6 Chant. Cert. 20, no. 64 ; 27, no. 9.
7 Pat. 6 Edw. VI, pt. v, m. 10.
8 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 57.
9 Ibid, cccclxiv, 50.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
- Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 297-9.
3 Blue Sk. Inch Awards, 64.
{ Local Govt. Bd. Order 22217.
124
6 Thorpe, Dipl. Angl. Ae-ve Sax. 497 ;
Matt. Paris, Chron. Majora (Rolls Ser.),
vi, 13.
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319A. 'Ibid.
8 Assize R. 318, m. 22 d. ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 9 Edw. Ill, no. 7 ; (Ser. 2), li, 50.
Letchworth Hall from the East
'■•■•/ ' ' jssm
■
Lf.tchworth Church from the North
BROADWATER HUNDRED
who had been an ardent supporter of King John
against the barons, 'for her
support in our castle of Lin-
coln, for as long as it pleases
us.' 9 Later in the same reign
Munden was again in the
possession of the Furnivalls,
and in I 242 Christiana,
widow of another Gerard de
Furnivall, was granted the
custody of his heir.10 Chris-
tiana's son Gerard lived until
almost the end of the century,
dying some time between £"'"■
1290 and 1302.11 He had
two daughters, Christiana de Aylesford and Lora or
Furnivall. Argent a
bend between six martlets
GREAT MUNDEN
had the title of Lord Furnivall and was descended
from Thomas de Furnivall, brother of Gerard de
Furnivall and uncle of Lora and Christiana.15 In
1 46 1 it was held by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
and Lord Furnivall,1" who had married the heiress of
the Furnivalls, and the manor continued to be held
of his heirs, in socage, for the rent of a pair of gloves.17
In 1285 Gerard de Furnivall had created a further
sub-tenancy by conveying the manor to John de
Kirkeby, Bishop of Ely, for the yearly rent of a pair
of gilt spurs or 6a,.ls John died in 1290, and was
succeeded by his brother William de Kirkeby,19 who
lived until 1302. At this time a third of the manor
was in the hands of Mathania, the second wife of
John de Cobham,20 but the remainder passed on the
division of William's inheritance between his sisters
Great Munden : Old Farm
Loretta, widow of John de Ulvesflete," the manor of
Munden Furnivall being apportioned to the younger."
Both Lora and Christiana had descendants, Gerard
de Ulvesflete descendant of the former, and John de
Aylesford, a minor, descendant of the latter, both
being alive about I362.1' During the hundred years
following, however, both lines apparently died out,
for by 146 1 this mesne lordship of Great Munden
had passed to another branch of the family, who
to Margaret, wife of Walter de Osevill,21 with the
reversion of Mathania's third and the third held in
dower by Christine de Kirkeby, William's widow."
In 1304 Walter and Margaret de Osevill settled
Munden Furnivall upon their sons John and Henry
and the heirs of Henry.23 Henry de Osevill died
before 1334," when his widow Alice held one third
and his brother John, who survived him until 1335,
held the other two thirds.25 Eventually the whole
9 Close, 3 Hen. Ill, m. 9 ; Dugdale,
Baronage, i, 598.
10 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 265.
11 Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 188 ; Cal.
Pat. 1281-92, p. 94; Chan. Inq. p.m.
18 Edw. I, no. 37 ; 30 Edw. I, no. 31.
12 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R. 84.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 31.
14 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 84.
15 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 28.
17 Ibid. 18 Edw. IV, no. 4;.
18 Feet of F. Herts. 13 Edw. I, no. 157.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. I, no. 37.
80 Ibid. 30 Edw. I, no. 31. This was
pparently a right of dower.
125
Abbr
Rot. Orig. (Rec.
Com.), ii,
Edw. I,
m the Plea
22 Feet of F. Herts. 32
no. 388.
23 Ibid. ; Wrottesley, Ped.fr
R. 14, 399.
24 Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 578.
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. Ill, no. 7.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
came to John son of Henry de Osevill. Cecily his
daughter and heiress married Guy de Boys,26 who
was holding the manor in right of his wife in 1350.27
He died before 1370, in which year Cecily was
holding it alone."'8 After her death Munden Furnivall
seems to have been held by John and Agnes
Durham," who conveyed it in 1389 to Margaret,
daughter of Cecily and Guy de Boys, and her
husband Robert Dykeswell.30 Margaret married
secondly Henry Hayward,3' and thirdly, before 1419,
Walter Pejon or Pegeon.33 She was succeeded by
Thomas Hayward or Howard, her son by her second
husband.33 Thomas died shortly before 1447, when
the manor of Great Munden was conveyed by
trustees to Sir John Fray, chief baron of the Ex-
chequer.34 He also made himself secure against the
claims of various heirs of Thomas Howard.3'' In
1460, however, he was obliged to sue Simon Rode
and Joan his wife for illegal entry by force into the
manor. Joan claimed that she was the heir of
Mabel Grimbaud, one of the sisters of Walter de
Osevill, upon whom the manor had been entailed
failing the heirs of Henry de Osevill.36 The claim
was not successful, for Sir John Fray died seised of
Great Munden in the following year.37 His widow
Agnes, who married secondly Sir John Say, held the
manor until her death in 1478, when it passed by
grant of the trustees to her second daughter Mar-
garet, the wife of John Leynham or Plomer.3' Some
years later Munden Furnivall came into the possession
of Sir William Say (son of Sir John Say by an earlier
wife), who had married Margaret Lynham's elder
sister Elizabeth, then the widow of Sir Thomas
Waldegrave. Though he is said to have acquired it
by purchase,39 it is thus possible that it came to him
by failure of Margaret's heirs. He died seised of it
in 1529,40 and it descended in the same manner as his
other lands (v. s. Benington) in Hertfordshire until
it came to the Crown upon the death of Lady Anne
Parr.41
In 1572 the manor was leased by the Crown to
William Lord Burghley for a term of thirty-one
years from 1 5 95, " which lease was renewed to Sir
Robert Cecil in 1 600 for twenty-one years.41 The
latter died in 161 2, bequeathing the lease of Great
Munden to William, Earl of Cranbourne, with
remainder to James Lord Stanley and his wife and
Robert Stanley, his brother.44 It reverted to the
Crown on the expiration of the Tease, and is said to
have been granted to Charles Prince of Wales in
5620, but the grant does not seem to be extant.45
In 1628 it was granted to Edward Ditchfield and
others,46 and is said to have been sold later to Edward
Baker of Bayford-
bury. Party ermine and
gules a greyhound running
between two bars in-
•vecked •with two quatre-
foils in the chief and
another in the foot all
countercoloured.
Arris.47 Thomas Arris, his son,43 sold the manor in
I 700 to Robert Hadsley,49 whose son Robert sold it to
Sir John Jennings in 1723.60
In 1789 it was purchased
from his son George Jennings
by William Baker of Bayford-
bury,5' in whose family it
descended 52 until it was pur-
chased by Messrs. Paine,
Brettell S: Porter, solicitors,
in 1900.
The park of Great Munden
is first mentioned in 1283,
when Gerard de Furnivall
complained that certain per-
sons had repeatedly broken
his park at Munden Furnivall,
hunted therein and carried
away deer.33 In 1302 the
park is described as having an
area of 40 acres 54 ; later it
seems to have been called Fludgate Park, and was
leased with the manor to the Cecils under that
name." This name occurs again in 1723 and also the
form Flutgate Park,56 which does not occur elsewhere.
It seems to have been subsequently disparked.
In 1275 Gerard de Furnivall is said to have
appropriated free warren to himself in Munden
where he ought not to have had it57 ; in 1295, how-
ever, William de Kirkeby received a grant of free
warren in due form.58 The grant was renewed in
1320 to John and Henry de Osevill and their heirs.69
In 1397 one John Potter was fined 20^. because he
' dug the land of the lord in the free warren of the
lord and put nets in the warren and took there
conies and carried them away to the damage of the
lord.'60 The warren is mentioned again in 1723.61
In 1275 the lord of the manor of Munden
Furnivall possessed view of frankpledge, gallows and
amendment of the assize of bread and ale.63 John de
Kirkeby, Bishop of Ely, claimed there in 1287
pillory, tumbrel, infangentheof and outfangentheof in
addition.63 His brother held view of frankpledge at
Whitsuntide and courts every three weeks.64 View of
frankpledge is mentioned in connexion with the manor
in a deed of I 72 3. 65 False imprisonment in the stocks
was complained of against the bailiff of Sir William
Say early in the reign of Henry VIII.66 The lord
also possessed the liberty of a pinfold for sheep.'7
There was a mill in Great Munden in 1086.68 A
windmill is mentioned in I290b9 and after.70 There
is still a windmill in the south of the parish, a little
to the east of the road from Little Munden.
1 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 399.
Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 7.
1 Ibid. no. 8.
1 Ibid. no. 10 ; Early Chan. Proc.
. 5, no. 109.
1 Close, 12 Ric. II, m. i6d.
Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 250.
Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V,
1954 Hen. IV, no. 6.
Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 399.
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 465.
Feet of F. Herts. 26 Hen. VI,
137, 138.
Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 399.
Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 28.
Ibid. 18 Edw. IV, no. 45.
Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hand.
' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. 578, fol.
<i;FeetofF. Herts. Hil. 33 Hen. VIII;
3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. xii.
1 Ibid. 15 Eliz. pt. i.
1 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 598-1601, p. 380.
P.C.C. 49 Fenner.
Chauncy, op. cit. 341.
; Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxv, B, m. 16.
Chauncy, loc. cit.
Ibid.
1 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 2 Will. III.
1 Close, 10 Geo. I, pt. xi, no. 21.
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 29 Geo. III.
Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 392 ; Cussans,
cit. Broadwater flund. 140.
Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 94.
Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 31.
126
55 Pat. 15 Eliz. pt. i ; 7 Jas. I, pt. iii.
56 Close, 10 Geo. I, pt. xi, no. 21.
57 Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 188.
5S Chart R. 24 Edw. I, no. 23, m. 3.
59 Ibid. 13 Edw. II, no. 16.
60 Ct. R. portt. 178, no. 11.
61 Close, 10 Geo. I, pt. xi, no. 21.
« Rot. Hnnd. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
M Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 31.
65 Close, 10 Geo. I, pt. ii, no. 21.
66 Star Chamb. Proc. Hen. VIII, bdh-.
28, no. 108.
07 Pat. 1 5 Eliz. pt. i ; Close, 10 Geo. I,
pt. xi, no. 21.
68 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319*.
69 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 EJw. I, no. 37.
7u Ibid. 30 Edw. I, no. 31.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
BROKHOLES or BROCKHOLDS was a small
manor, held of the manor of Great Munden 71 ; in
1550 it was said to be held in socage for a rent
of 36/. It owed suit of court to Great Munden."
A Geoffrey de Brokhole occurs in a Watton fine of
1 258-9, 73 but the earliest to be mentioned in Great
Munden is the Geoffrey de Brokhole who in 1327
represented Hertfordshire in Parliament.71 In 1338
one Thomas de Burnham was summoned to answer
an indictment 'that he took Alice, wife of Geoffrey
de Brokhole, and her goods at Munden Furnivall and
carried them away.' 75 Geoffrey seems to have been
succeeded by another Geoffrey Brokhole, who was
Sheriff of Essex and Herts, in 1385, and is mentioned
in 1397.76 His widow Ellen died in 1419, leaving
as her heirs a daughter Joan, widow of Thomas
Aspall, and a grandson John Sumpter, son of her
second daughter Mary,77 between whom the manor
was divided.
John Sumpter's moiety passed at his death in 1420
to his sisters Christine and Ellen,78 of whom the elder
died without issue.79 Ellen, who thus became possessed
of the half-manor, married James Bellewe or Bellers,80
and later, about 1439, Ralph Holt,81 in whose family
the moiety descended.
Joan, the widow of Thomas Aspall, to whom the
other half was apportioned, married Robert Arme-
burgh,68 and lived until 1443. Robert survived her
and continued to hold the half-manor, with remainder
to John Palmer, Joan sister of John Palmer, and
Philip Thornbury.83 Before 1452 it had come to
Philip Thornbury, for in that year he and Reginald
Armeburgh made an arrangement with Ralph Holt,
to whom they owed £1 oo,84 which seems to have been
the final step in the transfer of the estate to the latter.
Ralph Holt thus became possessed of the whole manor,
which descended in his family until 1 543, when
Thomas Holt conveyed it to John Gardiner.80 John
died in 1550, leaving a son Thomas,86 after which
Brokholes descended in the Gardiner family until
1742," when it was sold by John Gardiner to Francis
Welles.88 Eventually it seems to have become merged
in the main manor. The moated farm-house called
Brockholds probably represents the manor-house.
GJRNONS or HENRT-AT-DJNES, of which no
trace now remains, probably took its name from the
family who originally held it, for a John Garnon
appears in a list of the tenants of Great Munden
manor in 1 3 46.89 In 1 4 1 7 there is mention of Henry
atte Dane in Great Munden,90 who seems to have
been succeeded by Robert atte Dane.91 In 1473
Garnons was merely called a tenement ; it was then
GREAT MUNDEN
in the possession of John Humberston.99 In 1526
John Humberston, perhaps the son of the last-named
John, conveyed Garnons, then called a manor, to
William Hamond and others.03 Sixty years later
another William Hamond was holding it,91 and sold
it about 1600 or later to Sir John Watts.95 The
latter died seised of it in 16 16, leaving a son John,06
and it apparently remained in his family, for in 1665
Garnons was held by Richard Watts,97 who had
married Catherine Werden.98 His daughter Katharine,
to whom the manor descended, married Charles first
Earl of Dunmore,99 who in 1 709 conveyed it to
Sir John Werden, his wife's uncle.1"0 Sir John's heir
was his son John, who died without male heirs in
175 8.1 In that year Garnons was sold by William
and Caroline Louisa Kerr to Francis Fryer,' which
suggests that it had either been previously sold to the
Kerrs or that they were Sir John Werden's executors.
Next year Francis Fryer sold it to Roteit Ireland,3
who died soon after, leaving a widow Anne and three
sons, the eldest of whom was William Ireland, upon
whom Garnons was settled after the death of his
mother.4 After this settlement in 1786 there is no
further record of Garnons.
In I 55 1 the buildings and lands of the dissolved
priory of ROff'NE}' were granted to Thomas Bill,5
who is said to have devised them to his daughter
Margaret and her husband Michael Harris,6 but if so
they cannot have held them long, for before 1566
they had been acquired by Richard Smythe.7 In that
year he sold the chapel and lands for £20 to John
Ruse, who sold them for £25 to Cyrus Ruse. In
1 569 the last-named complained that Richard Smythe
refused to give up the documents connected with the
lands. Richard Smythe replied that the bargain had
never been completed, and that Cyrus had entered
into the premises and destroyed his grass.'
Later Rowney is said to have been sold to John
Fleming.9 In 1641 Thomas and Richard Fleming
brought a suit against Henry Birchenhead, ' by whose
unconscionable practices they had been deprived of
the chantry house in Rowney and other property.' 10
In the following year, however, Thomas Fleming sold
Rowney to Henry Birchenhead,11 in whose family it
descended for a while. It is said to have been con-
veyed to Thomas Jenner, whose daughter Anne
married Francis Browne,13 who possessed it in 1700.13
Their son Thomas Browne is said to have devised it
to Charles and Robert Jenner, of whom the latter
conveyed the whole to Thomas Marlborough, whose
second daughter Elizabeth possessed it in 1821. She
was married to James Cecil Graves of Baldock, and
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V, no. 19 ;
4 Hen. VI, no. 6 ; 22 Hen. VI, no. 28 ;
(Ser. 2), xciii, 107.
72 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 11.
73 Feet of F. Herts. 43 Hen. Ill,
no. 502.
74 Salmon, op. cit. 359.
75 Ca!. fat. 1338-40, p. 84.
76 Ct. R. portf." 178, no. n.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V, no. 19.
78 Ibid. 4 Hen. VI, no. 6.
79 Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 536.
60 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 1 5 Hen. VI.
61 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 9, no. 356.
63 Morant, loc. cit. ; Feet of F. Div.
Co. 22 Hen. VI, no. 13.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI,
no. 28.
84 Close, 31 Hen. VI, m. 4 d.
85 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 5 Hen. VIII.
86 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xciii, 107.
87 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 74, no. 6 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 33 Chas. II;
Mich. 4 Geo. I.
88 Ibid. East. 1 5 Geo. II.
89 Rental and Surv. Herts. R. 280.
90 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 14.
91 Ibid.
92 Ibid. no. 288.
93 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 8 Hen. VIII.
94 Ibid. Mich. 28 & 29 Eli*.
95 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccliv,
•35-
96 Ibid.
97 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 17 Chas. II.
98 Doughs' Scots Peerage (ed. Paul), iii,
384-5.
99 Ibid.
127
100 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
8 Anne.
1 Burke, Extinct Baronetage.
2 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 32 Geo. II.
3 Ibid. Hil. 32 Geo. II.
4 Close, 26 Geo. Ill, pt. xxii, no. 9 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 26 Geo. Ill ;
Recov. R. Hil. 26 Geo. Ill, rot. 354.
5 Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. vi.
6 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 393. They
held the rectorial tithes in 1581 and as
late as 1596.
7 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 149, no. 48.
8 Ibid.
9 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 393.
10 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, App. i, 21 2.
11 Close, 18 Chas. I, pt. xx, no. 17.
19 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 393.
18 Chauncy, op. cit. 342
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
had a daughter Mary." The subsequent owners are
not known. Michael William B.ilfe, the Irish com-
poser, is said to have resided at Rowney for a while,
and to have died there in 1870.15 It is now the
residence of Mr. James Henrv Dugd.ile, J. P.
The parish church of ST. NICHOLAS
CHURCH lies to the west of the village, and con-
sists of a chancel, nave, south aisle,
south porch and west tower.16 It is built of flint
rubble with stone dressings ; pudding-stone occurs in
the foundations. The tower is plastered and the
roofs are tiled.
The nave and chancel were built in the 12th
century and the south aisle in the middle of the 14th
Great Munden Church from the South-east
century. The tower dates from the latter part of
the 1 5th century, and at the same time, or it may be
in the first years of the 1 6th century, the chancel
arch was widened southwards. The porch is modern,
and the repairs of the 19th century include con-
siderable restoration of the south arcade.
The east window of the chancel is modern, of piscina and the south doorway are two moulded
three lights, with flowing tracery in a pointed head. ogee-headed recesses of about 1350. Above them is
In the north wall is a narrow single-light window of a three-light window with a four-centred head, and
original 12th-century date, having a round head and there is a similar one to the west of the south door ;
widely splayed jambs. It is much repaired externally all but the jambs of these windows is modern.
with cement. In the south wall is a 14th-century
doorway with a pointed head, almost wholly restored,
and to the west of it a two-light square- headed
window of the 15th century. The wagon roof is
modern. The chancel arch is four-centred and flat,
and is supported on the north side by the respond of
the original 12th-century arch, which dates from
about I I 20 and has circular angle-shafts on the east
and west sides and a rudely voluted capital with a
square abacus and a moulded base. On the south
side the chancel arch dies into the south wall of the
chancel, and thus is considerably southward of the
axis of the chancel and nave.
In the north wall of the nave are three three-light
I 5th-century windows ; the
first has a four-centred head,
the second is similar but
with tracery, and the third
has a segmental head. All
are much repaired. Between
the two easternmost windows
is an image niche of the I 5th
century with an ogee
crocketed head, and retain-
ing traces of decoration in
blue, red and gold. The
north doorway, which is now
blocked, stands between the
two westernmost windows,
and is of the 12th century,
with a round head. Exter-
nally it has a large edge-roll
supported by engaged shafts
with cushion capitals en-
riched with incised ornament.
The abaci are splayed and
the bases moulded. The
nave arcade is modern, with
a few old stones. The west
respond is of the first half of
the 14th century. At the
west end is a 14th-century
door opening into the tower.
The roof of the nave is of
the late 15 th century sup-
ported on carved corbels.
The east window of the
south aisle is original ; it is
of three lights with flowing
tracery. Beneath it stands
a stone reredos discovered
during repairs in 1865 ; it
consists of a central trefoil-
headed panel, with a smaller one on either side.
The head of the central panel has been cut down,
destroying the proportions of the design. A piscina
of the 1 4th century is in the south wall at the east
end, with an ogee trefoiled head. Occupying nearly
the whole length of the south wall between the
14 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 393. Is Dimensions : chancel, 22 ft. 8 in.
15 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater HunJ. by 18 ft. 7 in. ; nave, 44 ft. 9 in. by
142. 21 ft. 9 in. ; south aisle, 46 ft. 5 in. by
128
1 1 ft. 3 in. ; south porch, 7 ft. 6 in. by
7 ft. ; and tower, 1 1 ft. 6 in. square.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
The south door, which is two-centred of two moulded
orders, is original. The west window, which is
much restored, also dates from the middle of the
14th century.
The tower is of three receding stages, and is sur-
mounted by an embattled parapet and a small needle
spire. The string below the parapet has grotesque
gargoyles, much defaced, at the angles. The west
window appears to be modern. There is an original
single light on the south side of the second stage. In the
north face of the bell-chamber is a two-light window
with a quatrefoil in the head. The windows in the
west and south faces are similar but much decayed.
There is an early 17th-century oak pulpit of
hexagonal shape, carved with two stages of arcading
and enriched with strap ornament. The base is
modern. In the chancel are early 16th-century
stalls and bench ends, some of them carved with the
initials R. K.
In the churchyard is the octagonal base of an old
churchyard cross.
Of the six bells, the treble is by John Warner
& Sons, 1882 ; the second, inscribed 'Jesus be our
spede,' 1 62 1, with a shield inclosing an arrow
between the letters R.O. ; the third, ' Praise the
Lord,' 1 62 1 ; the fourth, 'God save the King,'
1621 ; the fifth, ' Sonoro sono meo sono deo,'
1 62 1, all by Robert Oldfeild ; and the sixth, by John
Warner & Sons, 1 88 1.
The plate includes a cup of 1696.
The registers are contained in four books : (i) all
entries 1558 to 1682 ; (ii) baptisms 1678 to 1787,
burials 1678 to 1787, marriages 1687 to 1753;
(iii) baptisms 1788 to 1 81 2, burials 1788 to 1 812 ;
(iv) marriages 1788 to I 81 2.
The advowson of the church was
ADVOWSON from the earliest times in the pos-
session of the lords of the manor.
LITTLE MUNDEN
In 1285 it was conveyed with the manor to John de
Kirkeby,17 and followed the descent of the manor
until it came to the Crown at the death of Lady
Anne Parr.18 In 1604 it was granted for one turn
to Thomas Nicholson,19 and in 1688 to John and
George Churchill and Thomas Docwray.20 With
the exception of these two cases the Crown has
presented down to the present date.21
In 1 58 1 and as late as 1596 the tithes of sheaves,
grain and hay were held by Michael and Margaret
Harris.22 A hundred years later it appeared that only
a few of the lands paid tithe, and that some had been
commuted for money.-'3 In 1723 and 1789 some
of them at any rate were held by the lord of the
manor.24
A certificate for a meeting-place of Protestant
Dissenters in Great Munden was taken out in 1 700. -b
There is now a Gospel Hall at Levens Green.
In the parliamentary returns of
CHARITIES 1786 it is stated that a donor un-
known gave a rent-charge of £5 4/.
to twelve poor persons. The annuity was redeemed
in 1904 by the transfer to the official trustees of
£208 consols, the dividends of which are applied
in pursuance of a scheme 19 May 1905 for aged
and deserving poor resident in the parish, with a
preference for widows.
In the same returns it is also stated that a donor
unknown gave land for bread for the poor, in respect
of which the parish is in possession of 1 3 a. ir. 34 p.,
producing about £11 a year, which is applied in
the distribution of sheets and towels to about fifty
cottagers.
In 1902 Anne Dawson, by will proved at London
14 June, left £160 IS'- consols, the annual dividends,
amounting to £4 os. \d., to be applied for the
benefit of poor widows at Christmas. The stock is
held by the official trustees.
LITTLE MUNDEN
Mundane (xi cent.).
The parish of Little Munden has an area of 1,774
acres, of which nearly three quarters are arable land,
400 or 500 acres being permanent grass, and over
100 acres wood.1 The elevation of the parish is for
the most part over 300 ft., except a diagonal strip
from north-west to south-east where a slight depres-
sion is caused by the Old Bourne, at the south-eastern
end of which is situated the hamlet of Dane End.
Little Munden Church and School, with the Lordship
Farm and one or two cottages, are situated half-way
between Dane End and Green End, of which the
latter is about half a mile north-west of the church.
The road from Watton to Great Munden passes
across the parish ; at Dane End it is joined by the
road from Sacombe, and further on roads turn off
eastwards to Potter's Green and Levens Green in
Great Munden, and northwards to Haultwick, a
hamlet in the north of Little Munden parish.
Libury Hall, now a German Industrial Home, is
situated in a north-eastern projection of the parish.
The rectory is some distance west of Dane End.
The parish lies on a subsoil of chalk ; there is a
chalk-pit near Lordship's Farm, and a disused one
in the west of the parish. The nearest station is
Standon, 4 miles east, on the Buntingford branch of
the Great Eastern railway.
The inclosure award was combined with that of
Great Munden. ,a
The following field-names occur in the 14th
century : Newelond, Attresfeld, Wykefeld, Brache,
Wydiwellefeld and Dymaunfeld2; and in the 15th
century Cumbes Wood, Lynleyze, Hapsele, Pond-
feld, Reyneres Croft, Chosescroft, Cuttedenestrate,
Crowedenefeld and Velawesfeld.3
Previous to the Norman Conquest
MANORS LITTLE MUNDEN or MUNDEN
FREV1LL was held by Lewin, a man of
E.irl Harold. Before 1086 it was granted to Walter
the Fleming, and was then assessed at 5 hides and
17 Feet of F. Herts. 1 3 Edw. I,
no. 157.
18 See references under manor.
19 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 131.
20 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
al Ibid. ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 660-1,
p. 67; 1661-2, p. 630; 1675-6,
p. 429 ; Bacon, Liber Regis j Clergy List
(I9oS).
'" Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 23 & 24
Eliz. ; Div. Co. East. 38 Eliz.
" Ex-ch. Dep. Herts. Hil. 33 &
34 Chas. II, no. 1.
129
** Close, 10 Geo. I, pt. ii, no. 21
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 29 Geo. III.
25 Urwick, op. cit. 598.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agnc. (1905)
la Blue M. Inch Awards, 64.
* Cal. Pal. 1338-40, p. 154.
3 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 109, no.
17
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
I virgate.4 The descendants of Walter the Fleming
held the manor of Wahull or Odell in Bedfordshire,
from which they took their name.5 The overlordship
of Little Munden remained in this family.6 In 1304
it was held for the service of a knight's fee and 61.
paid to the warden of Rockingham Castle ; in I 385
the payment was 10s.'
The manor was granted by the Wahulls to the
family of Scales, though at what date is not known.
William de Scales was lord of the manor in
Il8l,s and is mentioned again in ilSo,.9 He was
succeeded by his son Richard de Scales before I 208. Iu
Richard died about 123 1, leaving a daughter Lucy,
whose wardship was purchased for 200 marks by
Baldwin de Frevill, who afterwards married her."
From this family the manor took its name of Munden
Frevill. Baldwin was succeeded before 1278 by
Richard de Frevill," whose son John inherited the
Thomas Beaufort, admiral towards the north and east,
on the safe-custody of the
sea."9 In 144S one Richard
Whitwik was ' witholden to
serve Sir Philip Thornbury
and dame Margret his wife in
the offices of lardyner, catour
and cook,' during their lives.
He was to receive 20s. yearly
with clothing, and a tenement
at Pottersgrene called ' Bathis,'
for which he was to yield
them yearly a ' roseflour ' and
suit of court. He was also
to have reasonable fuel in the
east park, 'except for bakyng
or brewyng to chepe.'20
Sir Philip Thornbury died about 1457," leaving a
Thornbury. Party
seivise or and argent
lion azure ivitli fwo
bends gules athwart Aim.
fi
Lordship Farm, Little Mundin
manor in 1299." John de Frevill died in 1 3 1 z,
leaving a son John,14 who died before I 377. In that
year his widow Ellen sold the manor to Philip
Wyndok and William and Joan Hosell,'3 who in
1379-80 conveyed it to Sir John Thornbury.16
Sir John died about 1396, having settled the manor
on his son Philip," and left a widow Nanerina.
Philip settled Little Munden on himself and his wife
Margaret.1' In 1404 he went to sea on the king's
service 'in the company of the king's brother
daughter Margaret, who was married to Nicholas
Appleyard.22 The manor was settled on Margaret's
daughter Elizabeth, wife of William Bastard, with
remainder to Thomas and John, sons of Richard
Thornbury." In 1481 Elizabeth Bastard released
the manor to trustees,2* and in i486 John Thornbury
did the same,25 apparently for the purpose of a con-
veyance to Sir William Say, into whose possession
Little Munden came. He died seised of it in 1 529,"
after which it descended to his heirs in the same
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, 328A.
5 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Edw. I, no. 16 ;
52 Edw. I, no. 45 ; 6 Edw. II, no. 54 ;
Close, 6 Edw. II, m. 22 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Ric. II, no. 144.
8 Pipe R. 27 Hen. II, m. 7.
s Ibid.
10 Rot. de Oblat. et Fin. (Rec. Com.),
426,
11 Banks, Dormant and Extinct Peerages,
, 177'
12 Assize R. 323.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Edw. I, no. 16.
14 Ibid. 6 Edw. II, no. 54.
15 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 2572, 2575.
1,1 Ibid. B 2i76.
" Ibid. B 2574.
18 Ibid. B 2567, 2569, 2570, 2571,
19 Cal. Par. 1401-c, p. 194.
30 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 1172.
I3O
21 Will, P.C.C. 1 1 Stokton.
22 Feet of F. Herts. 35 Hen. VI,
no. 181.
» Ibid.
21 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5236.
25 Ibid. D 439 and 795, In the last
of these documents Philip Thornbury is
called the grandfather of John. This
probably should be great-uncle, as there
is no record that Philip had a son.
26 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
BROADWATER HUNDRED little munden
manner as Benington S7 (q.v.), and came with that
manor to the Crown. It was leased to Thomas
Crompton in 1 594-5 for twenty-one years.28 In
1 602 Thomas Crompton conveyed his lease to Michael
Woodcock,"9 who is said to have settled it upon his
son Michael on his marriage with Dorothy Woodhall.30
He was holding it in 1606,31 but sold it in 1607 to
Peter Vaulore,3' who conveyed it in 16 14 to his son-
in-law Sir Charles Caesar and his daughter Anne.33
The title, however, was defective, probably because only
the twenty-one years' lease of the manor had been sold
by Thomas Crompton, which term would run out
about this time. Finally the manor was bought by
Edmund Woodhall, brother of Dorothy Woodcock.34
He died seised of it in 1639, leaving two sons
Edmund and John.*1 Edmund died without issue,
and in 1675 Little Munden was held by his brother
Robert Thornton Heysham,40 and his grandson of
the same name,41 who in 18 16 sold the manor to
Nathaniel Snell Chauncy.4- In 1844 the latter
conveyed it to his brother Charles, from whom it
passed upon his death in 1866 to his daughter
Elizabeth and her husband Henry Edward Surtees.43
It was acquired about 1895 by Mrs. Edwin Prodgers,
the present owner.
Previous to 1385 the tenants of Little Munden did
suit at the sheriff's tourn held at Broadwater at
Easter and Michaelmas ; in that year, however, view
of frankpledge was granted to John de Thornbury,44
for which he was to pay zos. yearly.43 This grant was
confirmed in 1 439,40 and the view is mentioned as
late as 18 16."
L1BVRT (Stuterehela, Sutreshela, xi cent. ; Leigh-
bury, Lyebery, xv cent.). — Before the Conquest and
Little Munden Church from the North-east
John,36 from whom it passed to his youngest sister
Mary Thornton. She had two daughters Mary and
Jane, who possessed the manor in 1700,37 and who
both in succession married Robert Heysham. Robert
and Jane had a son Robert,38 who died unmarried in
1734, bequeathing Little Munden to his kinsman
Giles Thornton on condition of his assuming the
name of Heysham.39 He was succeeded by his son
at the time of the Domesday Survey Stuterehele, as
Libury was then called, was a large estate of almost
10 hides, but was very much divided up in owner-
ship. In the time of King Edward Lewin held about
2 J hides48 ; two sokemen held of him 1 hide 1 vir-
gate 10 acres, rendering an avera (a carrying service)
or $\d. yearly to the king's sheriff49 ; Torchil held
of him 1 hide and half a virgate, and Walter 1 1 acres.6"
" Pat. 29 Eli*, pt. vii.
JS Ibid. 37 Eliz. pt. x.
B Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 44 Eliz.
30 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
149.
31 Hern. Get; and Antiq. iii, 60.
•» Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 las. I.
33 Ibid. East. 12 Jas. I.
84 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
149.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxx, 75.
3C Recov. R. Trin. 27 Chas. II, rot.
160. 37 Chauncy, op. cit. 330.
"8 Cussans, loc. cit.
39 Will, P.C.C. 148 Ockham.
40 Ibid.
41 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 397 ; Recov.
R. Trin. 8 Geo. II, rot. 50 ; Mich.
31 Geo. Ill, rot. 21.
42 Feet of F. Herts. East. 56 Geo. III.
43 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
150.
x3i
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. Ric. II, file 403,
no. 38 ; Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 68.
45 Chart. R. 9 & 10 Ric. II, m. 14,
no. 20.
46 Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 350.
47 Feet of F. Herts. East. 56 Geo. HI.
4S Half a hide was also held by a man
of Lewin Scoua, who was probably the
same.
4y V.C.H. Herts, i, 309a.
50 Ibid. 328*.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Asgar the staller had 2 hides, which were held by
Almar, rendering 2 averae or Sd. to the king's
sheriff.51 Elmer of Benington possessed I hide
3^ virgates, of which Leueron held a hide, Alwin
3 virgates, paying | avera or ^d. to the sheriff, and
'a certain woman' held half a virgate.53 Archbishop
Stigand had I hide 3 virgates 22 acres, three of his
men holding all of it save 1 3 acres,53 1 1 of which
were held by Alward 5I and 2 acres by ' an English-
man ' in mortgage.55 There were also 25 acres held
by a sokeman of King Edward, who rendered \ avera
or Id'.50
By 1086 the land had entirely changed hands
with the exception of the Englishman's 2 acres, which
he continued to hold of Lanfranc, Stigand's successor.57
Three virgates were held by Derman, and belonged
to his manor of Watton.58 Peter de Valognes had
obtained all Elmer of Benington's land,59 and had
taken in addition the 25 acres of the sokeman of
King Edward on the ground that he had not dis-
charged the king's geld, but the men of the shire
moot testified that the land was free of geld.60 This
part of Libury doubtless became absorbed in Peter's
manor of Benington. Walter the Fleming was in
possession of 1 hide \ virgate and I I acres, formerly
held of Lewin by Torchil and Walter.61 The rest of
Lewin's land had been acquired by the Bishop of
Bayeux, and was held of him by Peter.02 The bishop
also had the half hide of Lewin Scoua and the whole
of Stigand's land,63 with the exception of the 2 acres
already mentioned ; he also had the 2 hides of Aigar
the staller, which were held of him by Turstin °4 ;
his holding therefore amounted to 5 J hides. The
fee of Walter the Fleming is the only one which
can be traced. His descendants
took the name of Wahull or
Odell from their chief manor
in Bedfordshire, and the over-
lordship of the manor of
Libury remained in their
hands.05 In 1304 it was held
for a quarter fee of Thomas de
Wahull and paid I %d. to Rock-
ingham Castle (Northants).
John de Grey was the sub-
tenant of the manor under
the Wahulls in 1243,06 and
was still holding it in 1265."
He was the second son of Henry Grey of Grays
Thurrock, Essex, and was some time Steward of
Gascony and Governor of the castles of North-
ampton, Shrewsbury, Dover and Hereford.68 He
was succeeded by his son Reginald,69 who became
Wahull.
crescents gult
Lord Grey de Wilton about 1295.™ From this date
the manor of Libury descended in the family of Grey
of Wilton " until it came to John Grey of Wilton,
who in 1496 sold it to Richard Hill." Richard
settled the manor to the use of his wife Elizabeth for
her life, with reversion to Ralph Latham. Elizabeth
married secondly Anthony Poyntz, and in 1506
leased the manor to Ralph for a yearly rent of £75™
Ralph Latham died about 1520, leaving Libury to
his son William and Elizabeth his wife, after the
death of his mother." By 1580 it had come to
another William Latham and Susan his wife, who in
that year sold it to Richard Brokeman.75 The latter
conveyed it in I 582 to Rowland Beresford,76 who died
seised of it in 1605, leaving a son Rowland,77 who
inherited the manor.78 In 1608, however, he sold
Libury to Robert Spence,79 from whom it passed to
his son Robert in l6l8,8u who was stdl holding it in
1 648." He is said to have had two sons — William,
who died without issue, and John,82 who with Edith
his wife was holding it in
1682 83 and whose son John
was lord of the manor in
170084 and as late as 1713.85
The son of the latter, Charles,
was holding Libury in ijj(),m
and was succeeded by his
daughter Graciana Spence
before 1 8 2 1 .87 Graciana died
in 1858, her nearest heirs
being Henry I.owry Jearrad
and Harriet Lister. A parti-
tion of the property was made
in 1864, when Libury was
apportioned to the former.1
holding it in
Spence. Sable afes
battled argent.
Mr. Jearrad was still
, after which it was acquired by
Baron Schroder, Baron Bruno Schroder and Mr. C. A.
Bingel. It has been converted into a German In-
dustrial and Farm Colony to provide work and shelter
for German-speaking unemployed and destitute, under
the management of these three trustees.
The manor of Libury possessed two mills in
1086.89 Mills are mentioned in 1 60 8,90 but do not
appear to belong to it now, the estate having been
much reduced.
John de Grey received a grant of free warren in
1243.91 In 1370 the lord of the manor held a
court every three weeks and view of frankpledge.92
The manor of G1FFORDS is first heard of in
1473, when it was held by Ralph Ashley.93 In the
1 6th century (or perhaps in the late 15th century)
' certain lands and tenements in Much and Little
Munden called Giffords ' were held by William
51 V.C,
» Ibid,
53 Ibid.
54 Ibid.
« Ibid.
50 Ibid.
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid,
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
6-' Ibid,
08 Ibid,
64 Ibid,
65 Cha.
16 Edw.
Edw. Ill
60 Cal.
H. Herts.
337"-
309a.
309A.
iota.
337J-
305a.
342/..
337J.
328A.
309a.
309(1 and 1
309'-.
1. InH. p.m.
Ill (1st
(.st no..),
Pat. 1232-
3094.
EJw. I, no. 4.5 ;
>.), no. 41; ; 44
67 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 158.
68 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
69 Ibid. ; Rot. liimd. (Rec. Com.), i, 1 88.
70 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
71 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. Ill
(1st nos.), no. 45; 44 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 30.
72 Close, 12 Hen. VII, no. 31 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Hil. 12 Hen. VII.
73 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 21
Hen. VII, m. II.
74 Will, P.C.C. 32 Ayloffe.
75 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 22 Eliz.
76 Ibid. Hil. 24 Eliz.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcviii, 8.
78 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Jas. I ;
Hil. 5 Jas. I.
79 Close, 6 Jas. I, pt. V, no. 26.
M2
811 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxx,
109.
81 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 23 Chas. I.
82 Chauncy, op. cit. 340.
83 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 34 Chas, II.
84 Chauncy, loc. cit.
85 Recov. R. Mich. 1 2 Anne, rot. 74.
80 Ibid. Hil. 19 Geo. Ill, rot. 25 ;
Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 407.
87 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
89 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater HunJ.
151.
89 V.C.H. Herts, i, 309a and b.
9U Close, 6 Jas. I, pt. v, no. 26.
91 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 171.
9- Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 30.
98 Rentals and Surv. R. Herts. 288.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Andrewe.91 It was probably no more than a freehold
held of the manor of Great Munden.95 Andrewe's
possession of the estate was disputed by Thomas
Ashley, and it was decided by arbitrators that William
Andrewe should keep it for life upon payment of £$,
with remainder to Thomas Ashley and his heirs. After
the death of William a fresh suit took place, Giffords
being claimed by George Carleton, who stated that
he had purchased Thomas Ashley's interest in the
estate, and was therefore the rightful owner, but that
John Andrewe, William's son, and John Lane would
not allow him possession. John Andrewe denied
Thomas Ashley's title to Giffords, and said that the
arbitrators decided that it
was to remain to William
and his heirs. He also said
that the deeds connected
with the matter had been
stolen by William's wife
Anne and delivered to John
Lane, who claimed the
estate by just conveyance.96
The result of the suit is not
recorded, and Giffords had
passed by 1580 into the
possession of Matthew Lowe,
who apparently held it in
right of his wife Anne.97 It
was then called a manor.
Soon after it came into the
hands of William Kinge,
who sold it to his brother-
in-law Robert Brisco.98
Robert died seised of it in
1616, holding it of the king
in free socage as of the
manor of Great Munden,
by fealty and free rent of
I or. yearly. He left it by
will to his wife Ellen, after
whose death it presumably
passed to his nephew and
heir Edward Brisco.99 In
the following century it had
passed into the hands of the
Spence family,10" lords of the
manor of Libury, in which
manor it presumably became
merged.
Two parks are mentioned
in Little Munden in 1299.1
One of them, however, seems
to have been disparked
before the 15th century, for
in 1480 and again in 1594 only 'Munden Park' is
mentioned.2 It does not now remain, unless Lord-
ship's Wood is a survival of it.
The church of ALL SAINTS, stand-
CHURCH ing on high ground about the centre
of the parish, is built of flint rubble
with stone dressings and the roofs are tiled. It con-
sists of a chancel, north chapel, nave and north aisle,
LITTLE MUNDEN
south-west tower, north and south porches and south
vestry.3
Although the original 11th-century church has
been almost wholly obscured by later alterations and
additions, it seems certain that in the latter half of
that century it consisted of a chancel, nave and north
aisle, with an arcade of three bays. The 14th-century
alterations consisted of building the western portion
of the present north chapel about 1 340, and about
1360 replacing the two eastern bays of the nave
arcade by those now in existence ; at the same time
the aisle may have been widened. In the 15th
century the north chapel was extended eastwards to
Little Munden : Old Cottage at Dane End
its present size, new windows were inserted almost
throughout the church, a rood turret was built, and
the aisle was probably rebuilt and towards the end
of the century the west tower was built. In the
19th century the church was restored, the western
arch of the nave was replaced by a two-centred arch
and the south vestry and north and south porches
were added.
'33-
94 Ct. of Req. bdle. 3, no. 33;.
94 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccli:
90 Ct. of Req. bdle. 3, no. 335.
97 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 22 & 23
Fliz. ; Trin. 2+ Eliz.
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix, 133.
99 Ibid.
100 Recov. R. Herts. Hil. 19 Geo. Ill,
rot. 2;.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Edw. I, no. 16.
8 Anct. D. (P.R.O.),B 21562 ; Pat. 37
Eliz. pt. x.
133
3 Dimensions : chancel, 21 ft. 6 in. by
16 ft. 6 in. ; north chapel, 21 ft. 6 in. by
1 2 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 4 1 ft. by 2 1 ft. 6 in. ;
north aisle, 10 It. wide; west tower,
1 1 It. square.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The east window of the chancel is of three cinque-
foiled lights with tracery above in a two-centred
head, and has been almost entirely restored. In the
south wall is a similar window of two trefoiled lights
which has been wholly restored. In the north wall
are two arches, the easternmost being of the early
15th century. It is four-centred, and has a panelled
soffit and a carved figure of an angel holding a shield
in the apex ; an ogee label, with a finial and crockets,
piercing a square outer label, surmounts it, and in the
spandrels of the outer label are shields, while a rose
fills the space above the apex of the arch. This arch
forms a canopy for a tomb to be described below.
The westernmost arch is two-centred, of about
1340, and is of two moulded orders with shafted
jambs. In the south wall is a doorway of the 12th
century, but almost wholly restored. It was formerly
external, but now leads into the modern vestry. To
the east of the window in the south wall is a piscina
of the late 14th century with a trefoiled head. The
chancel arch is 1 5th-century work, and is of two
moulded orders with shafted jambs and a label with
1 11* Centum
S££E&°*
of Little Mukden Church
return ends. The openings of the windows of the
north chapel are of the 15th centurv, but the windows
are otherwise modern. Of the low two-centred
arch leading to the aisle only the north jamb is
original. It is filled by a screen of the late 15th
century, of three bays, with open upper panels with
tracery and solid lower panels. The roof of the
chapel is an early 16th-century king-post roof, much
repaired. The nave has a north arcade of three
bays, of which the two eastern arches are of about
1360, of two chamfered orders and supported on an
octagonal column and half-octagonal responds, of
which the western abuts on a jamb of the 1 1 th century,
one of the two of that date which support a modern
two-centred arch, the third of the arcade. These
jambs have abaci roughly cable-moulded, and the
eastern is set in pink mortar, which does not appear
elsewhere in the church. In the easternmost respond
of the arcade are three niches, those at the side higher
than that in the centre and trefoiled, while the centre
one is cinquefoiled ; all three have crocketed labels
and small pinnacles at the sides. In that on the north
side is a portion of a small female figure. On the
north side of the western pier of the arcade is a small
bracket. The rood-loft door pierces the north wall at
the eastern end, its sill being at the level of the abacus
of the eastern respond. In the south wall at the
eastern end is a window of three lights, of the 15 th
century, with modern tracery. The rear arch is
original and is ogeed at the head. The south door-
way is of the 14th century, and is of two continuously
moulded orders, unrestored. The south porch is
modern. At the west end of the nave a two-centred
archway opens into the west tower, which is of three
stages, with an embattled parapet and a small leaded
spire. The west doorway, with a pointed arch in a
square head and tracery in die spandrels, the west
window above, and the four bell-chamber lights arc
all of the late 15th century, the date of the tower
itself. The vaulting of the ground stage is modern.
The north aisle has at the north-east angle a newel
stair to the rood-loft, approached by a 15th-century
doorway with a four-centred head and continuously
moulded, and opening at the upper end by a plain
splayed four-centred archway. The two three-light
windows in the north wall are
of the late 15 th century, with
cinquefoiled heads, and are very
much restored. A two-light
window in the west wall is
probably a little earlier, but is
also restored. The north door-
way is of the 15 th century, and
has a four-centred head con-
tinuously moulded with the
jambs. The north porch is
modern.
The tomb under the eastern
arch in the north wall of the
chancel is that of a knight and
his lady, with recumbent effigies
on an altar tomb with panelled
sides, of about 1440. The
knight is in full plate armour,
with a finely carved girdle and
collar, and wears a rich and
heavy orle on his uncovered
head, which rests on his great
His feet rest on a lion. The lady, whose
helm.
arms are broken away," wears a square headdress.
The tomb is probably that of Philip Thornbury,
who died about 1457. Under the western arch of
the same wall is another altar tomb of the late 14th
century, probably that of Sir John Thornbury, who
died about 1396. It has large shields in square
quatrefoiled panels, alternating with niches contain-
ing small figures. One of the shields bears the arms
of Thornbury. The effigies are those of a knight
and lady. The former wears plate armour with a
pointed basinet and a camail. The head rests on the
great helm and the feet on a lion, while the head of
the lady, who wears a honeycombed headdress, is
supported by figures, now broken away, and her feet
rest on a lap-dog. The figures are in very bad con-
dition, the arms of both being gone, and many names
being scratched upon them, but there are traces of
gilding on the effigy of the knight. In the north wall
of the north chapel is a tomb-recess of the 15th
century.
There are six bells: (1) by Miles Graye, 1629 ;
(2) a mid- 15th-century bell, inscribed ' Sancte Petre
*34
Little Munden Church : Tombs in the Chancel
BROADWATER HUNDRED
ora pro nobis ' and maker's mark D. I. (John Danyell) ;
(3) by J. Briant, 1816 ; (4) a mid- 15th-century bell,
with inscription 'Sit nomen Domini benedictum'
and the royal arms, which is probably also by John
Danyell; (5) by Warner & Sons, 1859; and
(6) modern.
The plate consists of a silver chalice and a silver
paten ; there is also a flagon.
The registers begin in 1680, and are contained in
two books : (i) baptisms 1 6 10 to 1812, burials 1680
to 1812, marriages 1680 to 1753; (ii) marriages
1754 to 1812.
The advowson of the church be-
ADVOH'SON longed to the lords of the manor 4
until about I 8 1 8, when it was sold
to Francis Riddel Reynolds, who presented in 1819.5
He sold it about 1830 to the Rev. C. Jollands,6 who
continued to hold it until 1 S67, when it was acquired
LITTLE MUNDEN
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in Little
Munden were registered from 1 709 onwards. In
I 809 a chapel was registered,12 but there is now no
Nonconformist place of worship in the parish.
This parish was in possession of
CHARITIES detached pieces of land and cottages
which were supposed to have been
derived under a devise by will of Ralph Fordham, dated
in I 591. The land and two cottages were sold in
1886, and the proceeds invested in £399 5/. consols
with the official trustees, producing £9 19/. \d. yearly.
In the parliamentary returns of 17S6 it is stated
that donations amounting to [fio, being the gifts of
Thomas Hall, 1643, John Kent, 1665, and others,
were made for bread to the poor. These gifts are
now represented by £6g 9/. \d. consols with the
official trustees, producing £1 \\s. Sd. yearly.
In 1883 George Pooley by his will, proved at
;
Little Munden Church : The Nave looking North-east
by Lieut. -Col. Loyd.7 The latter died about 1891,
when the advowson passed to his wife, who held it
until 1900.8 It continued in the hands of her trustees
for the next two years, after which it came into the
possession of Mr. Llewellyn Loyd, the present patron.9
Early in the 1 3th century a vicarage seems to have
been endowed, for upon the presentation of Andrew
de Scales by William de Scales, which must have
occurred shortly before 1209, a vicarage was reserved
to William de Standon. This vicarage consisted of
1 acre of land, the tithes of the whole parish, and of
the vill of Haultvvick.10 This arrangement seems to
have been only temporary.
In 1335 William de Munden had licence for an
oratory in his manor in the parish of Munden Frevill.11
A See refs. under manor \ Inst. Bks
(P.R.O.) ; Bacon, Liber Regis.
6 Clerical Guide,
6 Ibid.
7 Clergy List.
9 Ibid.
London 29 June, bequeathed £1,000, the income
to be applied towards the maintenance and support
of the poor under the title of ' The George and
Mary Ann Pooley Trust.' The legacy was invested
in £984 os. zd. consols with the official trustees,
producing £z\. I zs. yearly. The income of these
charities was in 1908 applied mainly in bonuses to
members of coal and clothing clubs, interest on
children's bank, and in temporary relief in money.
In 1906 Joseph Singleton by will, proved 25 June,
left a legacy, represented by £269 12/. Sd. consols
with the official trustees, the annual dividends, amount-
ing to £6 14/. $d., to be applied in bread (or in
such way as minister approves) for poor of sixty years
of age and upwards on I January yearly.
! Ibid.
10 Rot. Hug. WAls (C;,nt. and York Soc),
94. " Line. Epis. Reg. Burghersh.
12 Urwick, op. cit. 600.
I 35
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
SACOMBE
Suevecampe, Sevechampe, Stuochampe (xi cent.) ;
Savecampe, Sawecampe, Sevechaumpe (xiii cent.) ;
Savecampe (xiv cent.) ; Savecome, Sawcompe (xv
cent.).
The parish of Sacombe has an area of 1,534 acres,
of which 40 5 1 acres are arable land, 68 3 \ acres
permanent grass, and 1 23 \ acres wood.1 The
general elevation of the parish is a little over 200 ft.,
sinking to below 200 ft. along the banks of a small
stream which runs through the centre of the parish
into the River Beane. In the north-west Sacombe
Hill rises to over 300 ft., and in the north-east at
Sacombe Green the land reaches a height of 362 ft.
In the west the parish takes in a large portion of
Woodhall Park, and the River Beane flowing out of
this passes through the south of Sacombe parish for a
short distance. The road from Benington to Ware
runs through the parish from north-west to south-
east, having Woodhall Park on its western side.
About the centre of the parish a branch road turns
off from it and runs north-east to Little Munden,
passing through Sacombe Pound. A road turns
east from Sacombe Pound, leading up the hill to the
hamlet of Sacombe Green and branching off to
Sacombe Church, rectory, and school, which com-
pose all the village that there is. Sacombe House,
surrounded by a park of 150 acres, lies south-east
from the church. It was rebuilt by Mr. George
Caswall early in the 19th century, and was recently
the scene of a destructive fire. Burr's Green is a
hamlet in the south of the parish. The subsoil of
the parish is chalk in the west and north and
Woolwich and Reading Beds in the east. There is
a chalk-pit beside the road to Sacombe Green, a
disused one north of Woodhall Park, and another
disused one, with an old kiln, on the west side of
Sacombe Park. The nearest stations are Hertford,
4 miles south, and Ware, the same distance south-
east, both on a branch line of the Great Eastern
railway.
The inclosure award was made in 1852, and is
in the custody of the clerk of the peace.2
Place-names which occur in the parish are
Reddinges, Blindman's Hill, Crossefield, Great Emdell
Field, Emden Spring, Charden, and Mobsden.
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANOR there were two manors in Sacombe. The
larger, held by yElmer of Benington, was
assessed at 4 hides. Besides the manor there were
I hide and I virgate held by four of ^Elmer's sokemen,
and 5 virgates held by a certain woman under Anschil
of Ware, one of which was mortgaged to ^Elmer. The
other manor, consisting of I hide 3 virgates, was held
by Lewin, a thegn of King Harold. Both these
manors were granted by William the Conqueror to
Peter de Valognes, who held them as one manor
assessed at 8j hides,3 the assessment having seemingly
increased half a hide. Half a virgate held by Aluric
Blac of Stigand, and in 1086 by Anschil of Stigand's
successor,4 and another half-virgate held in 1086 and
before by a sokeman of the king 6 were probably
absorbed in the manor of Sacombe.
The manor, held of the king in chief by knight
service, passed to the descendants of Peter de Valognes
in the same way as his chief manor of Benington
(q.v.) until the death of Christiane de Valognes and
her husband William de Mandeville. The Valognes'
estates were then divided between the three heirs :
Lora, the wife of Henry de Balliol, Christiane, wife
of Peter de Maune, and Isabel, who was married
to David Comyn. Sacombe was apportioned to
Isabel, the youngest, and passed upon her death,
about 1253, to her son William Comyn.6 William
died about I 283/ and his son John being a minor,
custody of two thirds of the manor was granted to
Matthew de Columbars, and shortly after, at the
request of the latter, to John de Gisorz, citizen of
London, for four years.8 In 1284 the remaining
third was confirmed to William Comyn's widow
Eufemia in dower, on her taking an oath not to
marry again without the king's licence.9 She broke
her oath, however, and the king took the third part
of the manor back into his hands before her death,
which occurred about 1289."1 Her son John Comyn
came of age in 1286-7," and probably held the
manor, but he died soon after and Sacombe passed
to Edmund Comyn, said to have been his brother,"
who died seised of it about I 3 1 4.13 The latter left
two infant daughters and a widow Mary, who held a
third of the manor in dower.1* She afterwards
forfeited it.ls Sacombe was eventually divided between
the two daughters, the elder of whom, Eufemia, was
holding it in 1320 (then aged fourteen years), at
which time she was the wife of William de la Beche.16
The moiety was settled in 1330 on William and
Eufemia for their lives and the heirs of Eufemia.17
William died in 1333, leaving a son John.18
Eufemia continued to hold the moiety, and in 1334
received licence to have an oratory in her house at
Sacombe.'9 She married secondly John de Walkefare,
who died abroad in 1345, leaving a son John.™
Apparently, however, both these sons died young, for
upon Eufemia's death in I 361 her lands passed to her
daughter Eli7abeth, the wife of Roger de Elmerugge
(Elmbridge).'1
Eufemia's sister Mary Comyn, who received the
other moiety of Sacombe Manor, was married by
licence of the king to Edmund de Pakenham while
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
» Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 63.
3 y.C.H. Herts, i, 337a.
* Ibid. 305*.
5 Ibid. 34.3A.
6 Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Hen. Ill, no. 45
Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 28 1.
7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Edw. I, no. 49.
8 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 60; Assiz
R. 32S.
9 Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 265.
1° Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. I, no. 13.
11 Ibid. 15 Edw. I, no. 71.
11 Clutterbuck, op. cit, ii, 422.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 18.
" Cal. Close, 1313-18, p. 121.
1S Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill (1st
os.), no. 34.
1G Ibid. 14 Edw. II, no. 25.
" Ibid. 4 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 32 ;
Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 33 ; Feet of F. Div.
Co. Trin. 5 Edw. Ill, no. 83.
ls Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 34.
19 Cal. Close, 1333-7, p. 75; Line.
Epis. Reg. Burghcrsh.
-0 Chan Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill, no. 24 ;
Cal. Close, 1 346-9, p. 9.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 43.
I36
BROADWATER HUNDRED
she was still under age. He died in 1 351," leaving
a son Thomas. Mary conveyed her moiety of the
manor to her sister Eufemia in i355,23so that the
whole manor came to Eufemia's daughter Elizabeth
and Roger de Elmerugge in 136 1.24 Roger died in
1375,25 and in the next year Elizabeth sold Sacombe
to John de Holt and Alice his wife.10 Sir John Holt
was involved on the king's side in the rebellion of
1387, when the royal army under Robert Duke
of Ireland was defeated. He was among the
five judges sentenced by Parliament to be hanged,
but, the sentence being remitted, he with the rest
was banished to Ireland and his estates forfeited.87
Sacombe thus came into the king's hands in 1 3 88.*8
Upon Sir John Holt's death, however, in 14 1 9, or
perhaps before, it was restored to his son Hugh."
Hugh Holt died in 1420 and Sacombe passed to his
brother Richard,30 who sold it in the same year to
Robert Babthorpe.31 The manor-house at that time
contained a hall, ' five chambers high and low, and a
house for the making of tiles.' 3> Robert Babthorpe
died in 1436, and the manor came to his son Ralph.33
From Ralph Babthorpe it passed to his son Robert in
1455," and to Robert's son Ralph in 1466.35 Ralph
died in 1490, leaving a daughter Isabel, who was
married to Sir John Hastings,30 and died in 1495."
Her heir was her ' kinswoman ' Isabel Plompton,
daughter of Robert Babthorpe, who seems most pro-
bably to have been her first cousin, but was possibly
her aunt.38 This Isabel was married to William
Plompton, and was holding the manor as his widow
in 1547.39 She died in 1552/° and Sacombe passed
to her grandson William Plompton, who in 1593
conveyed the manor to Sir Philip Boteler of Watton
Woodhall.41 At Sir Philip's death in 1607 Sacombe
came to his widow Jane," and after her death to his
grandson Robert Boteler,43 from whom it passed in
1623 to his daughter Jane,44 who married John, after-
wards Lord Belasyse of Worlaby.45 The latter is
said to have sold Sacombe, owing to pecuniary
embarrassment, to Sir John Gore,46 who seems to have
been in possession of it in 1669. 47 In 1688 it was
purchased from him with the manor of Temple
Chelsin by Sir Thomas Rolt,48 formerly president
of the East India Company and Governor of
Bombay, from whom it passed to his son Edward49
in 1710.50 Edward Rolt, who was M.P. for Chippen-
SACOMBE
ham, was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was
holding the manor in 1728 5I and died in 1754,
leaving a son Thomas, of the 1st Guards, who was
killed in action in 1758, when Sacombe seems to
have come to his youngest sister Mary Constantia
Rolt,52 who married Timothy Caswall of the Guards,
Rolt. Argent a bend
able -with three dolphins
irgent thereon having
Caswall. Argent
three gimel bars sable.
M.P. for Brackley. He was a personal friend of Pitt,
who used to visit him at Sacombe, and was there with
Dundas, his Home Secretary, at the critical time
when Lord.Gower, ambassador in Paris, fleeing from
the French Revolution, hastened to them (2 Septem-
ber 1792), before proceeding to the king.623 The
bust of Pitt presented to Mr. Caswall is now in
possession of his great-great-grandson, Mr. J. H.
Round, LL.D. He died in 1802 and was succeeded
by his son George Caswall,53 after whose death in
1825 54 the manor was sold to Samuel Smith of
Watton Woodhall,55 with which manor it has since
descended.
In 1275 the lord of Sacombe was said to have view
of frankpledge, gallows and assize of bread and ale.56
In 1278 William Comyn claimed in his manor of
Sacombe all liberties formerly pertaining to the
Valognes' lands, viz. soc and sac, toll, team and
infangentheof by charter of Henry I, and view of
frankpledge, tumbrel and amendment of the assize of
bread and ale ' of ancient custom.' 57 In 1287 gallows
and free warren were claimed in addition.58 In
1 361 court leet was held at Whitsuntide.59 Free
fishery in the River Benwith (Beane) was said to
pertain to the manor in 1590,60 1609 61 and 1688."
Sacombe possessed a water mill in 1086,63 which is
22 Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 36 ; Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 449.
m Feet of F. Herts. 29 Edw. Ill,
no. 442 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. Ill
(2nd nos.), no. 43.
" Ibid. 35 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 43 ;
Abbre-u. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 263 ;
Feet of F. Div. Co. 36 Edw. Ill, no. 99.
2a Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 43.
M Feet of F. Herts. 50 Edw. Ill,
no. 669 ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.),
'', 347-
37 Cussans, op. cit. Broadtvater Hund.
159 ; Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 548.
23 See Cal. Pat. 1388-92, p. 80.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. V, no. 43.
so Ibid. 8 Hen. V, no. 103.
31 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 65 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 15 Hen. VI, no. 2.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Hen. VI, no. 2.
33 Ibid. no. 60.
"Ibid. 33 Hen. VI, no. 40.
85 Ibid. 6 Edw. IV, no. 37.
36 Ibid. (Ser. 2), vi, 47.
37 Ibid, ixxix, 277.
38 Ralph Babthorpe, father of Isabel
Hastings, was twenty-two at his father's
(Robert's) death in 1466, at which time
Isabel Plompton was three, thus making
rather a large difference in age if she was
his sister. It, therefore, seems more pro-
bable that her father Robert was Ralph's
younger brother, who might have married
at sixteen or seventeen.
89 Recov. R. Herts. Hil. 1 Edw. VI,
rot. 157.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xcvi, 8.
« Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 35 Eliz.
» Ibid. Mich. 10 Jas. I.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, 149.
44 Ibid, ccccii, 144 ; Ct. of Wards,
Feod. Surv. 17 ; Privy Seal Docket Ek.
xi ; Recov. R. Herts. East. 14 Chas. I,
rot. 5. 4S G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
46 Chauncy, op. cit. 3; 6.
• Harl. MS. 5801, fol. 36.
18 Close, 4 Jas. II, pt. v, no. 10. Sir
John Gore wished to have the bargain
rescinded, but the House of Lords decided
137
against him {Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi,
App. 353-4)-
49 Genealogist, Jan. 1901, p. 148.
50 Mon. Inscr.
51 Salmon, op. cit. 225 ; see also Recov.
R. Herts. Mich. 29 Geo. II, rot. 47.
52 Ibid. East. 32 Geo. II, rot. 361.
His elder sister Cecilia lived until 1761,
but apparently did not inherit, as Mary
was in possession in 1759.
52» Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. 307,
309.
03 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 426 ; Recov.
R. Herts. Mich. 43 Geo. Ill, rot. 7.
54 Mon. Inscr.
55 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
160. x Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
57 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 281.
*> Assize R. 3 2S.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 43.
60 Pat. 33 Eliz. pt. i.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 164.
63 Close, 4 Jas. II, pt. v, no. 10.
63 V.C.H. Herts, i, 337a.
18
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
frequently mentioned in connexion with the manor/'1
and was presumably situated on the River Beane at
Mill End.
In the 13th century the Knights Templars held
some lands in Sacombe, Rocelin, master of the order,
receiving a grant of free warren there in 1 25 3."
A reminiscence of their holding is found, perhaps, in
1698, when Sir Thomas Holt, lord of the manor, was
presented for not keeping the ' Temple pound ' in
order.66
There was a hide in Sacombe held before the
Conquest by three sokemen, two of them men of
Anschil of Ware and the third a man of Aluric
Blac. This land in 1086 belonged to Hardwin de
Scales,67 and w-as perhaps later annexed to Little
Munden.
Half a virgate held in 1086 by Derman, and
formerly belonging to Alwin Home,68 would naturally
become absorbed in Derman's neighbouring manor of
Watton.
All the doors and windows of the chancel and
nave are modern. They have two-centred heads,
the east and west windows being of three and the
north and south windows of two lights with ' deco-
rated ' tracery. The responds of the chancel arch
are of the 14th century with wave mouldings on
both sides. The sub-arches are also original.
In the chancel is a piscina with a modern recess,
with a cinquefoiled ogee head and a sexfoiled bowl,
probably of the 14th century.
In the chancel are brasses of Eleanor Dodington,
1537, and John Dodington, her husband, 1544,
which consist of inscriptions only. On the north
wall of the chancel is a monument to the Rev. John
Meriton, vicar, who died in 1669 ; and on the west
wall of the vestry is a reset tablet to Sir Thomas
Rolt, 'Agent of Persia and President of India,' 17 10,
and his wife, 1716. There is also in the vestry a
17th-century hour-glass stand of iron.
There are three bells, of which the first is by John
\
Sacombe Church from the South-east
The church of ST. CATHERINE
CHURCH stands on high ground in the middle of
the parish. The walls are faced with flint
and the roofs are tiled.69 The church consists of a
chancel, nave, north vestry and south tower. The
original plan of the 1 4th-century church was the same as
that of the present building, and the chancel and nave
are of that date. The tower was rebuilt in 1855-6,
and the north vestry was added at the same time, when
the whole church was restored, faced with flint and
re-roofed. A great part of the stonework of this
church was brought from the demolished church of
Thundridge.
Waylett, dated 1722, and the third by James Bartlett,
1683.
The plate includes a cup of 1688 and a flagon of
1715.
The registers begin in 1726 and are contained in
four books : (i) baptisms 1726 to 1773, burials 1726
to 1773, marriages 1726 to 1754; (ii) baptisms
1773 to 1812; (iii) burials 1773 to 1812; (iv)
marriages 175410 181 1.
In 1086 there was a clerk among
JDFOlf'SON the tenants of the manor,™ so that
there was probably then a church
there. The advowson has always belonged to the
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Hen. Ill, no. 45 ;
ii Edw. I, no. 49 ; 8 Edw. II, no. 18 ;
7 Edw. Ill (1st noa.), no. 34 ; 8 Hen. V,
00. 103 ; (Ser. 2), cccix, 164.
65 Cat. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- +15-
66 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 431
67 V.C.H. Herts, i, 338*.
68 Ibid. 342A.
138
69 Dimensions : chancel, 24 ft. 6 in. by
16 ft. ; nave, 43 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 3 in. 5
tower, 1 1 ft. square.
70 V.C.H. Herts, i, 337a.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
lord of the manor.7' The church is now generally
known as the church of St. Catherine, but the earlier
invocation seems to have been St. Mary." In 1638
the rectory possessed two barns, a yard, orchard and
garden adjoining the house, and about 1 5 acres of
glebe.73
In 1 81 9 a dwelling-house was registered for
Protestant Dissenters under the Toleration Act.74
The charity of Rev. John Meriton,
CHJRITIES a former vicar, for apprenticing, now
consists of £260 6s. id. consols, and
£251 15/. "]d. Natal 3 \ per cent, stock with the
official trustees, arising respectively from the sale in
STEVENAGE
1906 of land purchased in 1699 with £100 given by
the donor and from accumulations of income, and pro-
ducing £1 5 6s. \d. in annual dividends. The charity
is regulated by schemes of the Charity Commissioners,
1 88 1 and 1910.
By an order of 9 March 1 905 made under the Board
of Education Act the stock arising from accumulations
of income and all net income not applied within the
year for apprenticing under clause 23 of the principal
scheme constitute the Meriton educational founda-
tion.
The Parish Clerk's land consists of 3 r. 26 p. of the
annual letting value of 5/.
STEVENAGE
Stithenaece, Stigenace (xi cent.) ; Stitenache,
Styvenach, Stiveneth (xiii cent.) ; Stivenhatch,
Stevenach (xiv to xvi cent.).
The parish of Stevenage has an area of 4,54.5 acres,
of which 3, 200 \ acres are arable land, 916 acres
permanent grass and 325^ acres wood.1
The parish is for the most part a little over
300 ft. above the ordnance datum, a slight depression
in the south being the only part below this
level. In the north-east the ground rises to
470 ft., and reaches an altitude of just over 400 ft. in
two isolated points on the western border of the
parish. The Great North Road runs through the
centre of the parish. About three-quarters of a mile
south of Stevenage, lying beside the road, are six
tumuli, known as the Six Hills, which point to the
antiquity of this road. The Great North Road
forms the main street of the town. At the northern
end of the town it forks, one branch going slightly
westwards to Hitchin and the other northwards to
Graveley and Baldock. At the same point Julian's
Road turns west to Fisher's Green. The church of
the Holy Trinity is situated at the south end of the
High Street ; a road running behind it in a north-
easterly direction leads to the older church of
St. Nicholas and passes on to Chesfield Park, a branch
road from it turning east up Almond's Hill to the
hamlet of Pin Green. From the church of St. Nicholas
a road runs west into the Baldock Road, passing the
Bury, the Rectory and Woodfield, the residence of
Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Butler Fellowes, K.C.B.,
J.P.
Stevenage Bury adjoins the north side of the
churchyard. For a long time it was used as a farm-
house, but is now occupied as a private residence by
Mr. Algernon Gipps. It has undergone considerable
alterations at different times, and a porch and ground-
floor extension has been added to the front. The old
part of the building is timber framed, covered with
plaster externally, the plasterwork still showing traces
of flush panels filled with curved basketwork pattern.
There are two short wings flanking the back and a
small projecting staircase between them. So far as
can be traced now, the old entrance faced the super-
structure of the chimney, a small lobby being formed
as at other old early 1 7th-century houses in the
county, the hall, now the dining-room, being in the
centre of the building to the left of the entrance and
the drawing-room or parlour in the wing to the
right. The kitchen offices occupy the other wing.
There is a built-up window, with oak mullions, in a
room over the drawing room, but all the other
windows are modern. In a cellar under the kitchen
parts of the walls are of flint and parts of thin bricks.
Adjoining the house is a square timber-framed build-
ing of two stories, with a tiled pyramidal roof, which
may at one time have been a dove-house.
Part of Chesfield Park, the residence of Mr. Poyntz-
Stewart, is included in the north of the parish. The
hamlet of Fisher's Green lies in the north-west, with
Symond's Green about three-quarters of a mile south.
Broomin Green is a short distance west of the
south end of the town, with Norton Green still
further south. Almost opposite Broomin Green,
on the other side of the Great North Road, is
Bedwell Plash. In the extreme east of the parish
is Chells, with Chells Green on the borders of
Walkern parish. The old manor-house is now used
as a farm-house and has been much restored,
but the fabric of the building dates from the
early 17th century. It is a timber-framed house
resting on brick foundations, and in plan resembles
the letter H- The principal front, which extends to
about 62 ft., faces the south-west and is flanked by
steep gables overhanging at the level of the first floor
and again at the eaves. The wings extend out at the
back of the house. The roof is tiled and the walls
are now plastered externally, and all the chimneys,
doors and windows are comparatively modern. The
entrance doorway on the south-west side now opens
into the drawing room, which has lately been extended,
but it formerly opened into the hall, which occupied
the whole of the central part of the building and
which had a large fireplace at the end. This fire-
place has recently been transformed into an inglenook
and the old arch removed. The hall, now the
dining room, has been further reduced by forming a
passage-way at the back of the house. The old back-
doorway to the courtyard still remains with its old
plank door, but both are quite plain. As this doorway
faces the wide mass of brickwork inclosing the hall fire-
place, it would not enter the hall direct, but would
have the usual small lobby. At the back of the hall
fireplace is a very narrow stair, evidently original,
leading to the upper floor. This is lighted by a
very small window in the front. Access is gained to
71 See references given under manor.
Also Rat. Hag. Wells (Cant, and York
Soc), i, 66; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.);
Bacon, Liber Regit ; Clergy Lis! (1907).
73 See East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
i, 86. It is so called in the early 13th
century (Rot. Hug. WtlU, i, 66).
139
73 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 334.
74 Urwick, op. cit. 602.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
this stair both from the hall and from the north-west
wing, and there is no indication of any larger stair
having existed, though a modern one has been placed
in the other wing beside a modern entrance. The
kitchen still retains its old fireplace, but it is quite
plain. On the side of the upper room next the
courtyard are the remains of an old three-light
window having moulded oak mullions. This window
is now blocked up. Most of the rooms on the upper
floor still retain their original wide oak flooring.
Pin Green lies rather more than a mile west from
Chells. Sishes, near Pin Green, is the residence
of Mr. Julius Bertram. Whitney Wood, on the
Hitchin road, is the residence of Mrs. Barclay. In
Whomerley Wood are slight remains of a homestead
moat.
names of streets such as ' Pilgryms,' 2 and a little later
' Lycchenstret,' ' Baldokstret,' 3 ' Laschmerstret,' and
' Pavylane,' 4 which indicates a town of some size. It
is clear from the number of presentments relating to
innkeepers on the manor rolls 5 that by the beginning
of the 15th century it had become the resort of
travellers on the Great North Road. Possibly on
account of this prosperity and the increasing size of
the town we find that about 1405 a number of
London tradesmen purchased, probably as building
speculations, small plots of land here. Richard Foster
of London ° had a messuage and 6 acres of land ;
John Sylam, citizen and pewterer of London, had
4 acres ' built upon ' ; William Rendre of London
had land in Churchfield called 'Pyedelacre' ; William
Waldern, citizen and grocer, John Hamond, citizen
Stevenage Bury : Back View
Stevenage is a good example of the development
of the Teutonic type of settlement which is so
frequently met with in Hertfordshire. The old
church of St. Nicholas and the ' Bury,' with a few
cottages lying about half a mile off the Great North
Road, evidently formed the site of the original
Saxon village, consisting of an agricultural community
which desired to be in the midst of its territories.
Probably before the Conquest, but at all events before
the grant of a market and fair in I 28 I, a settlement
on the road-side was established, where at the fork
of the road was the natural position for the market.
The road-side settlement seems to have prospered,
and by the end of the 14th century we have the
and barber, William Marchford, citizen and mercer,
Edward Grymston, citizen and vintner, and others,
all of London, purchased small freeholds." There is,
however, no evidence that Stevenage was ever anything
more than a manorial market town, though the gild
of the Holy Trinity, established probably in the early
part of the 15th century with a gildhall or brother-
hood house, may have had some powers in the
management of the affairs of the town. Early in
the 1 6th century we can tell from the evidence
of architectural remains that the road-side town
extended from the point where the Great North
Road forks, or a little northward, to the old work-
house, an interesting timber and plaster building,
Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 17S, no. 54.
: Ibid. no. 56.
* Ibid.
'Ibid.
6 Ibid. no. 55.
7 Ibid. no. 56.
I4O
Stevenage Bury : Front View
Stevenage : Chells Farm from the South
BROADWATER HUNDRED
originally a dwelling-house, which stands opposite
the modern church of Holy Trinity.
Although a great part of the town was burnt in a
fire which occurred on 10 July 1807,8 there still
remain many interesting specimens of 1 7th-century
timber and plaster houses with tiled roofs, principally
in the High Street. The grammar school, the
history of which will be found elsewhere,9 stands at
the north end of the bowling green. It was enlarged
and considerably altered in 1905, but there survives
a small rectangular building consisting of one room,
probably of the foundation of 1 561. It was originally
of timber and brick, but is now largely refaced with
brick. On the east side of the High Street opposite
the green is a 17th-century timber and brick house
refronted, with an original chimney stack ; a little
southward are a 17th-century inn and cottages.
STEVENAGE
renewed in brick. In the yard of the latter are the
remains of a 16th-century building with a projecting
upper story. South of the ' Red Lion ' is a 1 7th-century
house, partly used as a shop. It has a gable at each
end and a dormer window between ; the upper part
is of pargeted timber and the lower of brick, plastered.
It has an octagonal brick shaft on a moulded base.
The main line of the Great Northern railway runs
through the parish parallel to the Great North Road.
The subsoil of the parish is chalk, and there are
many chalk-pits in various parts.
The inclosure award was made in 1854, and is
in the custody of the clerk of the peace.10
The manor of STEVEN AGE was
MANORS granted to the abbey of St. Peter at
Westminster by Edward the Confessor
about 1062,11 and was entered among the possessions
Chells Farm from the North
Towards the south end of the street is a two-storied
gabled shop, the upper story of which is covered with
basket-work pargeting in panels. The Castle Inn,
with the cottage adjoining, originally formed one
building, probably of the latter part of the 1 6th
century. They have basket-work pargeting in the
upper story and gables. On the west side of the
street are several other instances of the use of basket-
work pargeting in 1 7th-century houses ; many of
them, however, are now refaced in front with brick.
The inns called the ' White Lion ' and the ' Red
Lion' have timber coach entrances, but much of the
old 17th-century timber and plaster work has been
of the abbot in 1086, when it was assessed at 8 hides.12
Stevenage Manor remained in the hands of the Abbots
of Westminster13 until January 1539-40, when the
monastery and its possessions were surrendered to
the Crown.14 At the end of 1540, however, the
bishopric of Westminster was created and endowed
with the lands which had belonged to the monastery,16
and Stevenage pertained to the bishopric 16 until its
surrender to Edward VI in 1550,17 when this manor
was presumably given to Bishop Ridley of London,
together with the greater part of the Westminster
lands.18 It was confirmed to the bishopric of London
by Mary in 1554,19 and then remained in the
8 Lewis Evans Coll. (Herts. Co. Mus.),
MS. marked Hitchin.
9 V.C.H.Herti. ii, 69-71.
" Blue Bk. Inch Awards, 6+.
11 Cott. MS. vi, z.
12 J'.C.H. Hern, i, 312A.
13 Assize R. 323, m. 51 d. ;
Accts. 31-2 Hen. VIII, no. 113.
« Dugdale, Man. i, 280.
15 Ibid.
I4I
16 L. and P. Hen. V1U, xvi, g. 503
(33) ; Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no.
62. 1? D. of Purch. and Exch. 189.
18 Dugdale, Man. i, 281.
19 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. iv, m. 16.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
possession of the Bishops of London 20 until the
Commonwealth. Upon the sale of lands pertaining
to bishoprics it was bought in
1649 by Thomas Ayres.21
The latter was still holding it
in 1 657-9." At tlle Resto-
ration Stevenage was restored
to the bishopric of London,
and remained in the possession
of that see until 1868, when
it was transferred to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners,-'1
who are the present lords of
the manor.
A fair was granted to the
Abbot of Westminster at
Stevenage in 1 281, to be held
on the vigil, feast, and morrow of St. John the
Baptist24 (23-25 June), and was confirmed by
Henry VI in 1448.25 In I 624 the Bishop of London
Abbey. Gules St. Peter's
keys or taith St. Hdiuard's
ring or in the chief.
A warren is mentioned as belonging to the lord of
the manor in 1393, when John Wheler and others
were accused of hunting in it and taking partridges
and pheasants.35 It is mentioned again in 1 408,
when William Rendre of London was granted the
'custody and profit of the warren for hunting and
chasing hares and rabbits.'36
In 1287 the Abbot of Westminster claimed in
Stevenage view of frankpledge, return of writs, amend-
ment of the assize of bread and ale, infangentheof,
utfangentheof, gallows, tumbrel and pillory.37 The
view of frankpledge extended into the tithings of
Holwell, Cadewell, Watton, Datchworth, Tewin
and Stevenage.38 In the 13th century and early
14th century the abbot held five courts yearly for
Stevenage and its dependencies — two in the autumn,
two in early spring, and one in summer. In 1 271-2
the profits amounted to 43/. 3d'., and in 1320-1 to
69/. zdP From the middle of the 14th century
four yearly courts seem to have been usual. These
Main Road, Stevei^age, showing 17th-century House
was granted three fairs, to be held on Ascension Day,
St. Swithun's Day (15 July), and on the Friday
following.20 In 1792 fairs were held for nine days
before Easter, nine days before Whit Sunday, and on
the first Friday in September.27 In 1 82 I the Sep-
tember fair was held on the 22nd of that month,28
and it is now held on the 22nd and 23rd.29
A market was granted to the abbot in 128 1, to
be held on Mondays,30 and was confirmed in 1448.31
In 1624 the day was altered to Friday,32 on which
day it was held as late as 1792.33 In 1 82 1 it is
said to have been held on Wednesday,34 but it has
since been discontinued.
were at first held at the feasts of St. Andrew
(30 November), St. Denis (9 October), St. Matthew
(21 September), and at Pentecost, but a little later
the first two were changed to St. Lucy (13 December)
and the Annunciation (25 March). At the end of
the 14th or beginning of the 1 5th century the number
of courts varied, one being held at the feast of the
Conception (8 December). The average value of the
courts in the 14th century seems to have been about
£■}, but it dropped during the next century, the
profits in 1499-1500 only amounting to 28/. 7a'.40
In 1409 it was presented at the view of frankpledge
that the lord was bound to have within his liberty a
20 Cat. S. P Dom. 1623-5, p. 6.
31 Add. MS. 9049, p. 15 ; Close, 1649,
pt. xlvi, no. 41.
22 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 1 78, no. 64.
83 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater ilund. S8.
24 Chart. R. 9 Edw. I, m. 7, no. 45.
25 Pat. 26 Hen. VI, pt. i, m. 10.
26 Ibid. 22 Jas. I, pt. xvii.
27 Rep. of Roy. Com. on Markets and Tolls,
1 I?«. -'s Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 440.
89 Rep. on Markets and Tolls, xiii (2).
30 Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, p. 252.
31 Pat. 26 Hen. VI, pt. i, m. 10.
32 Ibid. 22 Jas. I, pt. xvii.
33 Chauncy, op. cit.; Rep. an Markets
nd Tolls, i, 171.
I42
34 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 440.
35 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 54.
36 Ibid. no. 56.
37 Assize R. 32;, m. 26 d.
39 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 56.
35 Doc. at Westm. Herts, no. 26340-4.
4U Ibid. 26366-82 ; Ct. R. portf. 178
o. 48-60.
Stevenage : Main Road
W^
jIIIIIL a .(iiiiL'^P
miiinih 3^ hit nr
1 llltllllllll,,,,;!, || j.jmiiimmi^
-
Stevenage : Old House now Gas Company's Offices
BROADWATER HUNDRED
pillory and a cucking-stool and that they were not
there to the damage of the community. The bailiff
was therefore ordered to supply them.41 In 1542 it
was ordered that the stocks should be amended and
' le kucking-stole and le pillarye ' newly made."
In 1 3 10 the king had a prison at Stevenage within
the liberty of the Abbot of Westminster. In that
year an order was issued for the justices of gaol delivery
to release from the prison one Andrew Baron ' and
to lead him back to the church of Stevenage whither
he had fled for sanctuary for larceny, certain malefactors
having withdrawn him from the church and taken him
to the said prison.' "
The manor of HJLFH1DE, of which the overlord-
ship is not known, first appears in 1408-9, when it
was held by John Chertsey of Broxbourne, who in
that year released his right in it to William Skrene,44
probably for the purpose of a settlement. Edmund
Chertsey, son or grandson of John Chertsey,45 died before
1475, leaving a son William*6 ; Eleanor his widow,
however, conveyed the manor to John Northwood
and others, probably trustees in a sale, in 1478-9."
In the first half of the next century Halfhide came
into the possession of Matthew Ward and Alice his
wife, who in 1553 conveyed it to John Lord
Mordaunt.48 The latter was succeeded in 1561 by
his son John, whose son and heir Lewis inherited
Halfhide with the rest of his father's estates in 1 57 1,49
and sold the manor in 1601 to Rowland Lytton and
Sir Henry Wallop.50 Sir Henry Wallop conveyed
his moiety to Rowland Lytton in l6lO,51 and it
descended in his family in the same way as the manor
of Knebworth.52
Free warren in Halfhide was granted to William
Lytton in 161653 and is mentioned with free fishery
in 181 1. The present farm-house called Halfhide
lies in the neighbouring parish of Shephall.
The manor of HOMELETS probably took its name
from the family of Ivo de Homeley (Homlie), who held
land in Stevenage in 1275, 140 acres of which were
then held of him by Laurence de Brok." It appears
to have been held of the Abbot of Westminster of the
manor of Stevenage.55 In 1305 Robert de Depedene,
who was holding the manor in right of his wife
Isabel, conveyed it to William de Chilterne.56 In
the reign of Edward III it seems to have been held
by Alice Homeley, whose predecessor had been Robert
de Sutton.57 Probably it was among the possessions
of John Chertsey of Broxbourne at the beginning of
the 15th century, for his successor Edmund Chertsey
gave Homeleys to Thomas Skrene, with remainder in
tail to William Skrene, brother of Thomas, with
STEVENAGE
remainder to the heirs of Edmund Chertsey.58 Upon
the death of Thomas Skrene without issue in 1466
the manor passed to John Skrene, grandson of his
brother William.69 John died in 1474 without heirs,
whereupon Homeleys reverted to William son and heir
of Edmund Chertsey.60 After this date Homeleys
followed the same descent as the manor of Halfhide.61
Free warren in Homeleys was granted to William
Lytton in l6l6.62
The manor or tenement of BROMESEND was
held of the Abbot of Westminster of his manor of
Stevenage for rent and suit of court.63 It seems to
have taken its name from the family of Brome, who
appear in Stevenage in the 14th century. Roger
atte Brome held a messuage and half virgate in the
reign of Edward II, and was living in 1325,64 after
which he was succeeded by Robert atte Brome, who
held it in the time of Edward III. Anabill Brome,
who had held 2 acres in Chalkdellfeld before Robert's
time,65 was doubtless one of the same family. In the
15th century Bromesend came into the possession of
the Chertseys, and was given by Edmund Chertsey to
Thomas Skrene,66 together with the manor of Home-
leys, with which it subsequently descended.6'
Free warren in Bromesend was granted to William
Lytton in 1616.68
CHELLS. — In the reign of Edward the Confessor
a hide and a half in ' Escelveia,' which had once
belonged to Welwyn, were held by Alwin, with the
exception of 10 acres and a toft which belonged to
Alwin Dode, a man of Aluric the Little.69 Half a
hide in ' Scelva ' was held by Aluric, a man of Aluric
of Benington,70 and a half virgate belonged to Aluric
Busch, who at that time was one of Swen's men and
of King Edward's soke.71 By 1086 Alwin's hide
and a half had come into the hands of Peter de
Valognes, of whom they were held by Godfrey.72
The half hide was held of Robert Gernon by the
William who held Letchworth and other lands,"3 while
the half virgate had been retained by Aluric Busch,
but was held of Geoffrey de Bech.74 The Scelva or
Escelveia of these holdings has been identified with
Chells (Chelse, xv and xvi cent.), a manor in this
parish.75 The overlordship of Chells, however, does
not seem to have been held by the descendants of
any of these three, for in 1295 the manor was held
for a sixth of a fee of Roger le Strange.76 This
Roger, who was the son of Hamon le Strange,
married Maud widow of Roger Mowbray and co-
heiress of William de Beauchamp,7' so that this fee
may have been previously held by any of the three
families of Le Strange, Mowbray, or Beauchamp.
" Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 55.
« Ibid. no. 62.
48 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 292.
44 Close, 10 Hen. IV, m. 31.
45 Ibid. 9 Hen. VI, m. 3, 4 ; Feet of
F. Herts. 6 Hen. V, no. 38.
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 42.
47 Close, 18 Edw. IV, m. 14.
4S Recov. R. East. 7 Edw. VI, rot. 100 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 7 Edw. VI.
49 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
M Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 43 Eliz.
51 Ibid. 7 Jas. I.
52 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix,
114; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 13
Chas. II; Recov. R. Hil. 51 Geo. Ill,
rot. 41 ; Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater
Hand. 90.
61 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
54 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. I, no. 10.
a5 Doc. at Westm. Herts. Stevenage,
no. 26386.
56 Feet of F. Herts. 34 Edw. I, no. 412.
5/ Doc. at Westm. Herts. Stevenage,
no. 26386.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 42 ;
6 Edw. IV, no. 25. 59 Ibid.
60 Chan. Inq. 14 Edw. IV, no. 42.
61 Recov. R. East. 7 Edw. VI, rot.
100; Mich. 2 Eliz. rot. 710; Mich.
42 Eliz. rot. 55 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
43 Eliz.; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
ccclix, 114; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin.
13 Chas. II ; Recov. R. Hil. 51 Geo. Ill,
rot. 41.
62 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
63 Doc. at Westm. Herts. Stevenage,
no. 26386.
H3
64 Ibid. ; Cal. fat. 1324-7, p. 91.
63 Doc. at Westm. Herts. Stevenage,
no. 26386.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. IV, no. 42.
67 Recov. R. East. 7 Edw. VI, rot.
100 ; Mich. 2 Eliz. rot. 710 ; Mich. 42
Eliz. rot. 55 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
43 Eliz. ; Hil. 7 Jas. I ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), cccclix.
68 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. xvii, no. 9.
69 V.C.H. Herts, i, 336*.
70 Ibid. 323A.
71 Ibid. 333a.
72 Ibid. 3 3 6b.
73 Ibid. 323A.
74 Ibid. 333*.
'5 Ibid. 297.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Edw. I, no. 6f>.
7' G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
-\f\s\r
\ru\r,
e
Pateshull. Argent
Jesse wavy bet-ween
ce crescents sable.
It seems probable, however, that Roger le Strange
held it in right of his wife Maud, for upon his death
without children in 1 3 1 I 78 it evidently passed to
Roger de Mowbray son of Maud by her first husband,
since Chells was held in 1 3 59 of John de Mowbray,
great-grandson of Maud.79 The tenure does not
therefore confirm the identification of Chells with
the Scelva of 1086.
Under Roger Le Strange the manor appears in the
tenure of the family of Pateshull. The earliest
known member of the family
is Simon de Pateshull, chief
justice of the Common Pleas,
who died about 1217,80 and
had a son John.81 The first,
however, who is known to
have held Chells is Simon de
Pateshull, son of this John,82
a well-known judge, who died
seised of the manor about
1295, and was succeeded by
his son John.83 John's son M
and successor William de
Pateshull died in 1359, leav-
ing as his heirs his three
sisters : Sibyl wife of Roger de Beauchamp, Alice
wife of Thomas Wake and Catherine wife of Robert
deTodenham ; and also Roger son of a fourth sister
Maud and her husband Walter de Fauconberg.85
Chells was assigned to Alice and Thomas Wake, who
in 1373 conveyed it to their son Thomas and his
wife Maud.86 Maud survived her husband and
held the manor until her death in 1425, when it
passed to her grandson Thomas Wake.87 There is
then a gap in the records of the manor. This
Thomas is known to have died in 1458 and to
have been succeeded by his son Thomas.88 It was
perhaps the latter who conveyed Chells to John
Norreys, who died seised of it in 1521.89 John
Norreys was also lord of the manor of Boxburv,
which manor his son and successor John Norreys sold
to Philip Boteler in 1526.90 Probably Chells was
conveyed to the Botelers about the same time, for it
was settled by Sir Philip on his son John,91 and appears
in his possession in 1562.93 After that date it fol-
lows the same descent as the manor of Boxbury 93 in
Walkern, with which it was henceforward associated.
The manor of BROOKS (Brokes, Brokys) took its
name from the family of Brok, who held land in Steven-
age in the 1 3 th century. Laurence de Brok, son of Adam
de Brok,94 died about 1275 seised of considerable posses-
sions in Stevenage, of which 300 acres with a capital
messuage were held of the Abbot of St. Albans,
200 acres with a windmill of the Abbot of West-
minster, 140 acres of Ivo de Homeley and 100 acres
of Robert de Graveley.95 Some or all of these por-
tions were probably known as ' Brooks,' for the manor
is mentioned by that name in a deed of the same
year by which it was conveyed to Laurence's son and
heir Hugh.96 Hugh de Brok was succeeded before
1 294 by his son, another Laurence,97 whose widow
Ellen was holding his lands in 1330, with reversion
to her son Ralph.98 Ralph's heirs, who succeeded
before 1346," were his three daughters Joan, Ellen
and Agnes, the eldest of whom died without issue.
His lands were therefore divided between Ellen and
Agnes. Agnes had a daughter Joan,100 who was per-
haps identical with Joan the wife of Robert Corbet,
who was holding Brooks with her husband in 1400.1
There is no further record of the manor until towards
the end of the 15th century, by which time it had
come into the possession of Edmund Node.2 His
wife Joan survived him, and enfeoffed her second son
William to the use of herself and her heirs, with the
condition that he made an estate to his elder brother,
who was also called William. He, however, refused
to do this, and between 1493 and 1500 his mother
brought a suit against him
to compel him to give up
the manor.3 William Node
was holding Brooks in 1521,4
and seems to have been suc-
ceeded by another William,
who in 1564 sold the manor
to Robert Ivory.5 The latter
conveyed it in the same year
to John Bagshawe.6 In 1608
it was purchased from Edmund
Bagshawe, probably the son
of John, by William Field,7
who in 1 61 4 sold it in his
turn to Ralph Radcliffe of
Hitchin Priory8 (q. v.). Brooks
has since descended in the
Radcliffe family,9 and is now in the possession of
Mr. Francis A. Delme-Radcliffe, J. P.
Ellen widow of Laurence de Brok was granted free
warren in her lands in Stevenage in 1330.10
CAN NIX, CANlf'TKES, or BROXBOURNES,
was named from its early tenants, and was held of
the manor of Stevenage by military service.11 It
seems to have been identical with the messuage and
virgate held of the Abbot of Westminster in 131 5 by
John de Broxbourne.12 His son Richard held the
Radclifji of
Hitchin. Argent a
crosslet gules between
two bends engrailed sable
with a label azure over
all.
78 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
79 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill
(1st nos.), no. 40.
80 Diet. Nat. Biog.
81 Wrottesley, PeJ. from the Plea R. 74.
» Ibid.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Edw. I, no. 66.
84 Wrottesley, PeJ. from the Plea R. 74.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill ( 1st
noB.), no. 40.
86 Feet of F. Div. Co. 47 Edw. Ill,
no. 100.
s7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. VI, no. 20.
88 Ibid. 37 Hen. VI, no. 19.
89 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxviii, 34.
90 Feet of F. Herts. East. 18 Hen. VIII.
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxiii, 72.
95 Feet of F. Herts. East. 4 Eliz.
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccii,
no. 144 ; Privy Seal Docket Blc. xi ;
Cal. S. P. Dom. 4637-8, p. 1 9 ; Feet of
F. Herts. Mich. 33 Chas. II ; Recov. R.
Mich. 1 Geo. II, rot. 22 ; Mich. 1 1
Geo. Ill, rot. 185; Hil. 55 Geo. Ill,
rot. 248.
94 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii,
516.
95 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. I, no. 10.
96 Harl. Chart. 46 F. 45.
97 Add. Chart. 977 ; Harl. Chart. 46
G. 3.
98 Wrottesley, PeJ. from the Plea R.
428 ; Chart. R. 4 Edw. Ill, m. 14,
no. 28. " FeuJ. Aids, ii, 436.
100 Wrottesley, PeJ. from the Plea R.
428.
I44
1 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Hen. IV,
no. 1.
2 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 216, no. 19.
3 Ibid.
* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxri, 76.
5 Feet of F. Herts. East. 6 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. East. 6 Eliz. rot. 153.
6 Close, 7 Eliz. pt. xviii, m. 2.
7 Ibid. 6 Jas. I, pt. xxiv, no. 7.
8 Ibid. 12 Jas. I, pt. xxiv, no. 29.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. Misc. dxviii, 25 ;
Recov. R. Mich. 13 Chas. I, rot. 83 ;
10 Geo. I, rot. 327.
10 Chart. R. 4 Edw. Ill, m. 14, no. 28.
11 Mins. Accts. 1 & 2 Hen. VIII,
no. 20.
19 MSS. quoted by Clutterbuck, op. cit.
ii, App.p. 14 ; Line. Epis. Reg. Burghersh.
Stevenace Church from the North-east
Stevenage Church : The Nave looking East
BROADWATER HUNDRED
property during the reign of Edward III. It is then
described as being at ' Srewentenwode.' The same
Richard also held a third of a fee in ' Kechenbrech '
which had formerly belonged to Laurence de Brok,
and for which he paid 24/.13 Nothing more is heard
of the estate until about 1 509, when William
Canwyke paid a relief of 40/. for certain land in
Stevenage called ' Broxborne ' which he had received
from Petronilla his mother." In I 5 10 Samuel and
Clemence Canwyke sold the ' manor ' to William
Lytton of Knebworth, who died seised of it in 151 7.15
At the death of his son Robert Lytton in 1550 it
was divided among his three daughters, Ellen the
wife of John Brockett, Elizabeth wife of Thomas
Lyttel, and Anne, who married John Burlace.16 It
seems to have been divided later among the five
daughters of Ellen and John Brockett, for a fifth of
Cannix was held in 1599 and 1623 by Sir Richard
Spencer and Helen daughter of Ellen and John
Brockett,17 and in 1604. another fifth appears in the
possession of Alexander Cave and Anne, another
daughter.18 Eventually, however, the whole returned
to the male line of the Lyttons and descended in the
same manner as Knebworth 19 (cj.v.). It is men-
tioned in 18 11,20 after which its identity was
probably lost among the other lands held by the
Lyttons in Stevenage. Cannocks Wood in the south-
west of the parish perhaps preserves its name.
In 1308 John de Broxbourn obtained a licence
for an oratory in his ' manor of Stevenage,' " probably
at Cannix.
The parish church of ST. NICHO-
CHURCH LAS consists of a chancel, nave, north
and south aisles, and north and south
chapels in line with the aisles, west tower, north
vestry, south transept and south porch.22 It is
probably built of flint, but the walls are covered with
cement. The flat roofs are covered with lead, and
the tower has a tall octagonal leaded spire. The
tower, nave and chancel and aisles have embattled
parapets.
The earliest portion of the existing church is the
tower, which was built in the first half of the 12th
century, and appears to have formed the tower and
west porch combined of the original church, which
probably consisted of a chancel, nave and tower.
Early in the 13th century it is probable that the
whole church except the tower was rebuilt and aisles
added. The present nave is of this date. The
chancel now standing was built about 1330, and the
aisles were widened to their present dimensions at
the same time. A doorway in the east wall of the
tower above the low-pitched roof seems to indicate
that the roof of the 14th century was of a pitch high
enough to inclose it. The present roof with the
clearstory is of the 15 th century, when the nave
arcades were rebuilt from the capitals upwards, the
pillars with their bases being of the earlier date.
The bell chamber of the tower was also added or
rebuilt in the 15th century. The south porch, if
STEVENAGE
not actually modern, has been wholly restored, and
the south transept is modern.
The chancel has a modern east window of four
lights with tracery in 15th-century style. In the
north wall is a window of the 14th century, now
blocked up, with three lights under a square head.
The inner jambs have an edge-roll and the low rear
arch is two-centred with an internal hood mould.
The south window is like it, but is open and has
been repaired externally with cement.
The arcades between the chancel and the north
and south chapels are of two bays and are of the
14th century. The middle pillar on each side is
octagonal, but, while the responds of the north arcade
are semi-octagonal, those of the south arcade are
semicircular. The bases and capitals of both pillars
and all the responds are moulded. The two-centred
arches are of two chamfered orders.
In the chancel is a piscina now cemented over
which may be old ; against the east wall behind the
altar is the upper part of a 15th-century traceried
screen, painted over, of which the lower part stands
at the entrance to the chancel. The three sedilia on
the south side, of cement, are modern. There is no
chancel arch.
The north chapel has an east window of four lights
with tracery of the 14th century. It has an inner
edge-roll like those in the chancel, and has been
much repaired with cement. The north wall has
two 14th-century windows of two lights with pointed
heads and labels, and a third window which is
modern but a copy of the other two. The first
window is blocked externally, but the tracery is
visible inside. The second is altogether blocked, only
the outline being visible externally. The south
chapel has an east window and two south windows
like those in the north chapel and of the same date.
Those in the south wall differ from the rest in having
their inner jambs and arches moulded with an
undercut edge-roll and in having moulded labels ;
they are repaired with cement externally. Between
the two windows is a pointed doorway also of the
14th century. There is a piscina in this chapel,
probably contemporary, which has a cinquefoiled
head and a trefoiled basin.
The nave has north and south arcades of four bays,
with octagonal pillars and moulded bases of the 1 3th
century, but the capitals and pointed arches of two
hollow-chamfered orders were inserted early in the
15th century. The bases, and the labels of the
western bays, are mutilated, the latter for the fitting of
a gallery. The clearstory of the 15 th century has
square-headed windows from which the tracery
is gone.
The north aisle has three windows in the north
wall, the easternmost being of four lights in a square
head. It is probably a I 5th-century insertion, but the
tracery is modern ; the second is a two-light window,
with tracery in a pointed head, and is probably of the
14th century, but here again the tracery is modern.
13 Doc. at Westn
0. 26^,86.
11 Mins. Accts. 1
Herts. Stevenage,
& 2 Hen. VIII,
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 5.
16 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 & 2 Phi
and Mary; Mich. 445 Phil, and M„ry
Mich. 2 & 3 Eliz. ; East. 7 Eliz.
17 Ibid. Trin. 41 Eliz.; Recov. R.
Trin. 21 Jas. I, rot. 55.
18 Ibid. East. 2 Jas. I, rot. 72 ; Visit.
of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 32.
19 Channcy, op. cit. 358.
20 Recov. R. Hil. 51 Geo. HI, rot.
+1-
'45
81 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Dalderby,
117.
-2 Dimensions : chancel, 39 ft. by 17 ft.;
north chapel, 25 ft. by 13 ft.; south
chapel, 25ft. by 12 ft.; nave, 43 ft. by
16 ft..; north aisle, 13 ft. 6 in. wide;
south aisle, 12 ft. 6 in. wide ; west
tower, 16 ft. by 15 ft.
'9
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The third is similar, of the 14th century, and is
repaired externally. Close to the west extremity
of the wall is a doorway of 14th-century date,
restored. The west window is modern.
The south aisle has a modern archway in the south,
opening into the transept, and west of it a 14th-
century window of two lights, like those in the south
chapel ; near the west wall is a pointed doorway of
the 14th century, which has been repaired ; the west
window is modern.
The west tower opens to the nave by a I 2th-century
arch with shafted jambs on the west side, roughly
carved capitals, and a semicircular head with an edge-
roll. The east side of the arch is plain. The tower
is of two stages without external division. It is of
the 1 2th century, but the diagonal angle buttresses
were added probably in the 15th century. It has an
embattled parapet and a leaded spire. The west
doorway is of the 12 th century, but has been much
has been repaired. At the feet of the principal
cross-ribs of the chancel roof are carved angels ; the
other parts of the church have wood corbels, some of
them carved.
The font is of early 13th-century date, and has a
square bowl, carved with foliage, and standing on a
circular stem with small round detached angle-shafts
having moulded bases and capitals.
There are three stalls in the chancel, and three in
the tower, with carved misericordes, dating from the
end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15 th century.
In the chancel is a brass of Stephen Hellard, rector,
of about I 500, with the figure of the priest in a cope,
and an inscription. The date is not filled in, but he
died in 1506. In the north aisle are the indents of a
man and his two wives, with their sons and daughters,
and of an inscription, of mid- 1 5 th-century type ; and
in the nave is a slab with the indent of a fioreated
cross, apparently of the 14th century.
I2*Cent*
13'*Cent
14*Cent
15*Cent
IGTent
□ Modecn
Plan of Stevenage Church
repaired with cement. The jambs have shafts with
rude bases, capitals and abaci. The arch, which is
semicircular, is of two orders, the outer having an
edge-roll. The north and south walls have small
round-headed windows of original date, high up, and
above the tower arch is a round-headed doorway
which formerly gave access to the 12th-century roof.
Over this again is a pointed doorway, which from its
position would seem to have opened to the 14th-
century roof, but is now outside, above the present
roof. On each side of this doorway is a small circular
opening in the bell-chamber wall. The three re-
maining sides at this level have repaired 15th-century
windows of two lights in a pointed head.
No date can be assigned to the south porch, owing
to its complete restoration.
The roofs of the chancel and nave are of the
15th century, of a low pitch, with traceried trusses.
The lean-to roofs of the nave and aisles, which are of
the same date, are nearly flat ; that of the north aisle
In the north aisle is a (formerly) recumbent effigy
of a lady. Her hands are raised in prayer, and an
angel and a priest support her elbows. The date
appears to be late 13th or early 14th century. The
effigy is much mutilated, the part below the knees
being wanting, and the fragment is now set upright,
to the east of the north door. In the chancel is a
mural monument to William Pratt, 1629.
There are six bells : the treble by John Briant,
1797, the second dated 1670, by an unknown
founder, and the remainder by John Briant, dated
1783, 1795, 1783, and 1783 respectively. The
fifth bell has been recast.
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
of 1634 and a paten and flagon of 1683.
The registers, beginning in 1564, are contained in
seven books, as follows : (i) baptisms 1542 to 1599,
burials 1545 to 1598, marriages I 539 to 1598 ; (ii)
baptisms 156; to 1649 ; (iii) baptisms 1653 to 1726,
burials 1653 to 1726, marriages 1661 to 1726 ; (iv)
[46
Stevenage Church : The Font
BROADWATER HUNDRED
STEVENAGE
baptisms 1 726 to 1 761, burials 1 726 to 1 75 5, marriages
1726 to 1753 ; (v) baptisms 1762 to 1812, burials
1756 to 1812 ; (vi) marriages 1754 to 1765 ; (vii)
marriages 1766 to 181 2.
The advowson of the church be-
ADVOIVSON longed to the Abbot of Westminster.
In the 13th century the incumbent
paid a pension of 50/. to the abbey.23 The church
belonged subsequently to the Bishop of Westminster
until the surrender of that bishopric to Edward VI
in 1550." In that year the advowson and rectory
were granted by the king to Sir William Herbert,
K.G.,2;i who was created Earl of Pembroke in 1551
and died in March 1569-70.20 His son Henry sold the
advowson in I 575 to Edward Wilson,27 who is said to
have conveyed it in the same year to Thomas Clerke.
Thomas had a son John,23 to whom he conveyed the
advowson in 1 5 8g,*9 John having previously obtained
a release of the same from Edward and William
Clerke,30 perhaps his brothers. He died in 1595,
leaving four sons, of whom Thomas was the eldest.3'
The advowson is said to have been subsequently
acquired by the families of Smith and Chester.33 In
1664 presentation was made by Francis Flexmere and
Allan Read, merchant tailors,33 and in 1678 by
James Goulston,34 who perhaps obtained it for one
turn from Stafford Leventhorpe, who owned the
rectory about that time.3'1 Thomas Duckett presented
in 1689,36 about which time the advowson and rectory
came into the hands of Joseph Bentham, D.D., who
presented in 1719.3' The latter sold the advowson
in 1720 to Charles Baron,38 who presented with
George Whorton and Jacob Jefferey in I723,39 and is
said to have sold the rectory and advowson to
Nicholas Cholwell in 1724.40 The latter presented
in 1725, and he or his son, with Rowland Ingram,
in 1733." Ann Ingram, widow, presented in 1737,"
probably for one turn, after which Nicholas Cholwell
the younger is said to have sold the rectory and
advowson in 1 76 1 to William Baker,43 who possessed
the advowson in 1762," and whose son was holding
it in 1 82 1.*0 His grandson William Robert Baker
sold it in 1869 to John Allen,46 who held it until
1 899, when it was acquired by the Rev. Canon Allen.
It was transferred to the Bishop of St. Albans in
1906. "
A fraternity of the Holy Trinity in the church of
St. Nicholas at Stevenage is mentioned in 1446.43
Bequests were also made to it in 1483 and 1497.49
In 1558 the Brotherhood House with 6 acres of
ground belonging was granted to Sir George
Howard.50 There was a light to the Virgin in the
church mentioned in I 5 12."
The church of the HOLT TRINITY, which was
erected in 1861, is served from that of St. Nicholas.
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in
23 Rot. Hug. Wells (Cant, and York
34 Ibid.
SoC.),i,2,.
35 Exch. Depos. 24 & 25 Chas. II,
24 Cal. Pat. 1330-4, pp. 106, 486 ;
Hil. no. 2.
Dugdale, Mon. i, 28 i.
36 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
25 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. ix, m. 41.
37 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 441 ; Exch.
30 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
Depos. 5 Anne, East. no. 8 ; Bacon,
27 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 441, quoting
Liter Regis.
evidences of William Baker.
38 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. quoting evi-
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccdiii, 83.
dences of William Baker.
23 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 31 Eliz.
39 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
30 Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. xvii, m. 38.
4U Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 442.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxliii, 83.
41 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
3S Clutterbuck, on. cit. ii, 441.
42 Ibid.
33 Inst. Eks. (P.R.O.).
41 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
Stevenage were certified from 1698. In 18 14 a
chapel was opened in connexion with the Academy
at Wymondley 52 (q.v.). At the present time there
are in the parish chapels of the Wesleyans, Baptists
and Strict Baptists.
Educational Charities. — For the
CHJRITIES grammar school, endowed by will of
the Rev. Thomas Alleyn, 1558, and
the English or Pettits School, founded in 1562, see
article on ' Schools.' 63
The National school, comprised in deed, 1834, is
endowed with £106 ji. id. consols, by will of Miss
Charlotte Amelia Hinde Whittington, proved in
1867 ; £21 10/. \d. consols, by will of Miss Susanna
Smyth, proved in 1867 ; and £321 5/. yd. consols,
by will of George Smyth, proved in I 868.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees, producing in the aggregate ^ 1 1 4/. \d.
yearly.
The Consolidated Charities are regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners, 26 March
1909, as varied by scheme of 26 April 1910. They
comprise the charities of —
1. The almshouses founded by Stephen Hellard,
priest and rector, by deed, 20 November, 17 Henry VII
(1501), whereby certain lands and a newly-built
messuage, to be called 'AH Christian Souls' House,'
were conveyed to the uses of donor's last will, bearing
date 20 December 1501. The trust property now
consists of eight almshouses in Back Lane and
13 a. 3 r. 1 3 p. of land with messuage let at ^14 a
year.
2. George Clerke, will, 1556, being a rent-charge
of £2 10s. issuing out of Boxbury Tithe, parish of
Walkern.
3. Robert Gynne, by will, 1 604, consisting of a rent-
charge of £1 issuing out of Ditchmore Mead, another
rent-charge of £ 1 I os. out of Maidenhead in Stevenage,
£13 14/. 8d. consols, and the right of the poor to
receive 10 bushels of good grain (commonly called
Misleyne or Maslin) charged on Fisher's Green Farm.
4. John Elmer, will, 1622, formerly consisting of
a messuage or inn in Ware, called the ' Black Swan,'
which has been sold, the share of Stevenage being
represented by £414 Js- id. consols.
5. Edward Swallow, will, 1629, being a rent-
charge of £1 issuing out of land at Cottered.
6. Rev. Richard Cholwell, a former rector, by deed,
1773, formerly a poor-house, now occupied by the
premises of the Stevenage Gas Company at a rental
of £18 a year.
7. Miss Charlotte Amelia Hinde Whittington, for
poor, by will proved 1867, trust fund, X3'9 V-
consols.
8. Susanna Smyth, for poor, by will proved 1868,
trust fund, £\bz 3-f. 3</. consols ; and
44 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2 Geo. III.
45 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
46 Cussans, op. cit. Broad-water Hund.
98.
47 Clergy Lists ; information kindly
supplied by Rev. W. Jowitt.
48 Archd. of St. Albans Wills, Stoneham,
50a.
49 Ibid. 44 ; P.C.C. 15 Home.
50 Pat. 5 & 6 Phil, and Mary, pt. iii.
51 Archd. of St. Albans Wills, Walling-
ford, 119.
52 Urwick, op. cit. 605—6.
63 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 69 et .eq.
147
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
9. George Smyth, for poor, by will proved 1 87 1,
trust fund, £762 18/. lod. consols.
The several sums of stock, amounting in the aggre-
gate to £1,672 js. consols, are held by the official
trustees, producing an annual income of £41 \6s.
The scheme provides that the full number of alms-
people shall be eight in number and that every alms-
person shall be in receipt of a properly secured income
of not less than 5/. a week, either from the charities
or other sources, a yearly sum of not more than
^58 1 or. out of the net income of the charities to be
applied for this purpose. The residue of the income
is directed to be applied for the benefit of the poor
generally, including donations to a dispensary, hospital,
&c, or any provident club ; also in contributions
towards the provision of nurses, and also to the extent
of £10 a year in the distribution of articles in kind
and in medical aid in sickness.
Charity of Rev. Thomas Alley n for four poor
men.54 — The sum of ^5 6s. Sd. is received from
Trinity College, Cambridge, and duly applied.
In 1668 the Rev. Thomas Chapman by his will
devised certain messuages and lands in Stevenage,
subject to the payment of £8 per annum, to buy
cloth and bread for the poor of this parish, Ash well,
St. Paul's Warden and Norton. The property charged
has been sold, and, being difficult of identification, the
payments have ceased to be made.
'The Eadon Fund' consists of £113 <)s. 6d.
Tasmanian Government 3 per cent, inscribed stock,
arising under the will of Elinor Maria Frederica
Eadon, proved at London 4 January 1902. The
stock is held by the official trustees, and the annual
dividend, amounting to £3 8/., is in pursuance of a
scheme, 30 November 1909, applicable in apprenticing
a boy who is a baptized member of the Church of
England, the income to accumulate until sufficient
for the purpose.
TOTTERIDGE
Taterugg, Titerege (xiii and xiv cent.) ; Tate-
ryche, Thariges, Taregh (xv and xvi cent.) ; Tatte-
ridge (xvii cent.).
The parish of Totteridge is entirely separate from
the rest of the hundred, and lies about 10 miles
south of Hatfield. It was till 1 892 a detached
chapelry of Hatfield parish, being an outlying part of
the possessions of the Bishops of Ely, lords of the
manor of Hatfield. It adjoins the parish of Arkley
on the north, and on the south, east and west is
surrounded by the neighbouring parishes of Middlesex.
The Dollis Brook forms the eastern boundary.
The parish has an area of 1,603 acres, of which
20 acres are arable land, 1,424^ acres permanent
grass and 2 acres wood.1 The subsoil is London
Clay.
The land attains a height of 400 ft. in the
centre of the parish, from which it falls towards
the north and south to a little under 300 ft., and
in the east, towards the Dollis Brook, to about
230 ft. The road from Whetstone to Mill Hill
runs through the parish from east to west along
the central ridge, and the long and straggling village
of Totteridge follows its course. At the eastern end
is Totteridge Green, which runs south from the
road, towards Laurel Farm. A short distance further
up the hill westwards is the church of St. Andrew, on
the north side of the road, and Copped Hall, with
an extensive park, on the opposite side. Near the
hall is a I 7th-century timber barn with a tiled roof,
and a similar barn is near the church. Further west
along the village street are the Grange, the property
of Sir Charles Nicholson, and Totteridge Park, on
the site of the old manor-house, the residence of
Mr. A. Barratt. Poynter's Hall (formerly when in
the possession of the Paget family called Poynter's
Grove) is the residence of Mrs. Harmsworth ; the
old house called the Priory that of Miss Foss.
Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist divine and
author, lived for a time at Totteridge after his dis-
charge from prison in the reign of Charles II. Rachel
Lady Russell also had a house in this parish where
she sometimes resided after the execution of Lord
Russell.
The nearest railway station is that of Totteridge
and Whetstone, a short distance beyond the eastern
boundary of the parish, on the High Barnet branch
of the Great Northern railway.
TOTTERIDGE is not mentioned in
MJNORS the Domesday Survey. The first record
of it seems to be in I 248, when Hugh
Bishop of Ely received licence ' that during any
vacancy of the see four chaplains appointed by the
said bishop to celebrate mass daily for the souls of the
king and queen, his ancestors and successors, and for
the souls of the bishop, his predecessors and suc-
cessors, shall receive yearly from the issues of the
manors of Totteridge and Brumford, which the said
bishop bought for that purpose, 20 marks by the
hands of the keepers of the said manors, 10 marks at
Michaelmas at the Exchequer of Ely and 10 marks at
Lady Day.'2 It seems probable that the bishop had
bought out the under-tenant and that the manor had
always been an outlying member of Hatfield, for as
parochially Totteridge was a chapelry of Hatfield
there must have been some ancient connexion between
the two places, and in 1277 it was returned as
' accustomed to return half a knight's fee in the
manor of Hatfield.' 3 In the second half of the 13th
century the manor seems to have been held by
Laurence de Brok for life, for in 1275 Matilda
widow of Laurence claimed a third of the manor in
dower from Bishop Hugh and had it duly delivered.'1
Possibly Laurence de Brok was the tenant who sold
the manor to the Bishop of Ely.
The Bishops of Ely continued to hold the manor5
until 1561, being allowed to keep it when the manor
of Hatfield was sold to the king in 1538.6 In I 561,
however, Totteridge was acquired by Queen Elizabeth
in exchange for a pension to the bishop.7 Before
" See V.C.H. Herts, ii, 69.
1 Statistics from B.l. of Agric. (1905).
" Cat. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 329-
8 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, App. 15,
quoting Intj. of 1277 ; Feud. Aids,
iii
6L. and P. Hen.
VIII, xiii
«
42S.
' De Banco R. 1 1, m. 70 d.
904.
7 Gibbons, Ely Epis
Records, 12
Pat
5 Feud. Aids, ii, 444, 449.
4 Eliz. pt. i, m. 1 2.
148
BROADWATER HUNDRED
this a lease of the manor had been granted by the
Bishop of Ely to John Brockett, who sold it some
time later to Richard Peacock for £1,1 oo.6 In
1579-80 Elizabeth granted the court leet and view
of frankpledge and the profits of the manor to John
Moore for twenty-one years,9 and in 1590 she
granted the manor to John Cage, to hold for one-
twentieth of a knight's fee, of the honour of Hampton
Court.10 About 1603 John Cage and Richard
Peacock had a prolonged lawsuit for the possession of
the manor." John and Katherine Cage and Richard
their son and heir released their right in l6o7,ls
apparently in favour of the Peacocks, for it seems to
have descended to another Richard Peacock, who
married Rechard Grigge, who was holding the manor
in 1678 13 and died before 1689. " Rechard had
fourteen children, and, surviving her husband and all
her sons, sold Totteridge in that year to Sir Francis
Pemberton and Isaac Foxcroft.15 They apparently
conveyed it to Sir Paul Whichcote, who was lord
of the manor in 1700.16 The latter sold Totteridge
in 1720-1 to James Duke of Chandos,17 from whom
it passed to his son Henry in 1744.18 Henry
Duke of Chandos conveyed it in 1748 to Sir
William Lee, Lord Chief Justice of the King's
Bench,19 who was succeeded by his son William,20 and
before 1786 by his grandson, also Sir William Lee,
who took the additional surname of Antonie.21 Sir
William Lee Antonie died in 181 5, when Totteridge
passed to his nephew John, the son of his sister
Harriet and John Fiott. This John, who was a
scientist and collector of antiquities, assumed the
surname of Lee, and was holdi ng the manor in 1821."
Upon his death without children in I 866 Totteridge
was inherited by his brother the Rev. Nicholas Fiott,
who also took the name of Lee.23 Sir Samuel
Boulton, bart., is the present lord of the manor.21
Free warren was granted to the Bishop of Ely at
Totteridge in 1250-I.25 About 1580 the office of
keeper of the pheasants and partridges was surren-
dered by Augustine Sparks and was granted to John
Pratt, with a fee of \d. a day and £1 6s. %d. for a
yearly livery coat.26 In 1 6 1 1 the reversion of this
office was granted in survivorship to Alban Coxe and
John his son.27
A new windmill is mentioned at Totteridge in
I277.28
Totteridge seems to have had courts of its own
separate from the manor of Hatfield,29 although view
of frankpledge is not mentioned in connexion with
it until 1580, when court leet and view of frank-
pledge were granted by Elizabeth to John Moore
for twenty-one years, for a rent of 3/. 4a'.30 The
Hake, Lord Cole-
raine. Gules two bars
and a chief indented or.
TOTTERIDGE
rights of the Bishops of Ely in Hatfield probably
extended to Totteridge as a member of that manor.31
A capital messuage, held of the manor of Totteridge
by knight's service, was purchased from the trustees
of John Cage at the beginning
of the 17th century by Hugh
Hare and his brother John,
who were jointly seised of it.32
John Hare died in 1613,
leaving his house in Totteridge
to his honest bailiff Richard
Hare and his wife for their
lives,33 after which it seems to
have passed to his son Hugh,
who in 1625 was created Lord
Coleraine.34 The latter died
and was buried at Totteridge
in 1667, and was succeeded
by his son Henry, second
Lord Coleraine, who died in 1708. At the death of
Henry Hare, grandson of the second baron, in 1 749
the peerage became extinct.35 The house is said to
have been afterwards the residence of Sir Robert
Atkyns, K.B., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer,
but it was pulled down shortly before 1821 and
another house built on its site by John Fiott,36 lord
of the manor of Totteridge.
COPPED HALL in this parish is perhaps iden-
tical with a capital messuage held in the 1 6th century
by one John Copwood, who died seised of it in 1543.
leaving a daughter Sophia.37 It seems to have passed
soon afterwards into the possession of the family of
Clyffe. Richard Clyffe held a 'manor or capital
messuage' in Totteridge at his death in 1566, leaving
it to his illegitimate son William Clyffe or Smyth,
with remainder to Richard's brother Geoffrey and
his son Richard.38 In the following century it was
held by Edward Clyffe, who died about 1635, leaving
two sons, William, on whom the property was settled,
and Edward.39 Copped Hall was for some time
owned by William Manning, father of Henry Edward,
Cardinal Manning, who was born there in 1808.40
Since 1875 it has been occupied by Sir Samuel Bagster
Boulton, bart., A.I.C.E., F.R.G.S., J.P., D.L., who
has enlarged the house.
SERLESFIELD, which is mentioned in 1277,"
was in the 1 6th century in the tenure of Richard
Snowe, who between 1544 and 1549 conveyed 'land
called Serlys ' to William Blakewell and Margaret his
wife.*2 It appears at the same time in connexion
with ' Beauchampfeld ' or ' Beauchampsted,' which was
also conveyed by Snowe to William Blakewell.43 By
1689 Serlys, then called Searles, had become united with
8 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 228,
no. 2.
9 Pat. 22 Eliz. pt. vii.
M Ibid. 32 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 21.
11 Lansd. MS. 161, fol. 145.
12 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Ja^. I.
13 Recov. R. Hil. 30 & 31 Chas. II,
rot. I2r.
14 Chauncy, op. cit. 30;.
18 Close, 1 Will, and Mary, pt. vi,
no. 21 ; Feet of F. Herts. East. I
Will, and Mary.
16 Chauncv, loc. cit.
17 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 7 Geo. I ;
Add. MS. 9434, p. 58.
19 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Recov. R.
East. 19 Geo. II, rot. 229.
19 Add. MS. 9434, p. 58.
20 Ibid.
a' Ibid. ; Recov. R. Trin. 26 Geo. Ill,
rot. 257.
22 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 449.
23 Diet. Nat. Biog.
24 Information from Rev. E. A.
Smith.
25 Chart. R. 35 Hen. Ill, m. 2.
86 Cal. S. P. Dom. 15S0-1625, p. 18.
27 Ibid. 1611-18, p. 57.
28 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, App. 16.
29 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1132, no. 10.
80 Pat. 22 Eliz. pt. vii.
81 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii,
181.
149
88 Will, P.C.C. 66 CapeU
84 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. His son
Nicholas had presumably died in the
mean time.
M Ibid.
36 Clutterbuck, op. cit, ii, 454.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxv, 8;.
33 Ibid, cxlvi, 62.
89 Ibid, dxxii, 50.
40 Diet. Nat. Biog.
41 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, App.
15-16.
42 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 36
Hen. VIII, m. 22 d. ; East. 37 Hen. VIII,
m. 16 ; East. I Edw. VI, m. 5, 6 d. ; Fast.
3 Edw. VI, m. 13.
43 Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the main manor." A close or croft called ' Dyngleys '
was conveyed by John Snowe, perhaps the son of
Richard, to the Blakewells in 1555."
' Gladwyns lands,' apparently freeholds of the
manor, were in the possession of William Gladwyn,
husbandman, in the 15th century.16 After the death
of his son John there was an action in Chancery in
1 48 1-2 between John's widow and executrix Juliana
and Joan wife of John Osborne and Agnes Gladwyn,
the two daughters of John Gladwyn,1' to whom the
lands probably descended. In 1548 the estate was
conveyed by William Copwood to William and
Margaret Bl.ikewell.49
The parish church of ST. ANDREW,
CHURCH which stands on a hill in the middle of
the village, consists of a chancel with
apsidal termination, north vestries, south organ
chamber, nave, and west porch. The material is red
brick. The present church dates wholly from the
1 8th and 19th centuries, but is on the old site, and
in the churchyard is a yew tree 27 ft. in circumference.
A church is known to have existed here at least from
the end of the 13th century.
In 1702 a wooden tower and spire were built to
the then existing church, which from an engraving of
1730 would appear to have been not older than the
preceding century, and to have had wooden casement
windows. In I 790 the present nave was built. The
west porch was added in 1845, when the parapets
were removed. In I 869 the east wall was taken down
and the present chancel built, and at the same time
the spire was removed, the smaller vestry and the
organ chamber were built, stone windowswere inserted,
an open timber roof was erected over the nave, and
a west gallery was demolished. The larger nortli
vestry was built in 1897.
On the north wall of the nave is a monument from
the old church to Dorothy Taylor, 1673, and Susanna
Turner, 1672, daughters of Richard Turner.
The pulpit, of early 17th-century workmanship,
was brought here from Hatfield parish church.
There are two bells in the gable which are inacces-
sible. One is by John Waylett, 1727, and the other
by Samuel Newton, 1 707.
The plate includes a silver gilt cup of 1599 ;
there is also a cup of 1876 and a flagon of 1867,
besides two patens of recent date.
The registers, beginning in 1570, are in five books
as follows : (i) all entries 1570 to 1720 ; (ii) all
entries 1723 to 1746"; (iii) baptisms and burials
1 746 to 1 8 1 2 and marriages 1 746 to 1753 ; (iv) mar-
riages 1747 to 1753 ; (v) marriages 1754 t0 I 789.50
The church of St. Andrew at
ADVOIVSON Totteridge has changed its invocation
since the 16th century," when it
was dedicated in honour of St. Etheldreda or Audrey,
an invocation evidently borrowed from Ely.52 It
is suggested that St. Andrew is a corruption of
St. Audrey.53
Totteridge remained a chapelry of Hatfield, from
which it is about 8 miles distant, until 1892,8 curate
being appointed by the rector of Hatfield 54 (q.v.).
In 1892 it was made a vicarage in the gift of the
same rector.55
In 1650 the commissioners recommended that it
should be made a separate parish.551
In 1638 and 1693 the curate's house at Totteridge
had pertaining to it ' one orchard garden with a litell
Backside contayning by estimacon 2 roods,' and
l\ acres of pasture land.55b
In 1307 the parson of Hatfield obtained a grant
of free warren in the demesne lands of his church in
Totteridge.06
In 1 47 1 John Sugden, rector of Hatfield, left a
torch to the chapel of Totteridge.57
Various meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters
were certified in Totteridge from 1823. In 1827
a chapel was built, which was still in existence in
1884,58 but there is now no Nonconformist place of
worship in Totteridge.
The following trusts for the direct
CHARITIES benefit of the poor are regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners,
namely, the charities of —
William Sheppey, founded by will, 1808, trust
fund, £2,105 $*• 3^- consols.
Sukey Richardson, will, 1828, trust fund,^48 3/. jd.
consols.
Martha Barrett, being an annual sum of £1 1 3/. \d.
received from the Haberdashers' Company, London.
William Campion, will, 1720, being an annual
sum of £2 payable out of copyhold lands at Tottenham
Court.
Waste Lands Charity, being £66 I 3/. ^d. consols,
set aside in 1799 by William Manning in considera-
tion of permission to inclose certain land.
William Manning, being £100 consols, established
in I 8 10 in commemoration of fiftieth anniversary of
King George III.
Volunteer Corps, £36 3*. yd. consols, representing
balance in hand on dissolution of corps in I 8 10.
Sir Alexander Maitland, consisting of £73 II/. 4^.
consols, representing a legacy received in 1820.
Louisa Arrowsmith for poor, trust fund, £89 1 3/. "jd.
consols.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees, producing £62 19.1. Sd. in annual dividends,
which with the income of Barrett's ar ' Campion's
charities are applied in the distribution of fuel.
In 1789 Mrs. Elizabeth Williams by her will
bequeathed £400, the interest to be applied — subject
to keeping in repair her husband's tomb — towards
the support of her Sunday school. The legacy is
now represented by £539 8/. id. consols with the
official trustees, producing £13 gs. Sd. yearly, who
also hold a further sum of £234 4J. consols, pro-
ducing £5 17/. yearly, known as the Louisa Arrow-
smith's Education charity.
44 Close, 1 Will, and Mary, pt. vi,
no. 21.
45 Ibid. Mich. 2 & 3 Phil, and Mary.
46 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 62, no. 291.
4r Ibid.
49 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 2 Edw. VI,
m. 4 d.
19 An entry states ' no Registers kept
from 1720 to 1723 in Mr. Charles
OgbalJ's time1
mJQ. iv, .36).
60 There should be a Book vi, marriages
1790 to 1812 (ibid.).
61 Bacon, Liber Regis.
53 P.C.C. 8 Cromwell ; 19 and 22
Home.
ia Salmon, op. cit. 59.
54 Feud. Aids, ii, 457 ; Pat. 5 Eliz.
(Midd. and Herts. N. pt. ii, m. 30 ; Feet of F. East. 16 El
"aeon, Liber Regis.
55 Clergy List, 19 1 2.
55a Urwick, op. cit. 607.
"b Herts. Gen. and Antij. iii,
9-
SG Chart. R. 3; Edw. I, m. 5, no. 1
" P.C.C. I Wattys.
58 Urwick, op. cit. 610-11.
I50
BROADWATER HUNDRED
WALKERN
WALKERN
Walchra (xi cent.) ; Walkre, Waukre, Wauker
(xiii cent.).
The parish of Walkern has an area of 2,992 acres,
of which 1,7274 acres are arable land, 686£ acres
permanent grass, and 138 acres woods and planta-
tions.1 Nearly all the western half is over 300 ft.
in height ; the valley of the little River Beane causes
a slight depression down the centre of the parish,
but the land rises again in the east, and at three
points, Walkern Hall, Bassus Green, and Walkern
Park, reaches a height of over 400 ft.
The village lies off the main road in the valley of
the Beane on the road to Watton. It is fairly large
and somewhat straggling, the church, rectory and
school, and Walkern Place, a I Jth-century farm-house
of timber and plaster, refaced in the 1 8th century,
lying at the north end. There are several* 17th-
century cottages in the village, and the White Lion
Inn, although much altered, is probably of that date.
At the south end of the village are the mill on the
River Beane and the early 17th-century farm-house
called Rook's Nest. It is chiefly built of the narrow
2-inch red bricks, and is of two stories and attics.
It is L-shaped on plan, though a long brew-house
projects northward from the kitchen wing. The
main building faces east, and has the usual two-storied
gabled porch nearly in the centre of the front. At
the back is a boldly projecting staircase carried well
above the eaves of the main building and finished
with a gable. A long kitchen wing facing the south
projects from the main building. The main building
is divided internally into two nearly equal parts by
the massive substructure of the central chimney, the
drawing-room or old parlour being on the right of
the entrance, and the hail, now the dining room, on
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
the left. In both these rooms the old fireplaces
have been built up and modern grates substituted.
A south entrance door formerly existed from the
dining room. The staircase opens directly into the
dining room, and the arrangement of the stair is very
similar to that at Queen Hoo Hall, Tewin, and is
an intermediate stage between the newel and the
open stair ; but in this instance the stair winds round
three sides only of the timber-framed newel, which
is 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and is lined up to the first floor level
with old oak panelling. The panels are moulded,
and inside each is a lozenge-shaped inner panel This
is the only old panelling left in the house. At the
landing above are some flat-moulded balusters, cut
out of 3 in. by I J in. oak. The kitchen has an
old fireplace 9 ft. 6 in. wide, with a plain lintel,
which is partly occupied by a modern range. There
is a small parlour between the kitchen entrance and
the dining room. The whole of the kitchen wing
is formed of timber framing, the timbers being
placed close together and filled in between with thin
bricks. The chimney over the main building has a
group of four square shafts set diagonally on a massive
square base ; the chimney over the kitchen wing is
of wide brickwork, with a plain sunk panel in its
width. The roofs are tiled. All the windows on
the east front have moulded mullions and transoms
formed in cement, and over each is a brick dripstone
with returned ends. All the windows on the south
front have been modernized. They formerly had oak
mullions and diamond-shaped lead lights.
Bridgefoot Farm, an interesting and picturesque
timber-framed house, stands a little to the south-west
of the church, and was probably erected about the
beginning of the 1 7th century. It has been very
little altered externally, and internally the old arrange-
ment of the plan is still quite clear, though a few
partitions have been added and the rooms modernized.
The plan is L-shaped and the principal entrance is
on the north side, and formerly opened directly into
the common living room or hall, but this has been
subdivided into a sitting-room, dairy and passage to
the kitchen at the back. The beams over the hall
are 1 7 in. wide, and the soffits are carved with a flat
geometrical ornament consisting of alternate rows of
four circles and four rectangular figures all connected
together by fillets. There is no other carved work
in the house. The old wide square-headed fireplace
of the hall still remains in the sitting room, but a
modern grate has been inserted and the sides filled
with cupboards. To the right of the hall is the old
parlour, with a wide slightly projecting bay window,
which is carried up to the floor above and finished
with a gable, very similar to those at Wymondley Hall
and Egerton House, Great Berkhampstead. Between
the parlour and the north front is a small outhouse,
evidently part of the original plan. Beyond the hall,
and forming the wing of the building, is the kitchen,
which still retains its old fireplace, 10 ft. 6 in. in
width, although it is partly occupied by a modern
range. The old seats have given way to cupboards,
but the small niches for flagons still remain, as at
Upp Hall, Braughing. A small gabled staircase
occupies the angle of the |_ between the old hall and
ISI
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the kitchen, but the stair itself is very plain. All the
external walls are timber-framed, lathed and plastered
on the outside, the plaster being ornamented with the
usual large flush panels filled with some roughly
scratched pattern. The roofs are steep and covered
with tiles, and all terminate in plain gables. There
is an overhanging upper story on the east side.
Some of the windows retain their oak mullions and
transoms. The two old chimneys are groups of plain
shafts of bricks 2 in. in thickness.
Three roads branching to the east run into the
road to Ardeley, on the east side of which is Walkern
Bury, now a modern farm-house. Adjoining it on
the south is a small castle of the mount and bailey type,
thrown up possibly by Hamo de St. Clare in the
reign of Stephen.3 Hamo was, we know, an adherent
of the turbulent Geoffrey de Mandeville, and was
with him at Stephen's celebrated Easter Court in
Bridcefqot Bvrm-House
Wajlkern
ZSUBCemvm
CDMopsRN
I 136. Although the castle stands fairly high, being
about 400 ft. above the ordnance datum, it does not
seem to have commanded any large extent of country,
and would appear to have been built at Walkern as a
manorial stronghold, because that was the head of
the St. Clare barony in Hertfordshire. It never
apparently had any masonry works, the earthworks
being defended by a wooden keep on the mound and
timber stockades on the outer defences. The castle
was probably destroyed, with numerous other adul-
terine or unlicensed castles, in the reign of Henry II.
At Clay End a road branches off still further east
to Walkern Park, the residence of Mrs. Cotton
Browne. Boxbury Farm and Box Wood are in the
west of the parish. The parish lies on a subsoil of
chalk ; there are many chalk-pits and gravel-pits,
especially between Walkern and the Ardeley road.
In 1403 a commission was granted to John Couper
of Walkern, John Matmakere of Watton, Thomas
Barbour and William Templier of Walkern ' to search
for certain treasure of no small amount, which the
King understands to be hidden in a pit in the field
of Walkern called " Marlepitte," and to bring it when
found before the King and Council with all speed.' 3
The nearest railway station is Stevenage, on the
Great Northern main line, 5 miles west. The
inclosure award is dated 1850, and is in the custody
of the clerk of the peace.4
Place-names that occur in Walkern are Tristrammes
Grove, Cheney Hall and Tonecrofts.
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANORS WALKERN was held by Alwin Home,
one of the king's thegns. After the Con-
quest it was granted to Derman, a thegn of William
the Conqueror, at which period it was assessed at
10 hides.5 Derman was succeeded in the manor of
Walkern, as in Watton, by his brother Leofstan,6
but the two manors did not continue in the same
hands. It seems probable that Walkern was the
' manor of Derman, which Leofstan his brother held,'
given by William Rufus to Eudo Dapifer, for he
seems to have possessed the tithes of Walkern, and
the manor appears to have been subsequently held
by his successor Hamo de St. Clare,7 who gave the
mill of Walkern to the church of St. Mary for the
souls of King Henry and Queen Maud and Eudo
Dapifer.8 The manor passed from him and his wife
Gunnora to their son Hubert de St. Clare,9 who
was living in the reign of Stephen, and who died
in 1155.10 Hubert's daughter and heir Gunnora
married William de Lanvaley,11 whose son William
married Hawise daughter of Hugh de Bocland,12
and was one of the barons appointed to impose the
observance of Magna Charta. Hawise survived
William and died before 1233,13 her son William
de Lanvaley 14 having apparently predeceased her,
for his daughter Hawise, the wife of John de
Burgh,18 seems to have succeeded her grand-
mother.16 John de Burgh's son John predeceased
his father about 1278, when John de Burgh, senior,
was said to be holding the manor by courtesy as
of the barony of Lanvaley, of the heirs of John
his son.17 In 1 281 John granted to Ralph de
Hauville, for his service and for 100 marks, 14 acres
of the demesne land ' lying between the croft that
belonged to Warin de Waukre and the Greneweye
and the Heldeburweye, together with Richard de
Boxe, Ralph de Boxe, William de Boxe, William
Aumfrey, Godahuge, Stephen de Boxe, Geoffrey son
of Adam, Mila atte Holm, Isabella Ruald, Basilia
Wlmer, John son of the beadle, and Walter de Boxe,
formerly John's bondmen, with all their issue,
chattels and tenements held by them of John in
Walkern, rendering therefor two barbed arrows fledged
with peacock feathers yearly at Midsummer.' 18 John
de Burgh died shortly afterwards, leaving as his heirs
his two granddaughters Hawise widow of Robert
2 See V.C.H. Herts, ii, 11S.
' Cal. Pat. 1401-5, p. 201.
* Blue Bk. Inch Awards, 64.
' V.C.H. Hem. i, 342a.
6 Cart. Mon. St. John Baft, de Colcestr.
(Roxburghe Club), i, 28.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 286 n.
8 Cart. Mon. St. John Bapt. de Colcestr.
(Roxburghe Club), i, 156.
9 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R.
486.
10 Information from Mr. J. H. Round.
11 Ibid. ; Cart. Mon. St. John Baft, de
Colcestr. (Roxburghe Club), i, 147.
13 Ibid. 200, 202.
13 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
246.
11 Cart. Mon. St. John Bapt. de Colcestr.
152
(Roxburghe Club), i, 201 ; Rot. de Oblat.
et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 372.
15 Burke, Dorm, and Extinct Peerages.
16 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
269 ; Assize R. 323.
17 Burke, Dorm, and Extinct Peerages \
Assize R. 323 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. 7
Edw. I, no. 12.
13 Cal. Close, 1279-88, pp. 12S-9.
* .LjtfiLUhs.
fPW'^mmm
'/S/7 12F0M
pv
Rook's Nest, Walkern : East Front
Old Cottage, Walkekn
*53
20
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Morley, Lord Mor-
ley. Argent a lion sable
crowned or.
Grelle, and Devorgill the wife of Robert Fitz Walter,
and Walkern was assigned to the latter in 1282.13
In 1294 Robert Fitz Walter went to Gascony on the
king's service and let the manor to farm in the mean
time to Reginald de Silverle.20 Devorgill died in I 284.
In 1 3 1 3 a purparty of her lands was assigned to her
daughter and co-heir Christine,21 who granted her
reversion of this moiety to her father,22 then holding
the manor for life ' by the courtesy of England ' of
the inheritance of his wife.23 Two years later Robert
Fitz Walter granted the re-
version of the manor after the
death of a life-tenant, John
Bensted, to John Lord Mar-
shal,24 of Hingham, co.
Norfolk.25 Upon his death
without issue in 1 3 16-17 it
passed to his sister Hawise,
the wife of Robert, second
Lord Morley.26 Robert died
in 1360,27 leaving a son
William, the third lord, who
in 1379 was succeeded by his
son Thomas, fourth Lord
Morley,28 his widow Cecilia
holding a third of the manor in dower until her
death in 1386.29 The fourth lord, who was Marshal
of Ireland and a Knight of the Garter, died in 1 41 6,
being succeeded by his grandson Thomas.30 Anne
widow of Thomas, fourth Lord Morley, married
secondly Sir Hugh Hastings, and held the whole
manor until her death in 1426.31 Thomas, fifth
Lord Morley, was succeeded in 1435 by his son
Robert,32 who died in 1442, leaving an only daughter
Eleanor, at that time only forty-two weeks old.33
She subsequently married William Lovel, who was
thereupon summoned as Lord Morley. They both
died within a month of each other in 1476.34 The
custody of their son Henry during his minority, to-
gether with his marriage, was granted to Richard,
Bishop of Salisbury, and Peter Courteney.35 He
died without issue in 1489, his lands passing to his
sister Alice,36 who married first William Parker, and
secondly Sir Edward Howard,37 afterwards Lord
High Admiral. Shortly after 150638 Alice and Sir
Edward Howard sold the manor of Walkern to Sir
William Capell, Lord Mayor of London, who died
seised of it in 15 15,39 and whose descendant Arthur
Lord Capell of Hadham was created Earl of Essex
after the Restoration.40 Walkern has descended in
this family,41 and is now held by the seventh earl.
A
* «* WW****
Capell, Earl of Essex
Walkern Park is first mentioned in 1360.42 In
1 3 73 Jonn Basset was keeper.43 His name perhaps and
that of his family survives in Bassus Green, called by
Cussans Bassett's Green.44 In 1379 the park had an
area of 398 acres,45 and in 1435 the 'agistment'
was stated to be worth z6s. 8ti. beyond the sustenta-
tion of the wild animals.46 John Hotoft was keeper
in 1427 and John Humberston in 1428.47 It is now
of the extent of 30 acres and surrounds Walkern Hall.
Walkern Mill was given to the church of St. Mary
of Walkern by Hamo de St. Clare in the reign of
Henry I48 (see above). In 1 31 3 a water mill was
pertaining to the manor,49 and in 1360 a windmill is
mentioned. SIJ There is still a water mill.
View of frankpledge, amendment of the assize of
bread and ale, gallows, tumbrel, infangentheof and
free warren were claimed by Robert Fitz Walter in
1 287. 51 In 1 360 the court leet was held on Tuesday
in Whitsun week.52
The manor of BOXBURT or BOXE in Walkern
and Stevenage was assessed in the 11th century at
18 Cal. Close, 1179-88, p. 186; Feud.
Aids, ii, 430.
20 Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 85.
>' Cat. Close, 1307-13, p. 523 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. II, no. 58.
32 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 528. Christine
is referred to as Devorgill's co-heir and as
being of full age, which implies that there
was another daughter then under age.
As there is no record of any transaction
between Robert Fitz Walter and the latter
and yet he seems to have had the reversion
of the whole manor, it seems probable
that she died whilst still a minor.
28 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 523.
24 Inq. a.q.d. file 106, no. 4 ; Feet of
F. Herts. 8 Edw. II, no. 167 ; Cal.
Pat. 1313-17, p. 274.
25 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
K Ibid.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 81.
«s Ibid. 2 Ric. II, no. 34.
*> Ibid. 10 Ric. II, no. 27.
8° Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. V, no. 49.
The manor is said to be held as parcel of
the barony of Rye. This barony came
to the Morleys by inheritance from the
Marshals, and to them through the
marriage of John Marshal, ancestor of
John Lord Marshal, with Aliva daughter
of Hubert de Rye (G.E.C. Peerage, s.v.
Marshal).
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. VI, no. 525
Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 391.
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Hen. VI,
no. 20.
33 Ibid. 21 Hen. VI, no. 38.
31 Ibid. 16 Edw. IV, no. 73 ; Cal. Pat.
1467-77, p. 603.
35 Ibid. 1476-85, p. 48.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), v, 48.
»? Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 21 Hen. VII.
88 Ibid. East. 21 Hen. VII.
154
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 25.
40 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 96.
41 Feet of F. Trin. 42 Eliz. ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxcvi, 148 ; cccclxv,
54 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 3 Will, and
Mary ; Mich. 5 Geo. I.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 81.
43 Ibid. 47 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.),
no. 27.
44 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
73-
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. II, no. 34.
46 Ibid. 14 Hen. VI, no. 20.
47 Ibid.
48 Cart. Mon. St. John Bapt. de Colcestr.
(Roxburghe Club), i, 156.
'"- Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. II, no. 58.
60 Ibid. 34 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 81.
51 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
52 Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 81,
Walkekn : Bridgefoot Farm from the South-west
Walkern Church : The Nave looking Easi
BROADWATER HUNDRED
5 hides. In the time of Edward the Confessor
2 hides and 3 virgates were held by Alward, a man
of Alestan of Boscombe,53 and half a hide by Samar,
a man of Alnod." A hide and 3 virgates also in
Boxe belonged to Benington.55 By 1086 Alward's
2 J hides had been acquired by William de Ow, and
were held of him by Peter de Valognes,56 who had
gained possession of the Benington portion,57 and
Samar's half-hide was held by Osbern of the Bishop
of Bayeux.58 These holdings may have become
amalgamated, for the only manor of which Liter there
is any evidence descended in the family of Valognes
with their principal manor of Benington.59 It was
held as half a knight's fee.
The first sub-tenant of Boxbury to be mentioned
is William de Boxe, who held one knight's fee in Hert-
fordshire of Robert de Valognes in 1 1 66. 60 Almaric
de Boxe was holding land in Walkern in 1 200,61 and
his son William sued Richard de Boxe for a tene-
ment in Stevenage in 1229." Richard de Boxe
obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands of
Boxe in 1253.63 He appears to have been succeeded by
a John le Sarmonner or Sum-
moner (see Boxe's manor of
Hoddesdon in Hertford Hun-
dred). The heirs of this John
were assessed for Boxe in 1303.64
These heirs seem to have been
Thomas de Langton and Richard
de St. Edmund (probably sons
of his daughters).65 Richard de
St. Edmund apparently left an
heiress Margery, who married
Ralph de Foxton (see Hoddesdon),
and in 1 346 Margery de Foxton,
with John de Broxbourne,
Thomas Ty and John de Blom-
vile, was assessed for the half-fee
in Boxe.66
After this date the history of
this manor is for a long time
obscure. It reappears as the
manor of Boxbury in 1 521, in
which year John Norreys died
seised of the manor, which was
settled on himself and his wife Katherine.67 His son
John, who succeeded him, sold Boxbury in 1526 to
Philip Boteler,68 in whose family it descended in the
same manner as Watton Woodhall 69 (q.v.) until the
death of Robert Boteler in 1622.70 Boxbury then
came to his daughter Jane, who married John Lord
Belasyse 71 and sold the manor some time after 1638
to Sir John Gore of Sacombe.72 The latter con-
veyed it in 1 68 1 to Thomas Ashby,73 who was still
holding it in 1 727." Subsequently it came into the
possession of William Hale of King's Walden, who
was lord of the manor in 1 7 7 1 ,7i and in whose
family it descended.76
WALKERN
Christiana de Valognes and her descendants claimed
in Boxe the same privileges which they held in their
main manor of Benington " (q.v.).
LANGTONS, a manor of which scanty records
remain, was probably that part of Boxe which
descended to the second heir of John le Sarmonner,
Thomas de Langton (cf. Langtons in Hoddesdon).
Later it came into the same hands as Boxbury. John
Norreys died seised of it in 1521,78 and it apparently
came with that manor to Philip Boteler in 1526, for
Sir John Boteler was holding it in 1562.79 It probably
became merged with Boxbury.
The church of ST. MART THE
CHURCH VIRGIN stands to the north-east of
the village on the east bank of the River
Eeane. It is built of flint rubble with dressings of
Barnack stone and clunch, and consists of a chancel,
nave and aisles, west tower, south porch and modern
north and south chapels.80
The original church consisted probably of a chancel
and nave. The former has been wholly rebuilt, and
the earliest part of the existing church is the nave,
~rra
Rook's Nest, Walkern, from the South-west
which dates from the 11th century and is probably
part of the pre-Conquest church, as the walls are only
2 ft. 3 in. thick, and over the position of the former
south door is a piece of sculpture of pre-Conquest
date described in detail below. The south aisle was
added early in the 12th century. In the following
century the chancel was rebuilt and the north aisle
added. The tower was built in the middle of the
14th century. In the early part of the 15 th century
the south porch was added, and at the end of the
same century new windows were inserted in both
aisles, while early in the 1 6th century the clearstory
was built. The north and south chapels were added
53 V.C.H. Herts, i, 327*.
54 Ibid. 309a. "Ibid. 336A.
56 Ibid. 327J.
57 Ibid. 336A.
58 Ibid. 309a.
59 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 361 ;
Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 281 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 430, 436 j Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), xxxviii, 34.
«> Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 361.
61 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii, 275.
63 Cal. tat. 1225-32, p. 309.
1 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 416.
Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
Ct. ibid. 430, 433.
1 Ibid. 436.
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxviii, 34.
1 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 8 Hen. VIII.
Ibid. East. 4 Eliz.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccii,
Privy Seal Docket Bk. %\.
Recov. R. East. 14 Chas. I, rot. 5.
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 33 Chas. II.
J55
74 Recov. R. Mich. 1 Geo. II, rot. 22.
75 Ibid. Mich. 11 Geo. Ill, rot. 185.
76 Ibid. Hil. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 248 ;
Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund. 89.
" Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 281.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxviii, 34.
79 Feet of F. Herts. East. 4 Eliz.
80 Dimensions : chancel, 29 ft. 6 in.
by 16 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 37 ft. 6 in. by
20 ft. 6 in. ; north aisle, 7 ft. wide ; south
aisle, 9 ft. 6 in. wide ; west tower, 1 1 It.
square \ south porch, 1 1 ft. by 8 ft.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and the chancel was completely restored during the
19th century. Thus the church as a whole presents
a complete series of examples of architecture from the
earliest to the latest of the English styles.
The east windows of the chancel are three modern
lancets. The arches opening into the chapels are also
modern. In the north wall is a modern single lancet,
and in the south wall is a 13th-century piscina with
shafted jambs, and to the west of it three sedilia of
the same date separated by detached shafts. Both the
piscina and sedilia are much restored.
The material of the two-centred chancel arch is of
13th-century date, but it has been rebuilt late in the
14th century. The nave has a north arcade of the
13th century of three bays, with two-centred arches
of two chamfered orders. The columns, with their
moulded capitals and bases, are octagonal. The bases
are much mutilated. At the east and west ends the
inner orders rest on corbels on the faces of the
responds. The easternmost capital was either recut
or inserted in the 15th century. The south arcade
is of the 1 2th century, and is of two bays with semi-
HUracoNp:;
■ll-"CENTUKV
Qmib-cwri
3l*"CENTURY
w- century
□modern
Plan of Walkern Church
circular arches of one square order. The abaci are
plain with one exception, which is cable-moulded.
The clearstory windows, three on each side, do not
correspond with the bays of the arcades. They are
each of two four-centred lights with a dropped two-
centred rear arch and square external head.
The north aisle has two windows of three lights in
the north wall and a similar window of two lights in
the west wall. All are of late 15th-century date and
are much restored. The pointed north doorway,
which is to the west of both the north windows, is of
late 14th-century date, and is of two continuously
moulded orders. The south aisle has in its east wall
a modern doorway to the south chapel, and in the
south wall is a late 15th-century four-light window
in a four-centred head. The entrance to the rood
stair is from a splay in the north-east angle of the
south aisle by a doorway some height from the ground.
The stair is intact, and the upper doorway to the
rood loft is visible from the interior of the stair, but
is quite hidden by plaster on the nave side. In the
west wall of the south aisle is a window of three
lights similar to that in the south wall, and traces are
visible in the wall above the modern doorway in the
east wall of another window of like date and detail.
The south doorway is of the I 2th century, and has
been much restored. It has a semicircular head and
shafted external jambs, the outer order being con-
tinuous. The south porch is of two stages, of early
I 5th-century date, and has an entrance archway with
a two-centred head, the inner order supported on
semi-octagonal responds and the outer continuous.
The ground stage has a two-light window with a
quatrefoil in a pointed head in the east and west walls.
The vaulting is on the original springers, but is
modern. The upper stage is approached by a stair
from the aisle, its lower doorway opening to the west
of the south door. The stair turret projects externally
in the angle of the aisle and porch as one side and a
half of an octagon. The upper stage of the porch
has one two-light window in a square head in the
south wall. Immediately above the doorway to the
parvise stair in the aisle is one jamb and part of
the rear arch of a semicircular-headed 12th-century
window.
In a wide recess with a
dropped two-centred head and
simple continuous moulding is
a fine recumbent effigy in Pur-
beck marble of about 1220,
possibly that of William de
Lanvaley, who married Hawise
de Bocland. The legs are
crossed and the hands are
clasped on the hilt of a great
sword. The figure is clad in a
fine mail hauberk, with a coif
and chausses without knee-cops.
The long surcoat is parted
above the knees, and on the
left arm is a long kite-shaped
shield reaching from the
shoulder to below the knee.
The left leg is broken, but the
fragment is undamaged. The
figure wears a flat-topped helm
with a wide eye-slit and per-
forations.
On the south side of the south wall of the nave,
rather westward of the middle and above the arcade,
and so now included in the south aisle, are the
remains of a rood of very early date, about 4 ft. 6 in.
high, carved in chalk. It probably indicates the
position of the original south doorway of the
nave, over which it stood, and affords additional
evidence of the pre-Conquest date assigned to the
nave.
The west tower is of three stages with an embattled
parapet and spire. The tower arch is original work
of the 14th century. The west window is also of
the 14th century, and has net tracery in a pointed
head. The bell-chamber has single-light windows of
the 15th century. On the plinths of the tower are
several consecration crosses worked in scappled flints
and chalk.
The roofs of the nave and aisles are 15th-century
work, almost entirely plain. The font is of the late
14th century and is made of clunch, octagonal in
shape and roughly moulded. It has plain sides and
angle shafts.
156
Walkern Church : Tomb in South Aisle
BROADWATER HUNDRED
In the chance] are the brasses of William Chapman,
1621, and his wife, 1636, with an inscription. On
the north side of the nave is a brass of the late I 5 th
century of a civilian and his wife, with a shield of arms
of Humberstone ; at the west end is a brass of Edward
Humberstone, 1583, and his wife, which is said to be
a palimpsest ; it has an inscription. In the north aisle
is an inscription only to William Bramfeilde, 1 596 ;
in the vestry a brass, with an imperfect inscription, to
John Humberstone, 1 590, and an inscription to
Rychard Humberstone, 158 1, which is a palimpsest
on an inscription to John Lovekyn, 1370.
Besides these brasses and the 13th-century monu-
ment described above there are two 17th-century
mural monuments, the one in the south wall of the
chancel to Daniel Gorsuchand his wife, 1 63 8, a classical
composition with kneeling figures, and the other on
the south side of the nave to Giles Humberstone, 1627,
and his wife, having kneeling figures, arms and an
inscription.
The small oak pulpit is of the early 16th century.
It is octagonal, with plain
panelled sides.
The chancel screen of
five bays is of the 15 th
century. The upper panels
of the side bays are open
and traceried, and the lower
are close. The centre is
occupied by the doorway.
There are five bells, the
first being dated 1626, by
an unknown founder ; the
second is by Thomas Mears,
1833 ; and the third, fourth
and fifth of 1 71 3, by John
Waylett.
The plate consists of a
silver chalice and paten and
almsdish, the gift of Ben-
jamin Heath, rector, 1782.
The registers begin in
1680, and are contained in
one book : baptisms 1680 to
1 8 1 2, burials 1 680 to 1 8 1 2,
marriages 1680 to 18 I 2.91
Boxe is said to have
anciently been a parish possessing a church. In
1700 the foundations of the church are said to have
been visible in a field called the Church-yard, near
Boxe Wood.93 There is no mention of Boxe Church
in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas or the Valor Ecclesi-
asticus of Henry VIII, but it is worthy of note that
at an early date the tithes of Boxbury were in
different hands from those of Walkern.
A certain Hamo, brother of
ADVOIVSON Robert de Villiers, possibly a lord
of the manor, gave two parts of
the tithes of Walkern and a bordar with 2 acres
to the monastery of St. John at Colchester."3
WALKERN
William de Lanvaley, the second husband of
Hawise de Bocland, gave the church to the
monastery of St. John the Baptist at Colchester,91
and in 1 204 the abbot and monks were ' canonically
instituted and inducted ' as rectors, saving the vicarage
of Geoffrey de Bocland for his life, on condition that
he paid them 1 mark yearly.65 No more is heard of
the vicarage, so that probably after the death of
Geoffrey de Bocland the monastery either served the
church by one of their own monks or put in a
stipendiary. The living was a rectory at the Disso-
lution.86
In 1546 the advowson was granted to Sir Philip
Hobby and his heirs.9' After this the descent lacks
documentary evidence for more than a century. It
is said to have come into the possession of John Cock
of Broxbourne, whose son Henry Cock conveyed it in
1560 to Henry Willan of Kelshall, who sold it in
1564 to George Brende of London. In 1587
George Brende sold it to Edward Home, then rector,
who conveyed it in 1604 to Conant Prowse, and in
Walkern Church from the South-west
1609 the latter sold it to Agnes Wardley, widow.
Five months later she conveyed it to William Hum-
berstone of Digswell, who sold it before 1 63 2 to
Daniel Gorsuch. It was afterwards purchased by
Andrew Gardiner, who conveyed it in 1669 to the
Rev. Samuel Gardiner,89 who presented in 1686.69
It was purchased from him in 1702 by King's Col-
lege, Cambridge,90 the present patrons.91
The tithes of Boxbury belonged to St. Alban's
Abbey before the Dissolution, and were leased in I 5 I 8
to William and Alice Day for forty years from July
I 5 3 I . William and Alice sold their interests in I 5 1 9
to John Norreys, after whose death they were to come
81 This book has all the entries written,
no new marriage register of the form
prescribed by Hardwicke's Act of 1753
having been obtained [Midd. and Hem.
N. andQ. iv, 1 3 7).
Bi Chauncy, Hist, of Her!:. 370.
83 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 424.
84 Cart. Mon. St. John Bapt. de Coheitr.
(Roxburghe Club), i, 200.
8i Ibid. 126.
86 Valor Ecct. (Rec. Com.) iv.278. A
grant of the rectory in 1 545 to Sir
Robert Tyrwhitt at the price of one year's
purchase may have lasted until the time
when the advowson was disposed of
157
(Partic. for Grants, Augm. Off. 3S
Hen. VIII, no. 576).
87 Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. xiii, m. 7 ;
Cal. D. of Parch, and Exch. 395.
85 Cussans, op. cit. Broadicater Hand.
83. 69 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
ao Close, 1 Anne, pt. ix, no. 5.
n See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
to Robert Hocknell. The latter complained that two
years after this George Clarke of Walkern purchased
the tithes and took them by force while Hocknell
was away in France, and continued to do so." Hock-
nell's suit appears to have been successful, for he is
mentioned as holding them later.93 The abbey leased
them in 153910 John Rotherham,94 but Henry VIII
granted them in 1 544. to Richard Bowie, barber-
surgeon, and John Howe, grocer, of London.95 In
the 17th century the tithes seem to have been paid
partly to Walkern and partly to Stevenage, presumably
according to the parish in which the lands lay. In
1 67 1 the tithes of Boxwood, held by John or Thomas
Harvey, were paid to Walkern,96 and in 1728 tithes
from part of Boxbury, owned by Thomas Adams,
were paid to Stevenage.97 Mary Adams was holding
this land in 1748.9' In 1783 tithes in the manor of
Boxbury were conveyed by Rose and Mary Nicolls
to Richard Down.99
Meeting-places of Protestant Dissenters in Wal-
kern were certified from 1699. A Congregational
chapel was built in 1810,100 which still exists, and
there is also a Baptist and a Wesleyan chapel in the
parish.
The charities subsisting in this
CHJR1TIES parish have by a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners, 8 March
1907, been consolidated and placed under the
administration of one body of trustees.
They comprise the charities of: —
An unknown donor No. I, mentioned in the Par-
liamentary returns of 1 786, consisting of 3a. 1 r. 3 1 p.,
known as Cadcroft Field, and I a. known as Brockwell
Shot, in Walkern, of the annual rental value of £6.
Unknown donor No. 2, consisting of I a. 2 r. 20 p.
in Yardley, let at ^3 a year, known as Leycroft,
comprised in deed of 24 January 1707.
Unknown donor No. 3, being a rent-charge of 6s. %d.
for the poor, vested in the rector of Walkern ; and the
charity of John Izard Pryor, being £108 1 is. consols,
with the official trustees, derived from will proved at
London 13 July I 86 1, producing £2 14/. yearly.
The scheme provides that the yearly income of the
charities shall be applied for the benefit of the poor in
such way as the trustees may consider most conducive
to the formation of provident habits, including donations
to any dispensary, infirmary, provident club, provision
of nurses, &c, or in distribution of articles in kind.
WATTON- AT- STONE
Wodtone, Wattune (xi cent.).
The parish of Watton has an area of 3,585 acres,
of which 1,91 2 J acres are arable land and 670 acres
permanent grass.1 It attains a height of over
300 ft. in the north, slopes downwards towards the
south, but rises again to 300 ft. in the south-west.
The River Beane flows through the parish from the
north-west, and through Woodhall Park, where it is
artificially widened.
The church stands a little to the west of the road
from Stevenage to Hertford, but the village lies along
the -oad. There are in this part one or two late
16th-century houses, notably a timber and plaster
house in the middle of the village on the north side
of the road, now much repaired, but still retaining
an oak door frame and some original beams. On the
south side of the road are some 17th-century timber
and plaster cottages with overhanging upper stories,
one of which is thatched.
Watton Place, i.ow a farm-house, stands beside the
main road at the north end of the village. It consists
of a main building of two stories and a low kitchen
wing, forming an L-shaped plan. The front part of
the main building, abo 'e the ground floor, is timber-
framed, and overhangs the wall below, the upper part
being divided into three equal gables. All the other
walls are of brickwork, the old bricks being two
inches thick. The buildi.ig has been much altered
both outside and inside, so that not many features of
architectural interest remain. It was probably erected
towards the close of the 1 6th century. There are
some good brick chimneys on the main building
consisting of a row of three shafts, a fourth, which was
no doubt formerly there, having disappeared. The
front shaft is circular with a large moulded twist, the
capital consisting of triangular projections corbelled
out ; the second shaft is octagonal with moulded
capital ; the third is missing ; the fourth is circular,
with a moulded octagonal capital : the upper part
of the shaft is covered with raised mouldings forming
a honeycomb pattern, the lower part is twisted. The
interior of the house has been so much altered that it
is not possible to trace the original plan. Most of the
work appears to be of the 1 8th century or later. A part
of the old cellar still exists under the main building.
It is approached from a doorway outside. Immediately
opposite the door and only a few feet from it, over
the stair, is a small shallow niche with arched head,
and in the cellar itself are a number of similar niches
in the walls. These are about 14 in. wide by
1 ft. 4 in. high, and 7 in. deep, and have four-centred
arches of brick plastered. There are thirteen or
fourteen of these niches, all about 2 ft. 8 in. from the
floor. There is besides a large square-headed aumbry
2 ft. wide and 1 ft. 9 in. deep, with an oak frame
round the opening and oak lining inside. The door
has disappeared. These niches are very similar in
shape and size to those in the cellars at Wymondley
Bury and Delamere.
Broom Hall is a late 16th-century farm-house in
the north-west of the parish. It is a rectangular
building of brick in two stories, and with a small
porch. The windows of the first floor have brick
mullions.
At Watton Green, and a little south of the Green,
and at Well Wood, are homestead moats, and in
Chapel Wood there are some defensive earthworks.
Bardolphs, the ancient manor, with Bardolphspark
Wood, is situated east of the village, a short distance
north of Woodhall Park, which is in the south-east of
93 Ct. of Req. bdle. 12, no. 67.
93 L.andP. Hen. Fill, xix (1),
(*5).
94 Convent. Leases, Hens. 16.
S (25).
L. and P. Hen. fill, xix (1), 1035
ch. Dcp. 23 Chas. II. East, a . 24.
97 Salmon, lint, of Herts. 192.
I58
M Recov. R. Mich. 22 Geo. II, rot. 16S.
99 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 23 Geo. III.
""> Urwick, op. cit. 615-16.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
BROADWATER HUNDRED
the parish. The hainlet of Whempstead lies in the
north-east, about half-way between Watton and Little
Munden. Watkins Hall, in the south of the parish,
has been rebuilt, but an old beam over the entrance
bears the inscription 'Watton Hall alias Watkins Hall
I.M. 1636.'
The parish lies on a subsoil of chalk. There is a
chalk-pit south of Watkins Hall, and two now disused
north of the village. No railway passes through the
parish, the nearest station being Knebworth, 3 \ miles
to the west.
Watton was anciently Crown land,
MANORS and was of the extent of about 10 hides.
Of these, \\ hides were granted to the
abbey of Westminster by King Edgar,1" and confirmed
to that monastery by Edward the Confessor * {vide
infra). During the reign of the latter the remaining
5 hides, which apparently formed the manor of
WATTON-AT-STONE
days in Scotland, or 1 3/. \d. rent and zs. a year
payable at the two sheriffs' tourns in the hundred
of Broadwater.6 In the 15 th
century it was held for a
quarter of a knight's fee 7 ; it
continued to be held of the
king in chief by fealty and
rent.6
Of the two sub-tenants of
Watton in 1 086, Alward
apparently died without heirs,
for the whole manor was held
by the descendants of Derman.
Derman's heir was his brother
Leofstan,9 whose son Ailwin
or Elwyn was the father of
Henry, first Mayor of London 10 and lord of the manor
of Watton.11 Henry is first mentioned in 11 64-5, "
V^
Aguillon. Gules
Heur de lis argent.
Watton Place : Front View
WATTON, were held by Alwin Home, one of the
king's thegns.3 In 1086 it was held of the king by
two thegns named Derman and Alward.' The service
by which the manor was subsequently held was the petty
serjeanty of sending one foot-soldier equipped with bow
and arrows to the army of the king in Wales for forty
days.' In 1394 the service is said to be for fifteen
and died in 1212.13 His nearest heir was a grand-
daughter, the daughter of his eldest son, who was
first married to Ralph le Parmenter and afterwards
(5 October 121 2) to William Aguillon,1' whose son15
Robert became lord of the manor before 124S.16
Robert Aguillon died about 12S6, leaving as his
heir his daughter Isabel, who was betrothed to
'a Dugdale, Mon. i, 292.
a Cott. Chart, vi, 2.
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 342.
4 Ibid.
6 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 507 ;
Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 266, 270 ;
Assize R. 323 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 14
Edw. I, no. 16, m. 13; 32 Edw. I,
no. 64 ; 17 Edw. II, no. 39.
6 Fine R. 18 Ric. II ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
18 Ric. II, no. 7.
7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 443.
s Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Hen. VI, no. 29 ;
3 Edw. IV, no. 30 ; Harl. MS. 756,
fol. 19 ; Pat. 13 Hen. VIII, pt. i.
9 V.C.H. Herts, i, 286 n.
10 Pipe R. 1 1 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
18. He and his brother Alan then gave
20 marks on succeeding to Elwyn's lands.
Mr. Round, who has devoted much
attention to the first Mayor of London,
points out that these lands were probably
at Watton, but that 11 64-5 is late for
the death of a Domesday tenant's
nephew, though not actually impossible.
J59
Mr. Round's paper on ' The first Mayor
of London ' will be found in the Anti-
quary, xv (1887).
11 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Sen), ii, 507 ;
Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 270 ; Liber
Alius (Rolls Ser.), i, 21, 319.
"Pipe R. n Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
18.
13 Diet. Nat. Biog.
" Round, The King's Serjeants, 245-6.
15 Wrottesley, Ped. from the Plea R. 549.
16 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 329;
Assize R. 318, m. 2.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Bardolf, Lord
rdolf. Azure three
a/oils or.
Hugh Bardolf." The manor was granted to Margaret,
Robert Aguillon's widow, until the regular assignment
of dower was made by the
king,18 but in 1287 it was
held by Hugh Bardolf in right
of his wife." He was warden
of Arundel Castle in 1272,*0
and, having been summoned
to Parliament as Lord Bardolf
from 1299 to 1302, died in
1304." Isabel having quit-
claimed her right in the manor
upon her husband's death, it
was re-granted to her for life,
with reversion to her son
William," but in 13 1 8 it was
entailed on Thomas Bardolf,
the elder son.23 Isabel died about 1 324," and Thomas,
who had succeeded as second Lord Bardolf in 1 304,
became lord of the manor. He died in 1329/6 and
his widow Agnes held Watton in dower until her
death,'6 which occurred in 1357," when she was
succeeded by her son John, third Lord Bardolf of
Wormegay.'8 William, fourth Lord Bardolf, son of
John, became lord of the manor in 1 363-29 Hegranted
Watton to Robert Bardolf for life, in exchange for the
manor of Stow Bardolph in Norfolk,30 and died in
January 1 385-6." Upon the death of Robert Bardolf
in 1394 the manor reverted to Thomas, fifth Lord
Bardolf, son and heir of William, the fourth lord,"
after the death in 1403 33 of his mother Agnes, to
whom it had been granted in dower by Richard II.
Thomas, the fifth lord, joined Northumberland's
rebellion in 1 405, and died of wounds received at
the battle of Bramham Moor in 1408,34 leaving two
daughters, Anne, who married, first, William Clifford,
and secondly Reginald Cobham, and Joan the wife
of Sir William Phelip.35 The manor was divided
between the two sisters. Sir William Phelip, who
was a Knight of the Garter, and was in 1437 created
Lord Bardolf, had served at the battle of Agincourt
in 1415, being afterwards made Captain of Harfleur.
Later he occupied the post of Treasurer of the
Household to Henry V, and that of Privy Councillor
and Chamberlain to Henry VI.36 He died in I441,37
his wife Joan surviving until 1 447, when the half-
manor of Watton passed to her grandson William,
second but eldest surviving son of her daughter
Elizabeth and John Viscount Beaumont.38 William
Viscount Beaumont and Lord Bardolf married
Joan daughter of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham,
from whom he was divorced before 1477,39 but who
Beaumont. j
fotodered xtith fiei
lis or and a lion or
dl
survived him. Upon the death of Anne Cobham,
his great-aunt, in 1454 he became possessed of the
whole of Watton Manor, her
moiety passing to him as the
next heir,40 but he was at-
tainted after the battle of
Towton Field in 1 46 1 4I and
his lands forfeited. Watton
was granted in the following
year to his wife Joan, with
Thomas Archbishop of Can-
terbury and George Bishop
of Exeter as trustees, and with
remainder to William Beau-
mont," who was still under
attainder. Joan was still living
in the reign of Richard III,"
but in 1467 the manor was granted to Roger
Ree, one of the ushers of the king's chamber,
for his good services to the king's father.44 Roger
died in 1476,45 leaving a son and heir William.
William Viscount Beaumont was, however, restored
to his honours in 1470. He was again attainted in
I47I,46but was finally restored in 1485. He lost
his reason in 1487, and was placed under the custody
of John Earl of Oxford4' until his death in 1507,
when he was seised of the manor of Watton.48 His
nearest heir should have been Francis Lord Lovell,
son of his sister Joan, but he was under attainder ;
the remaining heirs were John Norreis, son of his
niece Frideswide, and Bryan Stapleton, son of his
niece Joan.43 The Crown, however, seems to have
taken possession of the manor owing to Lord Lovell's
attainder,50 and it was granted in 1509 to John Earl
of Oxford,51 who had married Elizabeth widow of
William Beaumont, to whom it was confirmed for
life by Act of Parliament after her husband's death."
The reversion of the manor was granted in I 52 I to
Sir Wistan Brown, Knight of the Body,33 and Watton,
or Bardolf Hall as it was now called, came to his son
John," and from him descended to his son and heir
George Brown in 1550." In that year, probably
for assurance of title, Edward VI granted the manor
to Sir Thomas Darcy, Lord Darcy of Chich ;
George Brown seems to have remained in possession,
for in 1552 he conveyed the manor to Matthias
Bradbury.55 In 1576 Thomas Bradbury sold the
manor of Bardolfs to Philip Boteler," after which it
followed the descent of Watton Woodhall Manor
until 1 801, when it was sold, after the bankruptcy
of Paul Bendfield, to Edward Lord Ellenborough,
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. The latter
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw, I, no. 16,
in. 13.
18 Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 385.
19 Assize R. 325.
K Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii,
575-
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 64.
" Chart. R. 33 Edw. I, no. 77, m. 12.
"Cal. Pal. 1317-21, p. 135 ; Inq.
a.q.d. file 134, no. 7. This gave rise to
confusion in later inquisitions, which state
that Thomas was the Bon of William ; but
that Thomas was the son of Hugh is sup-
ported by Wrottesley, Ped./rom the Plea R.
103, 352.
>4 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 39.
" Ibid. 3 Edw. Ill, no. 66.
. * Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 8; Abbre-v.
Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 44.
» G.E.C. Peerage.
88 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
170.
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 45 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 7.
30 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 207.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 6.
3a Ibid. 18 Ric. II, no. 7.
33 Ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39.
34 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
3i Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. IV, no. 31.
36 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Hen. VI,no. 30.
38 Ibid. 25 Hen. VI, no. 29, 30.
39 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Hen. VI, no. 26.
41 Ibid. 3 Edw. IV, no. 30 ; G.E.C.
Complete Peerage.
0 Cal. Pat. 1 46 1 -7, p. 179.
l60
43 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
44 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 22. A grant
was made to him in lieu of this one in
1475 during Lord Beaumont's second
attainder (ibid. pp. 530-1).
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. IV, no. 33.
46 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. " Ibid.
48 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxiv, 62.
49 Ibid.; Harl. MS. 756, fol. 19.
s» L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii (1), 1379
■'' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xciii, 80.
w Pat. 1 3 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 20.
M Ibid.
54 Ibid, c Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
H Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
xciii, 80.
56 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Edw. VI.
57 Ibid. Trin. 18 Eliz.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
conveyed it in 1 8 1 3 to Samuel Smith, lord of the
manor of Woodhall, with which manor it has since
been united.53
The manor of Watton possessed a mill in 1086,59
which in 1324 was valued at 13/. \d.m It is men-
tioned in a conveyance in 165 1,61 and is still working.
Robert Aguillon obtained a grant of free warren in
1248.°* The right to hold a fair yearly on the vigil,
feast and morrow of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
(7-9 September) was granted to Robert Aguillon in
1 24s.63
King Edgar gave 4J hides in Watton to the abbey
of Westminster,64 which grant was
confirmed by Edward the Con-
fessor.65 Of this land, which is
reckoned in the Domesday Book as
5 hides, I hide was held by the
abbot himself66 ; 2 hides were held
of the abbot by Aluric Blac, together
with half a hide held by Almar, a
man of Aluric (which was perhaps
the added half-hide) 6' ; and I £
hides were held by Goduin of the
abbot.68 Before 1086 this West-
minster estate had become broken
up. The hide held by the abbot
remained in his possession,69 and
was afterwards united to the manor
of Stevenage,70 the chief manor of
the Abbot of Westminster in Hert-
fordshire. Goduin's \\ hides should
have reverted to the abbey after his
death, but his widow put herself by
force under Eddeva the Fair, who
was in possession of the land ' on
the day when King Edward was
living and died.' It was granted
by William the Conqueror to
Count Alan," who was also lord of
Great Munden, and hence seems to
have become permanently attached
to that manor.78 Aluric Blac, al-
though he held his land in Watton
of the Abbot of Westminster, was
at the same time the man of
Archbishop Stigand, and hence it
happened, as in Datchworth, that
Archbishop Lanfranc annexed his
%\ hides in Watton and was hold-
ing them in 1086, with Anschitil
de Ros as tenant under him.'3
It seems impossible to trace any
connexion between these holdings
and the manor of WOODHALL.
This seems to have been held of the lords of the
neighbouring manor of Benington '* (q.v.). In 1278
WATTON-AT-STONE
Alexander de Balliol, lord of Benington, claimed
liberties in his manor of Watton.7'
In the 1 2th century the sub-tenants of the manor
appear to have been a family of Watton. There was
a Ralph de Watton, whose son Robert succeeded, and
settled his 'vill of Wattun' on his wife Katherine
in dower, some time before 1158.'6 'Selidus' de
Watton is mentioned in 11 6677 and Gilbert de
Watton in 1207,75 both of whom were perhaps sub-
tenants. After this the manor passed to John de
Tuwe or Teu, who was holding it in 1248, and was
in that year accused of obstructing a way in Watton
Watton Place : Back View
by making a ditch where the road was accus-
tomed to be.79 He was succeeded before 1303
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii,
149; ccccii, 144.; Ct. of Wards, Feod.
Surv. 17 ; Close, 1 Anne, pt. ix, no. 8 ;
Recov. R. Mich. 1 Anne, rot. 120 ; Hil.
15 Geo. Ill, rot. 387 ; Mich. 20 Geo. Ill,
rot. 487. 69 V.C H. Herts, i, 342.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 39 ;
see ibid. 14 Edw. I, no. 16 ; 3 Edw. Ill,
no. 66.
61 Recov. R. East. i6ci,no. 66.
68 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 329.
63 Ibid.
64 Dugdale, Mon. i, 292.
65 Ibid. 294 ; Cott. Chart, vi, 2.
66 V.C.H. Herts, i, 313.
67 Ibid. 305a. 6S Ibid. 319.
69 Ibid. 313.
70 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 53.
71 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319.
72 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 8, g, 10, 17.
73 V.C.H. Herts, i, 305a.
74 Feud. Aids, ii, 429, 436 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 62 ; Cal. Close,
1323-7, p. 296 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 8
Hen. V, no. 78 ; 13 Hen. VI, no. 11 ;
3 1 Hen. VI, no. 27 ; (Ser. 2), ccxcvii,
149 ; ccccii, 144 ; V.C.H. Herts, i, 305.
75 Plat, de Quo fVarr. (Rec. Com.), 281.
l6l
76 Doc. at Westminster, press 17,
shelf 4, box 85, no. 4737. Peter and
Robert de Valognes (see Benington) are
witnesses to this document, which points
to the * vill * mentioned being the manor
later known as Woodhall. It is not dated,
but this Peter de Valognes died about 1 1 5 8
and was succeeded by his brother Robert.
77 Pipe R. 1 2 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 127.
'« Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 56.
79 Assize R. 3 1 8, m. 2 ; Testa de Nevill
(Rec. Com.), 271. Mr. Round states
that John de Tuwe was holding as early
as 1236.
21
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Wood-
Gulei a feste
cheeky argent and sable
between six crosslets or.
by Mabel de Tuwe," probably his daughter. In
1 308 she conveyed the reversion of the manor to
Philip de Peletot,81 who was still holding it in
1 346,*' and died in 1361.83 Philip is said to have
had a daughter Katherine,
who married, first, Ralph le
Boteler (by whom she had a
son Philip), and secondly
Edmund Bardolf.51 Edmund
Bardolf and his wife Kathe-
rine were holding Woodhall
in 1372," when the manor
was claimed by Elizabeth
Peletot, as daughter of Adomar,
son of Philip de Peletot,86 but
there seems to have been a
defect in her title, as the
manor passed to Philip Boteler,
the son of Katherine. In
1382 Philip received an exemption for life from
being put on juries, &c, and from being made mayor,
sheriff, escheator, or other minister of the king against
his will.17 He died in 1+20, and his eldest son Edward
dying a few weeks after, Woodhall came to his second
son Philip,88 who came of age in 1 43 5.69 Philip died
in 1453, and his widow Elizabeth immediately
married Laurence Cheyney and held the manor with
him until her death, when it came to her son John
Boteler.90 John was succeeded by Philip Boteler,
presumably his son, in 1 5 14,91 who in turn was
succeeded by his son John in 154;.92 From John's
son, Sir Philip, Woodhall passed in 1607 to his
grandson Robert Boteler, son of an intervening Philip
who died during his father's lifetime.93 Robert died
in 1622, leaving a daughter Jane and a brother
Sir John.94 John Boteler suc-
ceeded,95 and the lord of the
manor in 1700 was Philip
Boteler,96 his son. The last-
named Philip died in 1712
without issue, and his estates
passed to John Boteler, the son
of his great-uncle John.97
From John Boteler Woodhall
came to his grandson John
Palmer Boteler,98 who sold it
to Sir Thomas Rumbold.
After the death of the latter
Woodhall was purchased in
1793 by Paul Bendfield, after
whose bankruptcy it was sold, and acquired in I 80 1
Smith of Woodhall.
a cheveron cotised
"ff"
by Samuel Smith,99 who died in 1834."" His great-
grandson Mr. Abel Henry Smith is the present lord
of the manor.
CROU'BOROUGH (Croubery, Crobberewe, xiii
cent. ; Crobbergh, Crowbergh, Crebborogh, xvcent. ;
Crowbury, xvii cent.) was held of the lords of the
manor of Benington for the service of a quarter of a
knight's fee. Alexander de Balliol claimed liberties
there as at Woodhall in 1278.1 In 1266 the sub-
tenant of Crowborough was Alice de Rivers, who in
that year settled it on herself for life, with remainder
to her daughter Christine.2 In 1270 Christine de
Rivers conveyed the remainder of the manor after her
death to Robert de Graveley,3 who had a grant of free
warren in 1292' and was holding it in 1303.' He
died before 13 1 1, his lands passing to his widow
Beatrice de Graveley,6 who in 1329 conveyed
Crowborough to Thomas Bardolf,7 who seems to have
joined it to his manor of Watton and paid Beatrice an
annuity of 66s. 8d.a He was succeeded by his son
John Bardolf, who in 1 340 granted the manor of
Crowborough to his brother Edmund for life.9
Edmund was still holding it in 1346,10 but after his
death it reverted to the heirs of John Bardolf, being
held by his son William." After the death of Agnes,
widow of William Bardolf, in 1403 la Crowborough
passed to a younger branch of the family ; probably
William Bardolf settled it on a younger son, for in
1384-5 he had granted it to trustees, from whom his
widow Agnes held it in dower.13 In 1 405 it was
held by another William Bardolf,1'1 and in 1428 by
Edmund Bardolf.15 Edmund Bardolf, apparently
grandson and successor of the latter,16 died about 1472,
bequeathing to his wife Margery ' certain rooms at
his manor of Crowborough where she can bake bread
and brew ale.' He left a son Henry and a grandson
George, the son of Henry.17 In 1562 Edmund
Bardolf, perhaps a son or grandson of the last-named
George, conveyed the manor to Sir John Boteler 18 of
Watton Woodhall, after which date Crowborough
followed the descent of that manor.19 In 1702 Philip
Boteler exchanged the siteof Crowborough Hall (which
is still marked by the moats near Watton Green) for
the old rectory-house m (see advowson). Apparently,
however, the manor was kept by Philip Boteler, for it
appears in the Boteler family as late as 1780.21 It
apparently passed later to Mrs. Abel Smith (see
advowson).
WATTON HALL, or JVATKIN'S HALL, is
an estate which first appears about 1 54c. The
first recorded owner is Thomas Munden, whose
"
■ Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
81 Feet of F. Herts. I Edw. II, no. 10.
88 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
83 Monum. Inscr.
M Clutterbiiclc, Hist, of Herts, ii, 473.
85 Wrottesley, Ped.from the Plea R. 107.
86 Ibid. eT Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 149.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. V, no. 78.
"Ibid. 14 Hen. VI, no. 49; 13
Hen. VI, no. H. The Feud. Aids of
1438 (ii, 448) give John Cheyney as the
holder of Woodhall. Doubtless he was
guardian during Philip's minority.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. 31 Hen. VI, no. 27.
91 Monum. Inscr.
03 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiii, S8.
98 Ibid, ccxcvii, 149.
91 Ibid, ccccii, 144.
95 Chan. Proc Eliz. Bb 5, no. 11;
Recov. R. Hil. 21 Jas. I, rot. 19 j Cal.
S. P. Don. 1 63 1-3, p. 78 ; Recov. R.
Mich. 16 Chas. II, rot. 56.
96 Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 332.
97 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 218.
98 Recov. R. Mich. 20 Geo. Ill,
rot. 487.
99 Clutterbuclc, Hist, of Herts, ii, 475.
100 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadwater
Hund. 181.
1 Plac. de Quo PVarr. (Rec. Com.), 281;
Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 8-11 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39. The Feud. Aids
of 1303 and 1346 (ii, 429 and 436) give
Hugo and John de Bibbesworth as the
overlords. As this family belonged to Kimp-
ton it would seem that this is an error.
8 Feet of F. Herts. 50 Hen. Ill, no. 582,
584. » Ibid. 54 Hen. Ill, no. 627.
* Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, p. 421.
6 Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
l62
6 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 317.
7 Feet of F. Herts. 3 Edw. Ill, no. 31.
8 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill, no. 66.
9 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 17.
10 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
11 Close, 8 Ric. II, m. 32 d.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39.
» Ibid. ; Close, 8 Ric. II, m. 32 d.
14 Cal. Pat. 1405-8, p. 89.
15 Feud. Aids, ii, 448.
16 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 41, no. 27.
17 Will, P.C.C. 6 Wattvs.
18 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 & 5 Eliz.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii,
149; ccccii, 144; Com. Pleas D. Enr.
Mich. 1; Chas. I, m. 8 ; Recov. R. Mich.
1 Anne, rot. 120.
20 Priv. Act, 4 & 5 Anne, cap. 5.
51 Recov. R. Hil. I 5 Geo. Ill, rot. 387;
Mich. 20 Geo. Ill, rot. 487.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
daughter and heir Elizabeth married Robert Burgoyn."
The latter is mentioned in 1540,23 and was holding
Watton Hall, with his wife Elizabeth, in 1543."
In 1 547, his son and heir Robert being a minor, the
custody of his lands was granted to Lord Rich.85 In
1 6 1 5 the ' manor ' was held by Robert's son, Roger
Burgoyn,21 who was succeeded before 1626 by his son
John Burgovn." John was living in 1634, and had
three sons,"8 but by 1636 from a date and initials
i.M. on an old beam inserted in the present house
it would appear to have passed to the Miles family,
as it was in the possession of John Miles in 1719.29
From John Miles it went to William Miles before
1731.30 In 1788 it was held by Samuel Rogers and
Jane his wife.31 It is now a farm-house.
A water mill 3! and free fishery 33 are mentioned as
pertaining to this estate.
The church of ST. ANDREW AND
CHURCH ST. MART stands on rising ground to
the south-west of the village, and is
built of flint rubble with stone dressings. It consists
of a chancel, north chapel, nave, north and south
aisles and porches and a west tower, all of a 15th-
century rebuilding. In 1 S5 1 the church was restored
throughout by the late Mr. Abel Smith.31
The original church was entirely obliterated by
the 15th-century rebuilding. The east window of
the chancel and the two windows in the south wall
are each of three lights with tracery in a two-centred
head, but very few of the stones are old. A door
between them is modern, as are also the chancel arch
and the arcade of three bays opening to the modern
north chapel. Below the eastern of the two south
windows is a 15th-century piscina, in one range with
three sedilia of the 15th century, with cinquefoiled
canopies and cusped spandrels. All are much
restored.
The nave arcades are of the 13 th century and are
of four bays with two-centred arches of two moulded
orders, supported on piers of four shafts separated by
hollows and having moulded capitals and bases. The
two arcades are almost exactly alike in detail. At
the north-east and south-east angles are stair turrets
to the roof, which also served as rood-stairs ; only that
on the south side is accessible from the nave. Above
on each side are the doors opening from the stairs to
the rood loft. The turrets are carried up beyond
the nave parapet in an octagonal form, and that on the
south is embattled, while the northern one is plain.
The clearstory has on each side four much restored
two-light windows of the 15th century. The north
aisle has a modern arch at the east end opening into
the north chapel, in the north wall three three-light
traceried windows, and in the west wall a two-light
window, all much restored. The north door and
another small door to the east of it are both modern.
The north porch, of two stages, is of the 1 5th century,
but all the detail is renewed, and the straight stair
and the parvise are also modern. The south aisle has
an east window of three lights, and the remaining
windows are like those of the north aisle. The
south doorway, with a two-centred arch of two wave-
WATTON-AT-STONE
moulded orders, is of the 15 th century. The south
porch was wholly rebuilt in the 19th century.
The west tower opens to the nave by a 15th-
century arch of three moulded orders. The tower
is of three stages with an embattled parapet ; it has
a stair turret at the south-west and two square
buttresses at each angle. The turret is carried up
above the parapet and is itself embattled. At the
foot are an interior and an exterior doorway, both
with four-centred heads. The west doorway and
the three-light window above it are so much restored
as to be almost wholly modern. The bell-chamber
windows, which are of two lights, are also much
restored.
There is a brass in the chancel of a priest in a
quire cope of mid-i 5th-century date. In the north
chapel is a brass of a knight in armour under an
ogee-shaped canopy, with a marginal inscription
' 4- icy gist Philip Peletoot chevaler qe morust le
xim I jour de Aust Ian de | Grace mill ccclxj | .'
Above the canopy are two shields, the dexter paly
and a chief indented. The other shield is plain, a
modern restoration. The upper part of the figure
and the inscription were restored in 1851. Also in
the north chapel are the following brasses : a knight
in armour, said to be John Boteler, who died in I 5 14,
with five shields of arms ; Boteler quartering Kilpeck
(twice), and Boteler impaling Tyrrel, Acton and
(?) Belknap, his three wives ; a civilian of late 15th-
century date ; and one to Richard Boteler of Staple-
ford, 1614, with Anna his wife, daughter of John
Mynne of Hertingfordbury, 161 9, and their only
daughter Elizabeth wife of Rowland Graveley of
Graveley, 1600. This brass has an inscription and
two shields of Boteler and Graveley. A third shield
of Mynne is lost.
At the east end of the nave is a much mutilated
brass of a lady with the lower part of the figure
missing ; there are indents of her husband, sons and
daughters, and two brass shields, the one of Drury,
and the other Kilpeck quartering Boteler. The frag-
ment of the inscription reads ' . . . . Knyght, late
Lorde of Wodhall whyche deceassed th . . . .'
In the north aisle is a brass with the headless figure
of a civilian of the late 15 th century, and the indents
of two figures and of a marginal inscription.
In the south aisle is a brass of a lady with a shield
of Bardolf. This is only a portion of the brass of
Sir Edmund Bardolf (1438) and Edmund Bardolf
his kinsman and Joan wife of Edmund.
In the chapel are also a monumental slab with a
marginal inscription in French to Sir Robert de
Graveley of 14th-century date, and an alabaster
slab, 8 ft. 2 in. long, incised and inlaid with figures
of Sir John Boteler of Woodhall, in armour (the date
of his death not filled in), his two wives, Elizabeth,
who died in 14.71, and Constance, who died in
14 — , his eight children, and an inscription and
three shields of the arms of Boteler, Kilpeck, and
Downhall. In the chancel is a floor slab to John
Saywell, rector, died 1693, and in the north aisle is a
14th-century floor slab to Roger de Larebi.
22 Visit. Beds. (Harl. Soc. xix), 87-8.
23 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 86 ; xvii,
3-
24 Feet of F. Herts. East. 35 Hen. VIII.
25 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. i, m. 29.
28 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 13 Jus. I.
27 Recov. R. Mich. 2 Chas. I, rot. 98.
28 Visit. Beds. (Harl. Soc. xix), 87-8.
39 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 5 Geo. I.
30 Recov. R. Hil. 4 Geo. II, rot.
290.
81 Ibid. Trin. 28 Ge
III, rot. 147.
163
82 Feet of F. Herts. East. 3 ; Hen. VIII.
33 Recov. R. Mich. 2 Chas. I, rot. 98.
34 The internal dimensions are : chan-
cel, 38 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. 6 in. ; nave,
54 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. ; aisles, 9 ft. wide ;
and tower, 14 ft. by 13 ft.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
There are a few important monuments of more
recent date. In the chancel chapel is one to Sir
Thomas Rumbold, formerly Governor of Fort St.
George, who for his eminent services under the East
India Company was created a baronet. He died
ii November 1791. There are also tablets to his
two sons Thomas Henry and Anwaer Henry Rum-
bold ; to their mother Joanna, daughter of Bishop
Law of Carlisle ; and to Captain William Richard
Rumbold, who carried the Pondicherry dispatches
and the colours of the fortress to the king. He died
14 June 1786.
In the manor chapel are many monuments to the
Smiths of Woodhall with their arms. In the south
aisle is the monument of Philip Boteler, only son of
Sir John Boteler, kt., who died 7 May 1 71 2, aged
thirty-one, and of his cousin and heir John Boteler of
Woodhall, who died 17 July 1774, aged ninety.
Above is a shield of Boteler impaling Ettrick, Argent
a lion and a chief gules, for Philip Boteler and his
wife Elizabeth Crane Ettrick, who died childless.
In the chapel is preserved a large iron-bound chest
of late 1 6th or early 17th-century date.
The bells are six in number, the treble being by
J. Briant, 1785 ; the second by George Chandler,
1682 ; the third by the same maker and of the same
date was recast by Bowell in 1907 ; the fourth by
J. Briant, 1785 ; the fifth by C. & J. Mears, 1852 ;
and the sixth by Thomas Mears, I 84 1.
The plate consists of two chalices and two patens
of 1865 and a flagon of i860.
The registers date from 1560 and are contained
in four books : (i) baptisms, burials, and marriages
from 1560 to 1737 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from
1737 to 1812, marriages from 1737 to 1753 ; (iii)
marriages from 1754 to 1 806 ; (iv) marriages from
1807 to 1812.
The advowson is first mentioned
ADVOWSON in 1304, when it was in the hands
of Mabel de Tuwe,35 who in 1308
conveyed it with the manor of Woodhall to Philip de
Peletot.36 The living is a rectory. It continued to
descend with the manor of Watton Woodhall until
the 19th century." After the death of Paul Bendfield
in 1 80 1 it was sold separately from the manor to
Alexander Ellice,38 who presented in 1804.39 His
son William Ellice presented in 1809,40 and John
Corfield for one turn in 1814,41 after which the
advowson was acquired by Abel Smith,42 lord of the
manor of Woodhall, and has since remained with the
manor. In 1 702 the parsonage and certain of the
glebe lands were exchanged with Philip Boteler for
Crowborough Hall and the premises and lands per-
taining. The old house lay east of the River Beane.
The glebe still forms part of the Woodhall Park
estate and is called the Springs or the Rector's
Springs. The new site, which adjoined the church-
yard, was more convenient, as before, ' when the
waters are out and overflow the banks of the river
there, which runs between the parsonage and the
church aforesaid, the minister cannot pas? over the same
to go to the church.'43 The second rectory, which
stood about 1 00 yards north-west of the church, was
pulled down about the middle of the 19th century
and a new rectory built close by. This house,
which is called by the old name of Crowbury (Crow-
borough), was bought in 1898 by the trustees of
the Woodhall estate, and is now the residence of
Mrs. Abel Smith. The present rectory was built
with part of the proceeds of the sale.433
In 1423 the advowson was in the king's gift by
reason of the minority of Sir Philip Boteler's heir,44
and again in 1635-6.45 Dr. Halsey, the incumbent
by this presentation, in 1638 brought a suit against
Sir John Boteler, concerning which the king wrote to
the Master of the Court of Wards : ' We were
informed that the church suffered much by the
indirect courses held by the Botelers, patrons, in
obtaining leases of the parsonage house, glebe and
tithes, at an undervalue of the incumbents whom
they presented, and therefore we resolved to redeem
the church from that pressure, and when the church
became void determined to bestow the same on
Dr. Halsey divers months before our presentation
passed. This being the case you are first to preserve
the rules and orders of your Court for our better
service, and next if you still find that such indirect
courses have been held by patrons, if any advan-
tage has thereby happened to us, you are not to
remit it.' 46
In 1644-5 tne inhabitants of Watton petitioned
Sir John Boteler not to bestow the living on the
curate, ' who is not a quiet and peaceable man, and
who will neither bury or christen or administer the
Sacrament.' Sir John was, however, at that time
imprisoned at Peterhouse for malignancy.47 In 1734
Hamond Cross presented for one turn,48 and in
I 78 1 John Stockwell.49 Edward Bickersteth, who was
instituted by Mr. Abel Smith in 1830, was the com-
piler of the Christian Psalmody, on the basis of which
his son, the Rev. E. H. Bickersteth, formed the collec-
tion of hymns known as the Hymnal Companion.
There was a church house connected with the
church of Watton, of which mention is made in
1504, when a chamber in it was provided by Sir John
Boteler for a priest.50
Whempstead Chantry or Free Chapel, dedicated in
honour of the Blessed Mary, was founded by Henry
Mayor of London late in the 12th or early in the
13th century. He endowed it with a carucate of
land of the value of 40/. yearly.51 There are
references to a chapel in the parish of Watton in the
episcopal registers during the 13th and 14th cen-
turies, the incumbent of which was called a warden,
who also served the parish church. In 1 26 1 this
chapel was said to be without cure of souls.5'3 Sir
Robert Aguillon by his will (?I286) left a tenter-
ground in London to the chapel in his fief of Watton,
35 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Dalderby,
fol. 2 3 5 d.
38 Feet of F. Herts. East. I Edw. II,
no. 10.
37 Close, 14. Ric. II, m. 8 d. ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 13 Hen. VI, no. 1 1 ; (Ser. 2),
lxxiii, 88; Recov. R. Hil. 21 Jas. I,
rot. 19 ; Mich. 1 Anne, rot. 120 ; Hil.
15 Geo. Ill, rot. 387; Mich. 20
Geo. Ill, rot. 487 ; Clergy List, 1908.
38 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadwater
4C Ibid. 1638-9, p. 60.
W. p. 187.
47 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. viii,
™ Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
43a.
40 Ibid.
48 Bacon, Liber Regis ; Inst. Bks.
» Ibid.
(P.R.O.).
42 Ibid.
« Ibid.
43 Priv. Act, 4 & 5 Ann?, cap. 5.
50 Will, P.C.C. 17 Holgrave.
43» Information from Mr. A. H. Smith.
51 Rot. Huttd. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
44 Cat, Pat. 1422-9, p. 160.
51a Line. Epis. Reg. Buckingham Mem.
45 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1635-6, p. 252 (2).
pt. i and ii ; ibid. Gravesend.
164
Watton Church from the North-east
Watton Church : The Nave looking East
BROADWATER HUNDRED
in relief of the poor.5' It is uncertain if reference
was made to this chapel in the licence, dated 1390,
to build a chapel in a place called ' la Lowe,' in
the parish of Watton, to the honour of the Blessed
Virgin. The advowson of the chantry remained
vested in the lords of the manor of Bardolf 5:" until
the forfeiture of that manor by William Viscount
Beaumont in 1 46 1, when it escheated to the
Crown.53 In 1 521 it was granted, together with
the reversion of the manor, to Sir Wistan Brown.51
The chapel was, however, allowed to fall into disuse
by Sir Wistan's son and successor. The last incum-
bent, one Goldingham, a layman, died about 1547,
■ after whose decease John Brown being patron of
the said chapel did enter and the profit thereof
took and enjoyed to his own use, and between
Michaelmas and Hollom.is hath felled and sold ten
acres of wood.' By the time of the survey of 1548
the chantry was ' utterlie decayed,' and was farmed
out with its lands and appurtenances to Joan Curtes,
a widow, for the rent of £\ 8r. ^.dj" Upon the
dissolution of the chantry in the same year the site
and lands, including the woods of ' Bushey Layes and
Comes wood,' were granted to William Twisden and
John Brown and their heirs.56 In 1584 Whempstead,
still called the ' free chapel,' was conveyed by Edward
Walgrave to John Harvey,5' who died seised of it in
1606.59 He left a widow Clemence, who enjoyed
the profits during her lifetime, after which Whemp-
stead came to William Harvey, his second son, upon
whom it was entailed.59 William died in 162 1,
leaving it to his third son William, with remainder in
equal division to his four remaining children.60
William Harvey the younger died without issue in
1626,61 and his estates were in consequence divided
between his brothers John and Thomas Harvey and
his sisters Mar}- Storer and Elizabeth Harvey. Thomas
Harvey and William Storer conveyed their fourths to
Sir John Boteler.62
WELWYN
A capital messuage called Whempstead appears in
1592 in the possession of John Scroggs, who died
seised of it in that year. He left a son Edward.63
A portion of the estate belonging to Whempstead
Chapel, called Olivers, was apparently kept by the
Botelers after the dissolution of the chantry and did
not go with the rest of the lands.64 It presumably
became absorbed in the manor of Watton.
A portion of the buildings formerly belonging to
the chantry was remaining in 1877,65 but has since
been pulled down. Near the site is Lowfield Grove
(see the name La Lowe above) and adjoining this
was a field called Lowfield.66
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters were
registered in Watton from 1697. In 1820 a
Wesleyan chapel was certified," and there is at the
present time a Wesleyan chapel in the parish.
The Free School, founded in I 662
CHARITIES by Maurice Thompson and Sir
William Thompson, kt., and aug-
mented by will of Abraham Crosland, 1703 (see
article on Schools).68
This foundation is now regulated by scheme of the
Board of Education, 30 April 1906.
The endowments now consist of 8 a. 3 r. 22 p. of
the annual rental value of £ 1 1 10/. and £ 688 5/. 10a'.
consols, invested in 1 857 with the official trustees
and producing £ I 7 \s. yearly.
The scheme includes appointment of trustees, and
provides for the application of the income in prizes
for boys and girls at or leaving public elementary
schools, a payment of not more than £$ a year in
provision of books for a school library, and for
exhibitions at a secondary school, and in the main-
tenance of bursaries, also for the instruction of
children in the theory and practice of gardening.
In 1867 Lady Susan Smith erected almshouses for
the use of three aged widows and as many widowers,
which were supported by Mr. Abel Smith.
WELWYN
Welge (xi cent.) ; Wyluwes, Welewes, Weluen
(xiv cent.).
The parish of Welwyn has an area of 3,064 acres,
of which 1,028 acres are arable land, 1, 1 60 acres
permanent grass and 613^ acres wood.1 It is divided
into two by the River Mimram or Maran, which
flows through it from north-west to south-east. The
height of the parish above the ordnance datum is from
200 ft. to 250 ft. in the centre, where the village is
situated ; to the north, east and south-west of the
village are three hills occupied by the estates of
Danesbury, Lockleys, and the Frythe. The highest
ground is on the south-west, where an altitude of
over 400 ft. is reached. The most northern part
of the parish, near Knebworth station, is called the
Gun.
The town of Welwyn is situated on the Great
North Road, 4 J miles north of Hatfield. At the
north of the village the road divides, one branch
running north-west through Codicote to Hitchin,
and the other north-east to Stevenage. The church of
St. Mary is situated at the north end of the town. At
the south-east of the churchyard is a 1 7th-century two-
storied building, probably originally the church house,
afterwards used as the poor-house and now as the police
station. It is partly of timber and plaster, with an
overhanging upper story. Under the projection of
this story is the large parish fire-hook formerly used
for tearing off the thatch of cottages in case of fire.
The houses in the town are for the most part of brick
of the 18th and 19th centuries. The settlement here
is early, as a rich burial of the late Celtic period has
52 Information from Mr. ]. H. Round.
524 Chan. Inq. p.m. I 3 Ric. II, no. 6 ;
Fine R. 18 Ric. II; Chan. Inq. p.m.
4 Hen. IV, no. 39.
53 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 223 ; 1467-77,
p. 176.
54 Pat. 13 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 20.
55 Chant. Cert. 17, no. 8.
46 Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. iv.
57 Feet of F. Herts. East. 26 Eliz.
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccvii, 82.
59 Ibid, ccclxxxvii, 113. «° Ibid.
61 Ibid, dccxlvii, 135.
62 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 8 Chas. I,
m. 11 ; Trin. 12 Chas. I, m. 3.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ecl, 69 ;
ccclvii, 10.
64 Ibid, ccccii, 144 ; Ct. of Wards
Feod. Surv. 17 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
ccxcvii, 149.
Go Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadivater
Hund. 186.
66 Information from Mr. Abel Smith.
67 Urwick, op. cit. 620—1.
68 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 100.
1 Information from Bd. of Agric.
(1905).
165
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
been discovered near to Lockleys and a Roman villa
in the garden of the rectory.
Danesbury is the property of Colonel A. M.
Blake, C.B., D.L., J. P., and is situated in a park of
about 200 acres. Lockleys is an 1 8th-century red
brick house with a park, the property and residence
of Mrs. Neall. The Frythe, a modern brick gabled
house with extensive grounds, is the residence of the
Misses Wilshere. Sherrard's House, to the south of
the Frythe, is the residence of Mr. Robert D. Balfour.
In the north of the parish is the hamlet of Woolmer
Green, with Mardleybury to the east and Mardley
Heath to the west. Welch's Farm lies about a mile
south. Harmer Green is situated in an eastern
extension of the parish, and part of Burnham Green
is included in a detached part of Welwyn parish
about a mile north-east.
There was a chalybeate spring in the parish,
referred to by Camden as being in the corner of the
old rectory garden.2 An attempt was made in the
1 8th century under the auspices of Dr. Young to
make Welwyn a watering-place. Assembly rooms
were built, which enjoyed a short vogue, and which
still survive as tenements."" The spring has been
covered over, the garden having been converted into
a timber-yard, but is believed still to exist.3
The main line of the Great Northern railway runs
through the parish ; the railway station is situated rather
more than a mile to the south-east of the town.
In 1882 a detached portion of the parish was
transferred to Digswell for civil purposes.4 The sub-
soil of the p.irish is chalk, except for a small district in
the east, where it gives way to Woolwich and Read-
ing Beds. There are a number of chalk-pits in the
north of the parish and some gravel-pits in the centre.
The inclosure award was made in 18 19, the
Authorizing Act being dated 1 8 10. Both are in the
custody of the clerk of the peace.5
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANORS WELWTN was held of the king in
frankalmoign by the priest of the vill, and
belonged to the church of Welwyn.6 The same man
held it in 1086 'in alms' of King William, when it
was assessed at 1 hide. It was stated at that time
that William Blach, a man of the Bishop of Bayeux,
occupied I 2 acres to the king's injury.7 The manor
of Welwyn has been held ever since by the rector of
the parish.8 The rector becomes lord of the manor
upon his institution to the living.9 In 1275 the
parson claimed view of frankpledge, gallows, and
amendment of the assize of bread and ale.10 Manorial
courts are still occasionally held.
A water mill pertained to the manor in 1461,
and in 1469 Thomas Dene of Ayot Montfitchet
broke and entered it to the rector's damage."
In 1 47 1 Thomas Payn the miller was fined for
obstructing the course of the mill-stream and
causing it to overflow the king's highway." In 1463
John Porter, chaplain, and Thomas son of William
Fyssh of Welwyn were presented as ' common fishers '
for taking fish on the banks of the river and carrying
them away without licence. In the following year
the same chaplain was presented for making an ' unjust
footpath' through Diggesmede.'3 In 1475 various
people in the manor were fined for playing at dice
and cards."
In addition to this rectory manor there were others
in Welwyn of which the early history is obscure.
Mr. Round points out that in 1235-6 Geoffrey de
Beauchamp held half a fee in ' Welewe ' of Robert
'de Hirbeygin ' (of Cainhoe) and that in 1346 both
the quarter fees in Welwyn (one of which was
Lockleys) are entered as held ' de baronie de
Kaynho.' This holding he takes back to 1 1 83, when
'Robert de Albeneio ' gave z\ marks that Baldwin
' Wach ' might be summoned to warrant his wife ' de
terra de Welewe.' 14a
The manor of LOCKLEt'S (Lockele, Lokkelebery,
Lokley) was held in I 303 as a quarter fee of Agnes de
Valence,10 daughter of William and sister ofAylmer
de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, to whom the over-
lordship came at her death about 1309."' After
Aylmer's death in I 3 24,1? Lockleys was granted in
dower to his widow Mary, who obtained possession in
1325.18 Aylmer's heirs were his nephew John de
Hastings and his two nieces Elizabeth Talbot and
Joan the wife of David de Strathbolgi." Lockleys was
assigned to Joan and David,"" but it so happened that
neither they nor their heirs obtained possession, for
Mary de Valence lived until 1377, while David de
Strathbolgi, grandson and heir of David and Joan, died
without male issue in I 3 7 5 .2I The overlordship is
found later vested in John of Gaunt, Duke of Lan-
caster, of whom Lockleys was held as of his manor
of Hertingfordbury." He was succeeded in 1399 by
his son Henry, who in the same year became king as
Henry IV,83 and the overlordship of Lockleys with
his other possessions thus came to the Crown, and the
manor was subsequently held of the king.34
The first sub-tenant of Lockleys to be mentioned
is Adam de Mandeville, who was connected with
Welwyn in 1288," and certainly held the quarter
fee in 1303 26 and in 1325. 27 He seems to have
been succeeded by William de Mandeville, whose son
William conveyed the manor in 1340 to Sir Walter
de Crek and his brother Master John de Crek, with
a Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough), i, 343.
"a Information from Rev. A. C. Head-
lam, D.D. References to the assembly
rooms occur in Lord Chesterfield's letters.
8 Information supplied by the Rev.
P. M. Wathen.
4 Divided Parishes Act, 1882.
5 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 63.
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 343a.
7 Ibid.
8 Court Rolls from Edward I to the pre-
sent day in the possession of Mr. A. C.
Davidson, steward of the manor ; Abbre-v.
Plac. (Rec. Com.), 45. It seems possible
that some of the other estates mentioned in
1086 [V.C.H. Hern, i, 311*, 324a, 327*,
333a) became attached to it, as it is
otherwise difficult to account for them.
9 Information supplied by Mr. A. C.
Davidson.
1° Rot. Hu;d. (Rec. Com.), i, 192.
11 Ct. R. penes Mr. A. C. Davidson.
" Ibid.
13 Ibid.
" Ibid.
"a Pipe R. 27 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
125.
15 Feud. Aids, ii, 429. In the 13th
century Christiana de Mandeville, daughter
of Gunnora de Valognes, and Robert
Fitz Walter held certain fees in the
honour of Valognes in ' Lockeley,' but
this seems probably not to have been
Lockleys in Welwyn (Testa de Ne-vill
[Rec. Com.], 271*).
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. II, no. 37.
166
17 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
18 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 267.
» G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Ric. II, no. 139A.
» G.E.C. Complete Peerage. In 1 346
Lockleys is said in Feud. Aids, ii, 436, to
have been held of the barony of Cainhoe,
but this is evidently a confusion with
another quarter fee in Welwyn (see above).
!a Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xiii,
fol. 90 d. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Ric. II,
no. 51.
-'3 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
24 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxiii, 61;
25 Cal. Close, 1279-88
2" Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
27 Cal. Close, 1323-7,
, p. 548.
p. 267.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
remainder to the heirs of Walter.28 Sir Walter was
holding it in I 346, 29 after which it passed to John
Haggeford, son of Walter de Crek's sister Joan and
Walter de Haggeford, who held in tail-male.30 At
this time the capital messuage was ruined and worth
nothing and the land in a poor state.31 John
Haggeford died childless in 1 373, 32 and the manor
was granted by Edward III to his ' kinsman ' and
heir Edmund de Vauncy, who was the illegitimate
son of Edmund de Vauncy, husband of Joan daughter
of William de Crek, brother of Walter and John.33
As he was a minor the custody of his lands was
granted in 1374 to Robert de Bolthorp,34 and later
to John Pusy, who died before 1387, when he and
his executors were charged with having committed
waste in the manor and having diminished the build-
ings, woods and men thereon.35 Edmund died in
1390 and was succeeded by his half-sister Joan
daughter of Edmund de Vauncy the elder and wife
of Thomas Prior.36 Joan seems to have married
secondly John Hore of Cambridge, who together
with his wife conveyed Lockleys in 14 1 5 to John
Perient 37 of Digswell, in whose family it descended 38
in the same manner as Digswell (q.v.).
Upon the death of Thomas Perient in 1 545 39
Lockleys was divided between his second and third
daughters, Dorothy the wife of George Burgoyne, and
Anne, who married Anthony Carleton.40 In 1557
George and Dorothy Burgoyne conveyed their moiety
of the manor to William Perient,41 Dorothy's uncle,42
who acquired the other half from Anthony and
Anne Carleton in 1 5 59,43 and thus became possessed
of the whole manor. William
Perient sold Lockleys in
1564 to Henry Walter,44
who in 1566 conveyed it to
George Horsey,45 husband of
Mary Perient, the elder sister
of Dorothy and Anne.46
George Horsey died in 1587,
and was succeeded by his son
Ralph,4" from whom the
manor apparently passed to
his brother Jasper Horsey,48
for he, together with his wife
and son and Eustace Needham,
conveyed Lockleys in 1624
to Edward Wingate.49 The latter was succeeded by
his son Edward before 1675,50 whose son Ralph
Wingate of Lock-
leys. Sable a bend
ermine cotised or between
six martlets or.
Dering. Urgent
Jesse assure with thr
roundels gules in ti
chief.
WELWYN
Wingate51 was lord of the manor in 1698,52 and sold
it in 1 7 1 5 to Edward Searle.53
Elizabeth daughter and heir of Edward Searle
married Charles Gardiner, whose son Charles 54 was
lord of the manor in 18 I 5,55
but sold it soon after to Sir
George Shee, bart., who
possessed it in 1 82 1.66 Sir
George died in 1 825," his
widow holding Lockleys until
her death in 1838, when the
manor passed to her daughter
Letitia the wife of Robert Der-
ing.58 Their son Mr. George
Edward Dering succeeded his
father in 1859 59 and died in
191 1, when he was succeeded
by his daughter Mrs. Neall,
who is now lady of the manor.
In the time of Edward the Confessor MJRDLET or
MARDLETBURT (Merdelai, xi cent. ; Mardeleye,
xiii to xiv cent. ; Magdaleynbury, Mawdleynbury,
xvi to xix cent.) was held by Alward, who was still
holding it in 1086 of Robert Gernon. It was then
assessed at I hide.60 Robert Gernon also held the
neighbouring manor of Ayot St. Peter, and the over-
lordship of Mardley presumably followed the descent
of that manor61 (q.v.).
The mesne overlordship belonged to the sub-
tenants of Ayot St. Peter, Mardley being held of
them for the service of 20/. and suit of court twice a
year.62 It seems to have followed the descent of the
moiety of Ayot St. Peter known as Ayot Montfitchet.63
Early in the 14th century lands forming part of the
manor were held of the Abbot of Reading and of
Henry Melksop of Datchworth.64
Alward de Mardley, sub-tenant of the manor in
1086,65 was one of the Domesday inquisitors for
Broadwater Hundred.66 There is no record of his
family and no further mention of a sub-tenant until
1288, when the manor was held by Philip de
Mardley, perhaps a descendant of Alward. In that
year Philip released his right in his lands in Welwyn
to Robert Burnell,67 lord of Ayot St. Peter. Philip
had a daughter Pagana de Mardley,68 but probably
the manor did not come to her, for it was held
soon afterwards by Adam de Twynham. He died
seised of it about 1307.69 His son Walter being a
minor, the custody of his lands was granted to
™ Cal. Close, 1339-41, P- +87-
29 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 29.
31 Ibid. 48 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 34.
» Ibid.
33 Ibid. 13 Ric. II, no. 29.
34 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xiii, fol.
90 d. 35 Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 320.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Ric. II, no. 51.
37 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 Hen. V,
no. 18.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxiii, 61.
39 Ibid, lxxiii, 89.
40 Ibid. ; Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
«57-
11 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2*3 Phil,
and Mary.
42 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadwater
Hund. 253.
43 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 Eliz.
44 Ibid. Trin. 6 Eliz. ; Pat. 7 Eliz.
pt. ii.
45 Pat. 8 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 17 ; Feet of
F. Herts. Hil. 9 Eliz.
46 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 157.
47 Ibid. 114; Com. Pleas D. Enr.
Mich. 33 & 34 Eliz.
48 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 1 14.
49 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 21 Jas. I.
M Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 105 ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 27 Chas. II.
51 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 204.
58 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 10 Will. III.
53 Ibid. Mich. 2 Geo. I.
54 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 497.
55 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 55 Geo. III.
56 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 497.
67 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
68 Burke, Landed Gentry.
59 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Broadwater
Hund. 210.
60 V.C.H. Herts, i, 323a.
61 See Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 548 ;
Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 214.
I67
62 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 25 ;
Chan. Inq. a.q.d. 16 Edw. II, no. 100.
A manor of 'Welwys' or Welwyn
appears among the possessions of the
Ayot St. Peter heiresses in 1419 and
1428 (Feet of F. Herts. 7 Hen. V,
no. 39 ; De Banco R. Trin. 4 Hen. VI,
m. 124).
63 Inq. a.q.d. 1 6 Edw. II, no. loo ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.),
no. 23 ; 12 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no.
54a ; 23 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 142 ;
33 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 39.
64 Ibid. 35 Edw. I, no. 25 ; 16 Edw. II,
no. 100 ; 2 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 23.
65 V.C.H. Herts, i, 323a.
" Cott. MS. Tib. A. vi, fol. 38.
67 Abbre-v.Plac. (Rec. Com.), 214; Cal.
Close, 1279-88, p. 548.
68 De Banco R. Mich. 15 Edw. II,
m. 18.
69 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 25.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
afes
bars
between fwo gimel
ules.
William Bacon, king's yeoman, in 1308.7" In I 3 16
Walter de Twynham granted to Roger de Luda or
Louth one robe at the price of £1, to be paid yearly
from the manor." In I 3 1 8 he conveyed Mardley to
Adam de Eglesfeld, who, however, died twelve weeks
later and was succeeded by his brother John. John
de Eglesfeld confirmed Walter's grant to Roger de
Louth, and afterwards sold the manor to John de
Sandale, who increased Roger's payment to 4.0s.
John de Sandale was succeeded about 1320 by his
kinsman and heir John de Sandale, who immediately
conveyed Mardley to Bartho-
lomew de Badlesmere.73
Bartholomew was attainted
for rebellion and hanged in
1322, but his widow Mar-
garet, after having been im-
prisoned for a time in the
Tower, was released and
dower assigned to her.73 This
grant apparently included part
of Mardley, for in 1332
Beatrice widow of John de
Eglesfeld claimed from Mar-
garet one third of the manor
in dower." The result of
the claim is not recorded, nor is there evidence to
show whether Beatrice had been holding the third
since the death of her husband. Giles de Badlesmere,
son of Bartholomew, obtained a reversal of his father's
attainder in 1329 and livery of his lands in 1333 7i ;
he, however, died without issue in 1338, at which
time the 40/. granted to Roger de Luda was still
charged on the manor.76 Giles's widow Elizabeth,
who married secondly Hugh le Despenser, and
thirdly, after 1349, Guy de Bryen, held Mardley
until her death in 1 359." The manor was then
assigned to Margaret youngest sister of Giles de
Badlesmere and her husband John,78 second Lord
Tiptoft. Her eldest son John died in 1359. His
heir was his brother Robert,79 whose widow Margaret,
after his death in 1372, held a third of Mardley in
dower, and married secondly John Cheyney.80 In
I 374 John and Margaret Cheyney granted their third
of the manor to Geoffrey Sightere,81 but who was
holding the remaining two-thirds at that time does
not appear. Robert Tiptoft left three daughters —
Margaret the wife of Roger Lord Scrope, Millicent
wife of Stephen Scrope, and Elizabeth, who married
Philip le Despenser,"2 but, as Mardley does not appear
in the possession of either of these or of their
descendants, it seems probable that there was a sale.
No further tenant is recorded until the second half
of the 15 th century, when Mardley was held by one
William Toppesfeld, who left it by will to his wife Jane
for life (according to her own testimony), the rever-
sion to be settled by her upon one of their children.
Jane settled it upon her younger son Ralph, but the
manor was claimed about 1470-3 by William
Toppesfeld, her grandson, son of her elder son
Thomas.83 Complaint had been made shortly before
by Ralph's two daughters and heirs, Margaret Bernard
and Jane Toppesfeld, that this cousin William had ' by
subtle means' entered the said manor.84 Eventually,
either as a result of this claim or upon the death of
Margaret and Jane, the manor came to William
Toppesfeld, for it was held by his daughter Elizabeth,
who married Richard Garneys of Mendlesham.85
Richard and Elizabeth conveyed Mardley in 1507
to Sir William Say,86 among whose heirs it descended
in the same manner as Westington in Ayot St. Peter 87
(q.v.), was forfeited to the Crown in 1539, and was
granted together with the above manor to Sir Nicholas
Throckmorton in I546.88 The latter sold Mardley,
or Magdaleynbury as it was then called, to Thomas
Nicholls, a mercer of London, in 1555,89 who sold
it in the following year to John Forster.90 John
died seised of Mardley in 1558 and was succeeded,
after the death of his widow Margery, by their son
Humphrey,91 who in 1563 conveyed the manor to
Jasper and Antonia Warren.92 The latter sold it in
1567 to John and Joan Spencer.93 John Spencer
settled Mardley on his wife Joan for her life, with
remainder to their youngest son Henry Spencer, to
whom it came upon Joan's death in 1599, although
his elder brothers Robert and William seem to have
retained portions of the estate.91 Presumably Henry
died without issue, for in 1 61 6-1 7 his eldest brother
Robert Spencer was seised of the ' liberty ' of
Mardley,94 and his son Robert held parcels of the
manor in 1 63 2-3. 96 John Spencer was lord of the
manor in 1 697— 8,97 almost immediately after which
it seems to have been sold to Sir William Lytton of
Knebworth, who possessed it in I 700. 98 Mardleybury
has since descended with the manor of Knebworth,99
Lord Lytton being the present lord of the manor.
View of frankpledge is mentioned as pertaining to
the manor in 1614.100 William Lytton obtained a
grant of free warren there in 1 6 1 6.1
The FRJ'THE formed part of the possessions of
Holywell Priory, Shoreditch, and it therefore seems
probable that it was given to that monastery, together
with the advowson of Welwyn Church, by Gunnora
daughter of Robert de Valognes.
In 1523 William Wilshere (Wiltshire) obtained a
sixty years' lease from Holywell Priory of the Fry the, and
70 Pat. 1 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 19.
71 Chan. Inq. a.q.d. 16 Edw. II, no. 100.
n Ibid.
73 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
71 De Banco R. 292, m. 276 d.
75 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 2 \.
77 Cal. Close, 1337-9, PP- 49^-9 j
Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 494.
78 Cal. Close, 1 341—3, p. 147.
79 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 39.
80 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
81 Feet of F. Herts. 48 Edw. Ill,
no. 656.
88 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
83 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 49, no. 23.
84 Ibid. bdle. 32, no. 177.
65 Burke, Commoners, iv, 564.
86 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 23 Hen. VII.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiii, 93.
88 Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. viii, m. 39.
89 Ibid. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. i ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 & 2 Phil, and
Mary.
90 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 2 & 3 Phil,
and Mary ; Pat. 2&3 Phil, and Mary,
pt. i ; De Banco R. East. 2 & 3 Phil, and
Mary.
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxviii, 64.
99 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Eliz. ; Pat
5 Eliz. pt. v.
*s Ibid. 9 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 31 ; Feet of
l68
F. Herts. Trin. 12 Eliz. The manor
appears in the Inquisition of Larly Anne
Bourchier in 1570, heir of Gertrude
Courteney (one of the heirs of Sir William
Say), who forfeited it in 1539 ; but there
is no other indication that she ever held it
(Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], clvii, 88).
91 Ibid, cccxlviii, 151.
95 Fine R. 14 Jas. I, pt. ii, no. 24.
96 Ibid. 8 Chas. I, pt. ii, no. 18.
97 Pipe R. 9 Will. III.
98 Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 30.
99 Recov. R. Trin. 21 Geo. II, rot. 273 ;
Hil. 51 Geo. Ill, rot. 41.
100 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlviii,
151.
1 Pat. 14 Jaa. I, pt. xvii.
Welwyn Church from the South
Welwyn Church : Interior looking South-east
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Gostwick. Argent a
:nd cotised gules betweer,
x Cornish choughs.
a messuage called the Boarshead.' After the dissolu-
tion of Holywell in I 5 39 3 ihese two tenements, with
$o\ acres of land, were
granted in March 1539-40
to Sir John Gostwick and
Joan his wife.4 Sir John died
in April 1545, and at his in-
quisition in October 1546 it
was stated that Wilshere had
collected the profits of the
estate during the interval,0 so
that it seems probable that he
had remained as occupier of
the Frythe. Sir John Gost-
wick's heir was his son
William, who, however, died
almost immediately after his father, his lands passing
to his uncle William, Sir John's brother.6 William
Gostwick the elder sold the Frythe in 1 546 to William
Wilshere,7 who alienated it to his son Thomas in
1549 3 and died in 1558.9 From Thomas Wilshere,
who died in 1570,10 the Frythe descended to his son
Thomas, who was a minor at his father's death," and
whose son John Wilshere inherited the estate in
March 1 620-1." This John granted the Frythe to
his eldest son John, who, however, predeceased him " ;
Thomas Wilshere the second son therefore succeeded
his father at his death in February 1 646-7. " Thomas
died in 1666 or 1667, and his eldest son Thomas
shortly afterwards, when the Frythe came to the
second son John, who was succeeded by his only
surviving son William in 1721. William Wilshere,
Wilshere of the Frvthe
son of the last William, inherited the property in
1786, and his son, also named William, in 1798.
WELWYN
This third William died in I 824, having settled the
Frythe in tail-male upon the children of his youngest
brother Thomas Wilshere. William the eldest son
succeeded his uncle, but died unmarried in 1867,
when the Frythe came to his brother Charles Willes
Wilshere, who died in 1906, leaving three daughters,"
the eldest of whom, Miss Edith Elizabeth Marie
Wilshere, inherited this estate. The Frythe is now
the residence of the three Misses Wilshere.
The farm of WELCHES was held in the first half of
the 1 5 th century by Richard Welch (Walsh), whose son
and heir Edward Welch conveyed it in 1454-5 to John
Fortescue, chief justice, to the use of John Barry and
his heirs.16 In the following century it came into the
possession of John Warde, citizen and grocer of
London, who with his wife Mary and his son William
conveyed it in 1 596 to Edward Fitz John,17 who died
seised of it in 1610, holding it of the king as of the
honour of Richmond. He settled the reversion of
Welches in 1 602 on his nephew Edward Pennyfather,
to whom it came at his uncle's death.18 Welch's
Farm is now the property of Col. A. M. Blake.
The parish church of ST. MART
CHURCHES stands to the north of the village, and
is built partly of flint rubble and
partly of modern brick, with stone dressings. It
consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles,
north organ chamber, south chapel, south porch,
and south-west tower. Of these, the north aisle,
organ chamber, chapel, and tower are modern. The
plan of the nave is probably that of a 12th-century
nave, and the chancel dates from a late 13th-century
enlargement. The south aisle, which was probably
built about the same time as the chancel, was rebuilt,
probably in the 15th century when the south porch
was added. In 1663" a heavy storm did great
damage, destroying the tower, which had stood on
the north side of the church, and laying open that
side and the vestry ; the whole building was at this
time tied and strengthened at a cost of about ^2,000.
In 19 10 considerable alterations were carried out and
the tower was rebuilt.19"
There is hardly any original detail left in the
chancel, the only old work being a blocked lancet in
the north wall, of late 13th-century date ; the high,
pointed chancel arch, which is of two chamfered
orders, with octagonal responds, and moulded capitals ;
and a much restored double piscina with ogee-shaped
trefoiled heads, and a thin jamb between the two bowls,
which are set eastward of the centres of the recesses.
The sedilia are modern, and the rest of the south
side is taken up by a modern arcade of two bays
opening to the south chapel. The east window is of
three grouped lancets, and there is a wide single light
in the north wall, and also a door to the vestry.
All these are modern.
The south arcade of the nave is of four bays of late
13th-century work, much restored. The arches are
pointed and of two chamfered orders, resting on
octagonal columns with plain moulded bell-capitals.
The bases are modern. The north arcade, which is
2 Aug. Off. Convent. Leases, Midd. 37.
8 Dugdale, Man. iv, 392.
4 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, g. 436 (9).
5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiii, 95.
6 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 245.
7 Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. vi, m. I ?..
8 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 24 q.
9 Will, P.C.C. 47 Welles.
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), civ, 157.
" Ibid.
Ibid. dclv, 97.
■3 Ibid, dexxxiv, 46.
14 I'.C.H. Herts. Families, 245-51.
" Ibid.
I69
16 Close, 33 lien. VI, m. 15, 21.
17 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 38 Eliz.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxlv, 51.
19 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec.), i, 158.
I9» By Mr. Charles Blomfield, R.I.B.A.,
it the sole cost of the Misses Wilshere,
of the Frythe.
22
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
modern, repeats the design formerly in brick and
cement, but rebuilt in 19 10, when the gallery was
removed. This arcade, with the north aisle and
gallery, dates from the early part of the 19th century.
The west window has original jambs and arch, but
the filling is modern. The south aisle has been much
altered at various times, and the south wall, which
was formerly very irregular externally, was wholly
rebuilt in 1910. The windows and door are modern.
In the south wall is a much restored piscina with a
modern head, and on either side of the modern arch-
way at the east, opening into the south chapel, are
image brackets with carved heads of late 13th-century
date. The south porch, which was of late 15th-
century date, with a plain two-centred archway of two
chamfered orders, was replaced by the present struc-
ture in 1910.
Till 1 910 there stood in the arch opening to the
organ chamber an oak screen of good 15th-century
work, of three bays with a central doorway. The
heads of the compartments are ogee-shaped and the
upper portions are elaborately traceried. It is now
restored to its original position under the chancel arch.
There is one bell, by Joseph Eayre, 1760, inscribed
' Prosperity to the Established Church, and no en-
couragement to Enthusiasm.' 19b
The plate consists of a flagon of 1 750, a cup of
1666, and a paten of 1678.
The registers date from 1558, and are contained in
six books: (i) baptisms from 1559 to 1703, burials
from 1558 to 1703, marriages from 1559 to 1701 ;
(ii) baptisms from 1704. to 1779, burials from
1704 to 1783, marriages from 1704 to 1 74 1 ;
(ul>) baptisms from 1780 to 1783 20; (iii) baptisms
from 1780 to 1812, burials from 1784. to 1812 ;
(iv) marriages from 1754. to 1781 ; (v) marriages
from 1 78 1 to 1 81 2.
The church of ST. MICHAEL AND ALL
ANGELS at Woolmer Green was built in 1900, and
is served from the parish church.
The advowson seems to have early
ADVOWSON belonged to the family of Valognes,
for it appears in the possession of
Robert Fitz Walter, husband of Gunnora de Valognes,
in I198.21 In 1235 it was granted by Gunnora
to the convent of Holywell, Middlesex,22 and con-
firmed to it by Pope Clement in I238.23 The living
was not appropriated, but the rector was to pay
5 marks of silver annually to the convent.24 The
right of the Prioress of Holywell to the advowson
was also confirmed in 1240 by the three Valognes
heiresses and their husbands.25 It remained in the
possession of Holywell Priory until the Dissolution,20
and was granted in 1540 to John Gostwick.27 John
Gostwick died seised of the advowson in 1545,28 and
his son William sold it in I 549 to William Wilshere,29
in whose family it descended in the same manner as the
Frythe 3U until Thomas Wilshere sold it in 1616 to
All Souls College, Oxford,31 in whose possession it has
since remained.32
The site of the rectory has been changed, the old
building having been cut up into cottages and the
garden converted into a timber-yard.33 Dr. Young,
the author of ' Night Thoughts,' was for some time
rector of Welwyn and lived at the house named
Guessens.34 He was buried at Welwyn in 1765.
Places of worship for Protestant Dissenters at
Welwyn were registered under the Toleration Act at
various dates from 1691.35 In 1 8 34 Ebenezer Chapel
was certified. At the present time there is a Wcsleyan
chapel and a chapel of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion
in the parish.
The Educational Foundation of
CHARITIES the Rev. Edward Young, LL.D., a
former rector, was founded by deed
15 April 1760 (enrolled), whereby the donor trans-
ferred a sum of £1,500 Old South Sea Annuities to
trustees to be applied towards the maintenance of
a charity school — subsequently combined with the
National school— and for clothing and apprenticing
the scholars.
By an order of the Charity Commissioners 24 No-
vember 1905 it was directed that the residuary rents
and profits of the endowment should be applied for
such other charitable uses and purposes, being educa-
tional and including instruction in the principles and
duties of the Christian religion as laid down in the
catechism of the Church of England, as the trustees
should judge to be most for the real benefit and utility
of the poor inhabitants.
The endowment now consists of £1,918 17/. 7.d.
consols with the official trustees, who also hold a
further sum of £180 consols representing a legacy
by the will of Daniel Spurgeon, dated 1807, in
augmentation of Dr. Young's charity, producing
£52 <)s. \d. annually.
The remaining charities in the parish are regulated
by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of
5 November 1909 under the title of the United
Charities. They comprise the charities of : —
Anthony Charleton, founded by will dated in I 568,
now consisting of a house used as a police station, let
at £12 a year.
John Bexfield, founded by deed 1570, trust fund,
£1,729 is. zd. consols arising from sale in 1865 of
allotment in the parish of Caddington, producing
yearly £43 4/. \d.
— Denny, will dated 1707, trust fund, £835 1 is. -jd.
consols, arising from sale in 1872 of old workhouse
building, producing yearly £20 I'js. 8d.
Thomas Kentish, will in or about 171 2, being a
rent-charge of 10/. issuing out of a farm known as
Cisaferns in Welwyn and Codicote.
Josias Berners, mentioned in the table of bene-
factions as founded by will (date not mentioned),
consisting of a rent-charge of £5 issuing out of
Wormley Bury estate in Cheshunt and applicable in
apprenticing.
Unknown donors' charities, mentioned in the table
of benefactions as consisting of a rent-charge of £l
"•> 'Enthusiasm' was the technical
name of Wesleyanism at this date.
20 Only the tirst few pages of book iii
have been used.
21 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i,
165.
22 Cal. Chan. R. 1226-57, p. 201.
=3 Harl. Chart. 43 A. 37.
21 Ibid.
25 Feet of F. Herts. 25 Hen. Ill,
no. 295.
26 Dugdale, Man. iv, 394.
27 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xv, g. 436
(9).
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), lxxiii,
95-
29 V.C.H. Herts. Families, z (.5.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), civ, 157.
I7O
31 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 497 ;
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
32 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Bacon, Liber
Regis, 518 ; Clergy List, 191 2.
33 Information from the Rev. P. M.
Wathen.
3i Information from the Rev. A. C.
Headlam, D.D.
35 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 625.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
and another of 8/. for the poor, which were redeemed
in 1878 and 1879 by the transfer to the official
trustees of £47 5/. consols, producing £1 y. \d.
yearly.
Daniel Spurgeon, for bread, will dated in 1 807,
trust fund, £195 Ss- 8</- conso,s> yearly income
£4 17/. %d.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees.
It is provided by the scheme that the yearly
income of" Josias Berners' charity should be applied
WESTON
primarily in putting out as apprentices deserving
poor boys bona fide resident in the ancient parish at
a premium of not less than £10 or more than £20,
the income to be accumulated for the purpose. The
yearly income of the remaining charities to be applied
in such way as the trustees thereby appointed may
consider most conducive to the formation of provident
habits, including donations to any dispensary, hospital
or convalescent home, or to a provident club or
society. Also contributions towards the provision of
nurses or in the distribution of articles in kind.
WESTON
Westone (xi cent.).
The parish of Weston has an area of 4,539 acres.
Almost the whole of it lies considerably over 400 ft.
above the ordnance datum, and in the centre of the
village the ground reaches a height of 484 ft. The
land slopes down along the north-west border of the
parish and in the extreme south ; there is also a de-
pression in the east. There are 3,20li acres of arable
land in the parish, 967 acres of permanent grass and
218^ acres of wood.1
The road from Baldock to Walkern forms the
eastern boundary of the parish and the Great
North Road part of the western boundary. The
village of Weston is situated in the highest part of
the parish, on the road from Stevenage to Clothall,
which crosses the centre of the parish. Two roads
turn westwards from the village to join the Great
North Road, the most southerly passing Lannock
Farm. Another road runs east from the village, and
after passing the church of the Holy Trinity turns
in a southerly direction through Hall's Green towards
Howell's Farm and Dane End. The manor-house
and park, the residence of Mr. M. R. Pryor, lie at
the south end of the village. There was possibly a
Toothiil or meeting-place in the village, as reference is
found to a presentment of the vicar for not scouring his
ditch lying in ' le Cherchelane next Totehyll ' in I 5 2 8 2
and ,in 161 1 to a little way called ' Tottylle Lane.'3
The hamlet of Warren's G reen is situated in the south of
the parish, with Hall's Green about half a mile east.
The subsoil is chalk, and there are many chalk-
pits in various parts of the parish. There are two
disused gravel-pits near Lannock Farm and some
old clay-pits north-west of the village. There is a
cave in a field near Welbury Farm, in the north
of the parish. The nearest railway station is Baldock,
3 miles north-west, on the Cambridge branch of the
Great Northern railway.
The inclosure award was made in 1 80 1, the
Authorizing Act being granted in I 797-*
In 1 88 1 a portion of the parish in the north was
transferred to Baldock.5
The following place-names occur in court rolls :
Doddeswyke, Irelonde Green, Kittes atte Dane (later
Kyttysdane), Heryngsdelle, Horells, Marches (xiv-xv
cent.) ; ' le Vyneyerde ' (1485 and 1 53 1) ; Bernewyks-
valey, Hykksgravefeld, Vecchecroft, Hoggescroft,
Redyngcroft, Notislane, Parkestrete, Danecroft, Dane-
way, Whitemansfeld, Rolls Lane, Dame Hawes-grene,
le Freerstokyng, le Jubitt Hyll, Warymede, Fleggys
pitell, Dernewelleland, Sewell Cross (xvi cent.) ; Cum-
berloes or Round Pightell, Brendwick, Rolles Croft,
Fontley Field and Fontlcy Pound (xvii cent.).
In the 17th century there was a tile kiln in the
possession of the Humberstone family, possibly near
to the existing Tilekiln Wood and Tilekiln Farm, in
the south of the parish.6
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANORS WESTON was held by Alestan de Bos-
cumbe, a thegn of King Edward, but by
1086 formed part of the lands of William de Ow, at
which time it was assessed at 10 hides.7 After the
forfeiture of William de Ow his lands were granted
by Henry I to Walter son of Richard de Clare,8 who is
known to have held lands in Hertfordshire in 113c).9
At his death his estates passed to his nephew Gilbert
de Clare,10 who was created
first Earl of Pembroke by
King Stephen and died in
I148.11 His son Richard
Strongbow 12 inherited the
manor of Weston,13 which
was held by his widow Eva,
daughter of Dermot King of
Leinster, after his death in
1 176." She was still living
in 1 185, when she was re-
ferred to as ' Countess of
Ireland,"5 her marriage being
in the gift of the king. Her
daughter and heir Isabel
married William Marshal Earl of Pembroke, whose
lands passed to his eldest son William in I2I9.16
The latter held Weston and died in 123 1,17 the
manor remaining for life to his widow Eleanor, sister
of Henry III, who, notwithstanding her vow of
chastity, married secondly Simon de Montfort, Earl
of Leicester.18 She lived until 1275. ,9
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
a Add. MS. 36346.
3 Ibid. 36372.
* Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 64 ; Private
Acts of Pari. Inner Temple Cal.
s Divided Parishes Act (1876).
6 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 50, 99.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 327*.
8 Genealogist (new ser.), xviii, 167.
9 Pipe R. 3C-31 Hen. I.
10 Genealogist, Jan. 1902.
11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
13 Pipe R. 16 Her. II (Pire
10; ; 17 Hen. II, 119.
" Ibid. 23 Hen. II, 149
Complete Peerage.
15 S. Grimaldi, Rot. de Domin,
16 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
171
17 Ibid. ; Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 489.
1S Chan. Inq. p.m. 40 Edw. Ill (2nd
12 Ibid.
nos.), no. 53.
R. Soc),
19 The inquisition above quoted is
wrong in stating that it was Alice who
G.E.C.
married Simon de Montfort. Alice de
Bethune was the first wife of William
buz, 35.
Marshal and died before 1219 (G.E.C.
Complete Peerage).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the mean time the estates of the earldom of Pem-
broke had passed through the hands of William's four
brothers, and in I 24.5 were divided among his fivesisters
and their heirs. The office of Marshal of England
was inherited by the eldest sister Maud wife of Hugh
le Bigod Earl of Norfolk, and descended to her son
Roger, and in 1270 to her great-nephew Roger le
Bigod.20 At the death of the Countess of Pembroke
the manor of Weston was assigned by the king to this
Roger le Bigod, who in 1279 made an agreement
with the king by which the reversion was to fall to
the Crown if he died without issue." The manor thus
came into the king's hands in I 306," and was granted
in I 312, together with the earldom of Norfolk and
the marshalship, to Thomas of Brotherton, fifth son
of Edward I.23 Weston was delivered to his widow
Mary in dower in 1338," and at her death in 1 362 25
was assigned to her eldest daughter Margaret, then
the wife of Sir Walter de Mauny.26 From her it
passed to her grandson Thomas Mowbray Duke of
Norfolk,2' whose son Thomas inherited it in I 399-vs
The latter was involved in the Scrope conspiracy and
was beheaded in 1405,29 when Weston was granted
to John Cornwall for life.3" In 1406 it was granted
to the queen consort.31 However, as there had been
no trial or attainder of Thomas Mowbray, the
manor was recovered in dower by his widow Con-
stance, who married secondly Sir John Grey,32 and
held the manor until her death in 14.37, when it
passed to Thomas's brother and heir John Mowbray
Duke of Norfolk.33
Weston descended to John Mowbray's son John
Duke of Norfolk, who died in 1461," and to
John, son of the latter, a minor at his father's
death.35 Weston was settled upon his wife Elizabeth
as part of her jointure, and she was allowed to hold
it during her husband's minority.36 John left an
only daughter and heir Anne, aged four at her
father's death in 1476. 37 She was married soon after
to Richard Duke of York, the younger of the two sons
of Edward IV, but she died in 1480, her boy husband
being murdered in 1 4.8 3.33 Anne's heirs were her
cousins John Lord Howard (son of Margaret sister of
Anne's great-grandfather) and William, second Lord
Berkeley, of the creation of 1 42 I, called 'the Wast
all,' son of Isabel, her great-grandfather's other
sister. Upon Anne's marriage with Richard Duke
of York Lord Berkeley released his right to the
reversion of half her estates to King Edward IV
and his male issue, in exchange for the discharge of
his debts to the amount of .£34,000. The king's
male issue, however, became extinct by the murder of
his two sons in the Tower in 1483, and Richard III
conferred the moiety of Anne's estates, including
Weston, on Lord Berkeley, together with the title of
Earl Marshal.39 He died without issue in 1491-2
and Weston lapsed to the Crown.40
In 1 5 19 Henry VIII granted the manor to Sir
William Fitz William for the lives of himself, his
wife Elizabeth and their eldest son,41 but in 1 53 1
Sir William surrendered it again in payment of a
debt to the king.42 In the following year, when
Anne Boleyn was created Marchioness of Pembroke,
Weston was granted to her together with that dignity.43
She became queen in the same year, but was exe-
cuted in 1536. Weston was then conferred qn
Queen Jane Seymour,44 who, however, died in the
following year.45 The manor then seems to have
remained in the king's hands46 until it was granted
to Queen Katharine Parr in I544-47 After the
death of Henry VIII, Edward VI granted the
reversion of Weston after Katharine's death 4S to Sir
William Herbert,49 who had
been a gentleman of the Privy
Chamber to Henry VIII, and
was created Earl of Pembroke
in 1 5 5 1 .50 At the accession
of Mary in 1553 it was dis-
covered by an inquisition that
as William Lord Berkeley,
who died in 149 1-2, had
settled the reversion of the
manor on Henry VII and his
heirs male, with remainder to
heirs of William, the manor
now rightly belonged to that
heir, viz. Henry Lord Berkeley,
grandson of William's brother Maurice,51 the male
heirs of Henry VII being extinct with Edward VI.
Henry Lord Berkeley had special livery of his lands,
although under age, in 1554.5*
In 1572 Henry Berkeley sold the manor to George
Burgoyne,53 whose son Thomas succeeded him in
I 588 54 and sold Weston in I 593 to Sir John Pucker-
ing,50 who died seised of it about 1596.56 Sir John's
son Thomas Puckering was holding the manor in
Berkeley. Gules
cheveron between re
crosses for my argent.
20 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
21 Cal. Close, 1272-9, pp. 53;, 569;
Feet of F. Div. Co. 7 Edw. I, no. 11.
22 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 46.
28 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 5 Edw. Ill, no. 46.
24 Cal. Close, 1337-9, P- 582-
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, pt. ii
(1st nos.), no. 9.
26 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
271 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 38.
27 Ibid. 1 Hen. IV, no. 71. -,s Ibid.
29 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 8 Hen. IV, no. 76.
36 Cal. Pat. 1405- S, p. 68.
3Ubid. p. 115.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. VI, no. 27.
33 Ibid. 16 Hen. VI, no. 60; Close,
22 Hen. VI, m. 16.
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 46.
8i Ibid.
86 Cal. Pat. 146 1 -7, p. 212.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 5S.
38 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. Her
mother Elizabeth Duchess of Norfolk had
settled Weston on herself for life in 1477
(Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 16 Edw. IV,
no. 117 ; Close, 16 Edw. IV, m. 10).
39 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Hil. ; Hen. VII.
40 William Lord Eerkeley had a brother
Maurice, but he d.sinherited him (G.E.C.
Complete Peerage ; L. and P. Hen. VIII,
ii, 621, 3568 ; Add. R. 36162, 36171).
41 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii (i), p. 209.
42 Ibid, v, p. 219.
43 Ibid. g. 1499 (23), p. 634.
44 Ibid, xii (1), p. 608 ; Add. R. 36202,
36205.
45 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii (2), pp.
974-5-
46 Ibid, xvi, g. 878 (56) j Add. R.
36206-7.
47 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), g. 141
(65) ; Add. R. 36214. Both Anne Boleyn
and Katharine Howard were great-grand-
daughters of John Howard, who was
172
co-heir of the Norfolk estates with
William Lord Berkeley.
4S Add. R. 36217.
49 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. vii, m. 3S. In
1 549 John Cock held the manorial
court there (Add. R. 36218). He was
possibly a lessee or steward of the manor.
See also note 52.
50 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
51 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ci, 108.
52 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; see Add. R.
36230-7. A licence for William Earl
of Pembroke to alienate Weston to Henry
Cock of Broxbourne in 1557 is not
altogether easy to explain (Pat. 4 & c
Phil, and Mary, pt. ii, m. 25). Perhaps
the Earl of Pembroke had refused to
surrender his title, or this may be a formal
quitclaim in trust for Lord Berkeley.
53 Recov. R. Mich. 14 Eliz. rot. 159 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 14 Eliz.
54 Harl. MS. 757, fol. 26S.
55 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 35 & 36 Eliz.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 125.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Pryor. Argent three
bars ivaiy azure and a
chief gules -with a saltire
argent therein charged
•with a ring gules.
In 1201
1638." He was succeeded before 1652 by his
nephew Henry Puckering or Newton, son of his
sister Catherine Newton," who seems to have sold
the manor in 1654 to Sir
John Hale.59 The latter left
an only daughter and heir
Rose, who married Sir John
Austen.60 Their son Sir Robert
Austen, bart., sold Weston in
1703 to Robert Heysham,61
lord of the manor of Little
Munden (q.v.), in whosefamily
Weston descended68 until
1852, when it was sold to
Samuel Adams, who in the
next year sold it to Robert
Pryor,63 whose son Mr. Marl-
borough Robert Pryor is the
present owner.
Weston possessed a mill in
Jurdan the miller was fined for ' filling up the mill-
pond,' 6S probably so that it overflowed its banks,
but it seems to have been later disused in favour of a
windmill, which is first mentioned in I275.C6 There
is still a windmill in the parish situated on Lannock
Hill.
The park of Weston is first mentioned in 123 1,
when Ranulf Briton claimed therefrom fifteen deer
and five stags which he stated that Earl William Marshal
had given him before he died and which had not
been delivered.67 In 1306 and later it is referred to
as 'a park called Yppegrave.'" Two parks are men-
tioned in 1366, but not again.69 In 1384 Margaret
Countess of Norfolk granted the custody of her park,
warren and game to her butler John Ethom, with
'clothing' of the suit of her esquires, or 1 3/. \d.
yearly in lieu thereof, and 1 00s. yearly rent from
the issues of the manor.70 This grant was confirmed
to John Ethom in 1399 71 at Margaret's death. In
1405, Weston being in the king's hands by reason of
the insurrection of the Earl Marshal, the office of
parker was granted during good behaviour to the
king's esquire Robert Scot.72 In 1 43 7 the park was
stated to be worth nothing beyond the profit of the
deer.73 John Duke of Norfolk granted the custody
of the park ' with the custody of the coneys in it '
WESTON
to the king's esquire Laurence Fairclough ; the office
was confirmed to him in 1476 after the duke's death,
by which time Fairclough had become one of the
marshals of the king's hall.71 In 1 5 15, when the
park was again in the king's hands, John Sharpe and
James Druel were appointed keepers of it in sur-
vivorship in place of Ralph Pudsey.75 It seems to
have been disparked before 1 541, for in that year a
messuage called the Lodge and certain lands ' parcel
of the late park of the manor of Weston ' were leased
to Edmund Kympton.76 The park is not again
referred to, but Weston Wood with a warren is
mentioned in 1557 77 and the wood in 1703. 7S
There is now a park surrounding the manor-house.
View of frankpledge was claimed in the manor of
Weston in 1287." The rolls for the court and
leet held there in 1397 and later are extant.80 In
1287 Roger le Bigod claimed, in addition to frank-
pledge, amendment of the assize of bread and ale,
tumbrel, gallows, infangentheof and free warren.81
The manor of WESTON ARGENTEIN was held
of the manor of Weston for the service of half
a knight's fee.82 It is first referred to as a manor in
1 38 I.-3 In 1205-6 Roger son of Nicholas conveyed
2 carucates of land in Weston to Richard de
Argentein,84 which land was doubtless the manor of
Weston Argentein. Richard was lord of Great
Wymondley, and Weston Argentein descended with
that manor'5 until William Alington and Elizabeth
his wife, heiress of the Argenteins, conveyed their
manor in Weston to Peter Paule and others,
apparently trustees, in 1440.86 These feoffees con-
veyed the manor to others in 1452,87 from whom it
seems to have come to Laurence Harreys, who held
it in 1489,88 and afterwards to Thomas Harreys and
Agnes his wife, who sold it in 15 14 to Sir William
Say.88 The latter died seised of it in 1529,90 and
afterwards it came to the Crown in the same manner
as his other lands91 (see Benington). In I 556 it was
leased for forty years to Sir Robert Rochester and
Edward Walgrave.92 At the end of that term it
reverted to the Crown and was granted to Edward
Vaughan and Thomas Ellys, probably in trust for Sir
John Puckering, as he died seised of it in I 5g6.33 John
Puckering was lord of the manor of Weston, with
which Weston Argentein descended from that date,94
57 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 Ch
see also Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
118 ; Add. R. 36290.
58 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 160 ;
Recov. R. Mich. 1652, rot. 228.
59 Ibid. Trin. 1654, rot. 144.
60 Chauncy, op. cit. 374.
61 Close, 2 Anne, pt. viii, no. 21.
62 Recov. R. Trin. 8 Geo. II, rot. 50
Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 25 Geo. Ill
Recov. R. Mich. 31 Geo. Ill, rot. 21
Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 45 Geo. Ill
Mich. 3 & 4 Will. IV.
63 Cussans, op. cit. Broadtvater Hund.
41. " V.C.H. Herts, i, 327*.
65 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 33.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 40 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 53 ; 35 Edw. I, no. 46.
67 Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 489.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 46 ;
Feet of F. Herts. 8 EJw. II, no. 190.
69 Chan. Inq. p.m. 40 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 53.
70 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 482.
71 Ibid. 1399-1401, p. 77.
72 Ibid. 1405-8, p. 24.
73 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Hen. VI, no. 60.
74 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 599.
75 L. and P. Hen. Fill, ii, 621.
76 Ibid, xvi, g. 878 (56).
77 Pat. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary, pt. xi,
m. 25.
78 Close, 2 Anne, pt. viii, no. 21.
79 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
80 Add. R. 36086. There are a great
number of Court Rolls of this
extant, both in the British Museu
in the possession of the lord of the 1
81 Assize R. 325, m. 26 d.
82 Feet of F. Div. Co. 7 John, 1
Feud. Aids, ii, 430 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
12 Edw. II, no. 43 ; 2 Hen. VI, no. 27;
6 Hen. VI, no. 53 ; (Ser. 2), li, 50. It
is said (Feud. Aids, ii, 437) to be held of
the Earl of Hertford, but this is obviously
an error (cf. the former entry).
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Rio II, no. no.
84 Feet of F. Div. Co. 7 John, no. 38.
85 Feud. Aids, ii, 430, 437, 449 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 43 ; Abbrcu.
Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 243 ; Cal. Pat.
1327-30, p. 2 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II,
173
.38;
no. no; Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich.
5 Ric. II, no. 57 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 6
Hen. V, no. 1352 Hen. VI, no. 27 ;
6 Hen. VI, no. 53.
66 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 19 Hen. VI,
no. 104 ; Close, 19 Hen. VI, m. 36, 38.
87 Ibid. 30 Hen. VI, m. 18.
88 Add. R. 3613S.
89 Feet of F. Herts. East. 6 Hen. VIII.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
91 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 372a; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33
Hen. VIII.
93 Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. xii,
m. 42.
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 125
9* Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 Chas. I;
Recov. R. Mich. 1652, rot. 228; Trin.
1654, rot. 144; 4 Will, and Mary,
rot. 185 ; II Will. Ill, rot. 211 ; Close,
2 Anne, pt. vii, no. 14 ; pt. viii, no. 21 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 8 Geo. II, rot. 50 ;
Mich. 31 Geo. Ill, rot. 21 ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Mich. 25 Geo. Ill ; Herts.
Hil. 45 Geo. Ill ; 50 Geo. Ill ; Mich.
3 & 4 Will. IV.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and passed with it into the hands of Mr. Robert
Pryor in 1857, his son Mr. M. R. Pryor being the
present lord.95
Court rolls are not extant for Weston Argentein
until a late date. The existing rolls show that court
baron was held there in 1489 96 and court leet in
1536."
The manor of LJNNOCK (Langenache, xiii cent. ;
Langenoke, xiv cent. ; Langnock), which originally
formed part of the manor of Weston, was given to
the Knights Templars by Gilbert de Clare, first Earl
of Pembroke, who died in 1 148,93 and was confirmed
to them by William Marshal, husband of Gilbert's
granddaughter and heir Isabel.99 It remained in the
possession of the Templars until the suppression of
their order in I 309,'"° after which it was granted with
the other lands of the Templars to the Knights
Hospitallers.1
In 1353 the Prior of the Hospitallers seems to have
been embroiled with Mary widow of Thomas of
Brotherton Earl of Norfolk (who was lady of the
manor of Weston), for she came with a number
of others and ' broke his close and house, drove away
40 horses, 30 oxen, 12 bullocks, 10 cows and 800
sheep of his, worth £300, carried away his goods,
impounded without reasonable cause ten other of his
horses, kept them impounded so long that two of the
ten, worth 100/., died, and so threatened his men
and servants deputed to preserve his liberties and till
his lands and make his other profits there, that they
dared not stay there for this, whereby he lost their
service and the profit of the manor.'2
About 1540 Lannock came into the king's hands
owing to the dissolution of the Hospitallers,3 and
remained in his possession until 1544,4 when it was
granted to Sir Michael Dormer.5
Sir Michael Dormer is said to have died in I 545 6 ;
John and William Dormer were holding the manor
in I 5 5 2,7 and Katrine Dormer, widow of one of them,
was lady of the manor in 1560.8 Soon afterwards it
came into the possession of George Burgoyne of Quicks-
wood,9 who in 1577-8 alienated it to his second son
George.10 After his father's death George joined
with his mother Dorothy and his younger brother
Ralph in 1590 in conveying Lannock to James
Spurling.1' The next year they made a similar con-
veyance to Arthur Aty." The nature of these trans-
actions is not clear ; possibly Spurling and Aty were
mortgagees. In 1 594 Spurling and Burgoyne both
appear as deforciants in a fine levied of the manor."
Ultimately James Spurling acquired it, for he held
courts there from 1600 to 1619.14 In 1621 James
Spurling sold Lannock to William Hale of King's
Walden,15 who died seised of it in 1633, when it passed
to his son William,16 who died without issue in 1641."
His sister Dionisia, wife of Sir Thomas Williamson,
then held Lannock for a while,18 but in 1683 shortly
before her death it was in the possession of her nephew
William Hale, son of her brother Rowland.19 This
William, who was M.P. for Hertfordshire, was suc-
ceeded by his son Richard in 1688, who, however,
died in the following year, leaving a son William
underage.20 The latter died in I 71 7, leaving two
sons." The elder, William, died without issue in
I 741 and was succeeded by his brother Paggen Hale,*2
after whose death the manor passed to his second
cousin William, son of Bernard Hale and nephew of
Paggen's grandfather Richard Hale.23 William's son
William inherited Lannock in 1 793 2< and was followed
by his son, a third William, in 1 829." Charles
Cholmeley Hale, son of the last named, succeeded his
father and was lord of the manor in I 877.26 In I 896
Lannock was acquired from the trustees of Mr. C. C.
Hale by Mr. M. R. Pryor, lord of the manor of
Weston, and has thus become united with that manor.27
It is now a farm.
View of frankpledge and manorial courts were
held at Lannock in 1476 and later.2" They seem to
have been held yearly at Easter in the 15th century
and later at Whitsuntide. Court Rolls are extant up
to 1685.29
Free warren was appurtenant to Lannock Manor
in 1 480, when one William Munde, a labourer, entered
the warren and took rabbits with ferrets and nets
without licence.30
The manor of NEWBERRY (Le Neuebery,
xiv cent.), which lay partly in Weston and partly in
Graveley, was held of the lords of the manor of Weston
for the service of half a knight's fee.31 In 1522 it is
said to have been held of Sir William Say as of his
manor of Weston Argentein,32 but this was perhaps
the result of a confusion with the manor of Chesfield,
which was held by the lord of Newberry of Sir William
Say.
It was apparently the manor of Newberry which
was granted at an early date to Hubert de St. Clare,
son of Hamo de St. Clare (see Walkern), and which
in 1 1 85 was held by his young widow Clementia,
9i Information kindly supplied by Mr.
M. R. Pryor.
96 Add. R. 36138.
97 Ibid. 36199.
98 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
99 Dugdale, Man. vii, 820.
100 Ibid. 814; Cal. Pat. 1307-13,
p. 131.
1 Add. R. 36329-33, 363+7, 36350.
2 Cal. Pat. 1350-4, p. 512.
3 Dugdale, Mon. vii, 799-800.
* Add. R. 36354-6. The farm of the
manor had been granted in I 51 1 to John
Boiler for a term of seventy years and
passed to his son Laurence before 1560
(Mins. Accts. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII, no. 114;
Chan. Proc. [Ser. 2], bdle. 30, no. 18).
s L. ami P. Hen. Fill, xix (2), g. I 66
6 Clutterbuck, op. cit. i, 494.
7 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Edw. VI.
8 Add. R. 36360.
9 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 30.no. 18.
10 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 20 Eliz. ;
Pat. 20 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 21 ; Visit, of
Cambi. (Harl. Soc. xli), 26.
11 Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. xxii, m. 35 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Mich. 32 & 33 Eliz. ; Recov.
R. Mich. 32 Eliz. rot. 11.
12 Pat. 33 Eliz. pt. vi, m. 28 ; Feet of
F. Herts. Mich. 33 & 34 Eliz.
13 Ibid. East. 36 Eliz. In 1 591-2
there was a grant of the manor to
William Typper and Robert Dawe.
These were the well-known fishing
grantees (Pat. 34 Eliz. pt. vii, B).
u Add. R. 36372, 36375-83.
15 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 19 Jas. I.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxvi,
■ 4S.
17 Berry, Hem. Gen. 34.
18 Add. R. 36397.
19 Ibid. ; Recov. R. Hil. 35 & 36
Chas. II, rot. 79 ; Berry, op. cit. 35.
174
2U Berry, op. cit. 35 ; Chauncy, op. cit.
374 ; Recov. R. Trin. 8 Anne, rot. 198.
21 Salmon, op. cit. 183.
22 Berry, op. cit. 37 ; Recov. R. Trin.
16 Geo. II, rot. 153.
23 Berry, op. cit. 38 ; Recov. R. Mich.
II Geo. Ill, rot. 185.
24 Ibid. Hil. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 248 ;
Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 518 ; Berry,
op. cit. 38. M Berry, op. cit. 38.
20 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
43-
27 Information kindly supplied bv Mr.
M. R. Pryor.
28 Add. Chart. 36325-7, 36329-42,
36346-56,36360; Mins. Accts. 31 & 32
Hen. VIII, no. 114.
25 Add. Chart. 36372-83, 36397-8.
30 Ibid. 36326.
31 Feud. Aids, ii, 430, 448 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 2 Edw. II, no. 80.
32 Ibid. (Ser. 2), lxxx, 1 3.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
under the guardianship of the king.33 Her grandson
William son of William de Lanvaley held this half
fee,31 after which it descended to John de Burgh,35
husband of Hawise de Lanvaley, and to Robert Fitz
Walter,36 husband of Devorgill de Burgh, in the same
manner as Walkern (q.v.). After this the mesne
overlordship seems to have died out.
William de Lanvaley the second, who died before
1233, granted 'all his lands in Weston ' to Eustace
de Rochester,'7 apparently identical with Eustace de
Merk of Newsells, from whom the property passed
to William de Rochester, son of his nephew Ralph
(see Royston), who sub-enfeoffed Henry de Roches-
ter.36 William died about 1248, leaving Peter de
Rochester his brother and heir.33
At the end of the 13th century the sub-tenant
of Newberry was Robert Walerand, who died in
1272,40 the manor being assigned in dower to his
widow Matilda." As Robert and Matilda had no
children their nearest heirs were their nephews Robert
and John Walerand.'2 Robert was apparently the
elder and died unmarried before March 1 308 ; John,
who married Isabel, died in 1308 4S soon after his
brother. Both of them were idiots." The heirs of
John Walerand were Alan de Plokenet, grandson of
his aunt Alice de Odworthe ; John son of Alice de
Odworthe ; Alice daughter of his second aunt Cecilia
de Everingham ; Bevis de Knovile, son of Cecilia's
daughter Joan ; Matilda widow of Richard le Bret
and Cecilia wife of Peter de Heluin, daughters of
Cecilia daughter of Cecilia de Everingham.'15 There
is nothing to show to which of these heirs Newberry
was apportioned ; probably it was eventually sold, as
in 1346 it was in the possession of John de Blomvile,46
lord of the manor of Graveley, with which manor it
descended until the end of the 1 6th century.47 It was
sold with Graveley to Thomas Bedell in 1565, but it
is not clear whether the whole estate passed with that
manor to William Clarke in the following year, but the
portion of it lying in Graveley parish evidently did so.
It appears at this date or after to have been divided.
That part of it which lay in the parish of Weston
was acquired by Thomas Puckering, lord of the manor
of Weston, before 1620,48 and followed the descent of
that manor," eventually becoming absorbed in it.50
It is mentioned separately as late as 1810.51 There
is still a wood known as Newberry Grove in the south
of the parish.
The portion of Newberry lying in Graveley parish
seems to have continued in the possession of the lords
of that manor52 until I 877," after which it presum-
ably became absorbed in that manor or in Weston.
WESTON
The reputed manor of HOWELLS or HAWVTLES
is mentioned in 1543 as being held of the manor of
Weston by fealty, suit of court and rent.54 John
Bowles, who died seised of it in that year, left a
grandson Thomas Bowles, son of his son Richard,
who was a boy of thirteen." The manor con-
sequently fell into the king's hands and an annuity
from it, with the wardship and marriage of the
heir, were granted to John Sewester, Attorney of
the Court of Wards.56 In 1609 it appears in the
possession of George Kympton, who died in that
year, leaving a son and heir George,57 after which
there is no further mention of it. Howell's Farm
and Wood still survive, and are situated in the south-
east of the parish.
The tenement known as FAIRCLOUGH HALL,
FAIRCLOTH HALL, and now as HALLS GREEN
FARM, is about a mile to the south-east of the
village. It is a 17th-century building of timber and
plaster with a tiled roof and a central chimney stack.
It takes its name from a family of Fairclough who
resided here certainly as early as 146 1 and probably
before. A Sir Ralph Fairclough is mentioned as the
father or grandfather of the possessor in that year,58
and at the same date Laurence Fairclough and
Elizabeth his wife settled their possessions in Weston
on themselves for life with remainder to their son
John for life, and afterwards to his brother Ralph
and his heirs.09 Laurence and Elizabeth were still
living in 1 469, when Ralph's son Laurence is
mentioned.60 Ralph is again mentioned in 1497.61
Fairclough Hall descended in the family without
a break to Thomas Fairclough, who was living in
1634,62 soon after which his son John sold Fair-
clough Hall to William Hale,63 lord of the manor
of Weston, in which it presumably became absorbed.
The parish church of the HOLV
CHURCH TRINITr stands to the south-east of
the village on high ground, and is built
of flint and coursed ironstone rubble ; the quoins
and dressings generally are of oolite and clunch.
The roof is slated. The church consists of a chancel,
nave with clearstory, north transept, central tower,
south aisle and south porch and vestry.64
The original cruciform church of the 12th century
is now represented by the north transept, central
tower and nave, and there are traces of a north
chapel to the east of the transept. The south
aisle, south porch and clearstory were added in the
15th century, and new windows were inserted. The
original south transept was at the same time rebuilt
so as to incorporate it in the aisle as its easternmost
33 S. Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus, 35.
34 Harl. Chart. 52 I. 37.
35 Cal. Close, 1339-41, p. 36 ; Cal.
Inq. Hen. Ill, 38. 36 Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
37 Harl. Chart. 52 I. 37.
38 Cal. Inq. Hen. Ill, 38.
39 Ibid. See Newsells in Barkway,
Edwinstree Hundred.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. I, no. 6.
41 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 67.
"Ibid.; 1307-13, p. 293.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. II, no. 80.
41 Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. II, no. 80.
46 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
47 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 147 ;
lxxx, 13; Ct. of Wards, Bks. clxxix, fol.
36 ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 7 Eliz.
48 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 1 7 Jas. I, m.9.
<9 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 Chas. I ;
Recov. R. Mich. 1652, rot. 228 ; Trin.
1654, rot. 144 ; 4 Will, and Mary,
rot. 185 ; 11 Will. Ill, rot. 211 ; Close,
2 Anne, pt. vii, no. 14 ; pt. viii, no. 21 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 8 Geo. II, rot. 50 ;
Mich. 31 Geo. Ill, rot. 21 ; Feet of F.
Herts. Hil. 45 Geo. III.
50 Information kindly supplied by Mr.
M. R. Pryor.
51 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 50 Geo. III.
52 Recov. R. Hil. 2 Geo. Ill, rot. 30.
:,% Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
44.
,! Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14 ;
55 Ibid, lxviii, 14.
« L. and P. Hen. VIU, xviii (2),
g. 449 (67).
175
5? Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccviii, 1 18.
58 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 52.
Chauncy (Hist, of Herts. 375) gives both
the father and grandfather of Laurence
as Ralph, also Richard as father of the
elder Ralph and Laurence as his grand-
father.
59 Add. R. 36100.
60 Ibid. 36108.
61 Ibid. 36141.
68 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
52~3-
63 Chauncy, op. cit. 375. '
61 Dimensions : chancel, 32 ft. by
17 ft. 6 in. ; tower, 13 ft. 6 in. square ;
north transept, 14 ft. by 12 ft. 6 in. ;
nave, 44 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 6 in. ; south
aisle, east bay, 14 ft. 6 in. wide, remainder
12 ft. wide ; south porch, 12 ft. by 10 ft.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
bay. The modern work includes the rebuilding of
the chancel early in the 19th century and the upper
portion of the central tower in 1867, besides exten-
sive and somewhat drastic restoration between this
date and 1880, when the vestry was added.
The modern chancel is of red brick, coated with
stucco, a treatment also applied to the north transept.
The crossing arches of the tower are semicircular and
unmoulded, and rest on abaci of unusual type, deeply
moulded and divided into upper and lower portions.
In the north transept a blocked and partly de-
stroyed semicircular arch in the east wall indicates
the position of an opening to the destroyed north
chapel. In the north and west walls are small single
round-headed lights of the 1 2th century with deep
internal splays. The character of the south transept
has been much d^guised by the 15th-century altera-
poition (14 ft. 6 in. wide) is 1 ft. 6 in. wider than
the later portion. In the aisle is a piscina of the
15th century, with a plain pointed head.
The south doorway is original, of the same date
as the windows, and the south porch, also of the
1 5th century, has an entrance archway of two
moulded orders with shafted jambs.
The nave roof is of the 15 th century, and rests on
original grotesque corbels.
The font is of the 15th century also, and is
octagonal. The sides of the bowl, which is moulded,
have quatrefoiled panels, and the stem is also moulded
and panelled.
On the chancel wall is a small mural monument
to John Fairclough, 1630, with shields.
In the nave is a small carved chest of 17th-century
date.
Westo.n Church, Interior looking East
tions, and it will be described as part of the south aisle.
The nave has two windows in the north wall, both
of the 15th century, the eastern of two and the
western of three lights with tracery. Between them
is a blocked north door of similar date. The south
arcade, of three bays, has two-centred arches of two
hollow-chamfered orders with hollows between, sup-
ported on octagonal columns with moulded capitals
and bases ; all are of 1 5th-century date, though much
recut, scraped and otherwise defaced. Above the
arcade are four square openings, probably the original
clearstory windows. At present, however, owing to
the raising of the aisle roof, they are internal, and
probably tracery has been removed from them.
The south aisle, which includes the south transept,
has an east window of three traceried lights and three
two-light south windows, all of the 15th century,
and very like those of the nave. The transept
There are five bells : the treble by John Wavlett,
I 716 ; the secind and third by Miles Graye, 1634. ;
the fourth by Warner & Sons, 1867 ; and the tenor
by R. Chandler, 1682.
The plate consists of a cup of 1638, a large paten
of 1661, a small paten, undated (no hall-mark), a
modern cup and a modern plated flagon.
The registers, beginning in 1539, are included in
four books : (i) baptisms 1 539 to 1759, burials 1 539 to
1760, marriages 1539 to 1753 ; (ii) baptisms 1761
to 1794, burials 1761 to 1794 ; (iii) baptisms 1795 to
1 81 2, burials 1795 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1754
to 18 1 2.
The church of the Holy Trinity
4DVOIVSON at Weston was given to the Knights
Templars by Gilbert de Clare Earl
of Pembroke at some date previous to 1148 and
was confirmed to them by William Marshal Earl of
[76
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Pembroke, one of his successors." The living was
appropriated and a vicar appointed, the vicarage to
consist of small tithes and offerings from the soil of
Weston, with a suitable manse, and the vicar to pay
synodals.66 The rectory and advowson follow the
descent of the manor of Lannock67 (q.v.), except that
the rectory and advowson were acquired from James
Spurling before 1616 by Richard Hale,88 father of
the William Hale who purchased Lannock from the
former in 162 1. It was bought from the executors
of Charles Cholmeley Hale in 1885 by Thomas Pryor
of Baldock, who in 1889 sold it to Mr. Marlborough
Robert Pryor, the present patron.69
In 1481 the inhabitants of Weston complained that
their vicar John Hawthorn was ' a common player,
and daily played le Penyprykke 70 and Bowles ' ; he
was duly warned to amend his ways under penalty
of a fine of izd.n
Certificates were granted for meeting-places of
Protestant Dissenters in Weston from 1696. In
1723 the congregation were described as Quakers.
A chapel was registered in 1802." At the present
WILLIAN
time there are a Wesleyan chapel and a Catholic
Apostolic church in the parish.
In 1841 Henricus Octavus Roe
CHARITIES erected an almshouse known as the
Church Almshouses for widows or
married couples and endowed the same with
£519 15/. yd. consols, producing £\z i<)s. Sd.
a year.
The same donor likewise gave ^463 1 5/. consols,
the annual dividends, amounting to ^11 in. Sd., to
be applied in the distribution of sixteen loaves every
Sunday after divine service to sixteen poor married
men most constant in attendance at church.
The same donor also endowed the National school
with j£z0° consols, producing £$ a year.
In 1839 Robert Pryor by his will, proved in the
P.C.C. 16 April, left a legacy for the poor, now
represented by £106 15/. Sd. consols, producing
£2 1 y. \d. yearly.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees, the dividends of which are applied in accord-
ance with the respective trusts.
WILLIAN
Wilie (xi cent.) ; Wilya, Wylye (xiii cent.) ;
Wylien (xiv cent.) ; Wickley (xvii cent.). — The parish
of Willian has an area of 1,864 acres, of which '>372i
acres are arable land, 3o8| acres permanent grass,
and 19J woodland.1 The greater part of the parish
stands over 300 ft. above ordnance datum, but slopes
down slightly on the north and in the south-west,
where the village and manor-house are situated. It
is bounded on the north by the Icknield Way, and
for some distance on the west by the main north
road. The road between Hitchin and Baldock passes
through the northern part of the parish, and this and
another road parallel to it form the main streets of
the village. The village pond is on the north side of
the main road, opposite the Fox Inn ; a little further
along is a 1 6th-century thatched and timbered cottage,
known as the Old Vicarage. It is of two stories, the
upper of which projects at the back. The church
and rectory stand on a hill rising on the south side of
the road, with the schools just below them. Punch-
arden Hall, the residence of Mr. Ivor Tuckett, M.D.,
lies at the north end of the village opposite the
church. It is a 17th-century house of timber and
plaster, the front of which was refaced with brick in
the 1 8th century. It is an L-shaped building with
a central chimney stack of brick with octagonal shafts
and moulded capitals and bases. On the ground floor
there is an original fireplace, the grate of which bears
the arms of the Merchant Taylors' Company.
The subsoil is chalk and boulder clay. There is
a chalk-pit on the south-east, close to the boundary
road, a disused one further south, and a sand-pit just
north of the village. There is no railway station in
the parish, the nearest being Letchworth, a mile and
a half away. Farms in the parish are Norman's Farm
and Pixmore. The part of the parish lying north of
the road which forms the village street and runs on to
Baldock, comprising more than half of the whole, was
acquired by the First Garden City Co. in 1903. A
portion of the parish was annexed to Baldock for civil
purposes in 1 88 i.la
The manor of WILLIAN was held
MANORS in the time of Edward the Confessor by
Lewric, a house-carl of Earl Lewin.
Half a hide also was held by a sokeman, Elmar of
Benington, and half a hide all but 10 acres of
Godwin of Letchworth (Godwin of Souberie) by a
certain widow. By 1086 the whole had come into
the possession of Geoffrey de Bech, and was assessed
at 5 \ hides.'
Nothing is known of the descendants of Geoffrey
de Bech. At the beginning of the I 3th century the
manor was held by William Malet de Graville,3 who,
it is said, was son of Matthew de Graville, son of
William de Rue.4 William Malet, being a Norman,
lost his English lands upon the separation ofNormandy,
and in 1204 Willian was granted in farm to Matthew
de Lilley.5 In 12 16 King John granted the manor
to Pain de Chaworth or Chaurces,6 and he was still
holding in 1223.7 In 1 227, however, Pain apparently
66 Dugdale, Mon. vii, 820 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 46.
66 Liber Antiquus Hug. Wells, 28.
67 Feet of F. Herts. East. 40 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. Trin. 44 Eliz. rot. 93.
68 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
no ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Bacon, Liter
Regis ; Clergy List.
69 Information kindly supplied by Mr.
M. R. Pryor.
70 ' Penny-Pricke consisted in throwing
with a piece of iron at pence, which were
placed on pieces of stick called holes. It
was a common game in the 1 5th century,
and is reproved by a religious writer of
that period ' (J. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes,
312). 71 Add. Chart. 36326.
72 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 626-7.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
'a Divided Parishes Act.
» V.C.H. Herts, i, 333.
' Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R. 490.
4 Cur. Reg. R. 120, m. 14; see Red
Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 731. A
Robert Malet is later referred to as having
held Willian (Assize R. 325, m. 18 ;
177
Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. [Rec. Com.], i, 12).
The name is probably an error for William.
Mr. Round points out that a Mathew de
Graville (Gerardi villa) was holding a
knight's fee in capite in Hertfordshire in
1 166 (Red Bk. Exch. [Rolls Ser.], i, 362),
and that this may have been William
Malet's father.
6 Rot. Norman. 129.
6 Close, 18 John, pt. i, m. 4. Possibly
this is a confirmation (see Red Bk. of
Exch. [Rolls Ser.], ii, S04).
7 Close, 8 Hen. Ill, m. 19.
23
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
forfeited,8 and the manor was held by Richard de
Argentein 9 until 1232, when it was returned to
Pain.10 About 1237 it was committed by the king to
John Earl of Lincoln 'during pleasure ' and granted
by him in 1238 to his nephew Thomas de Pavilly."
In I 241, however, the king brought a suit against him
and disputed his title to the lands.12 Thomas claimed
to be great-nephew and heir of William Malet the
Norman through his grandmother Theofania, sister of
William, who was said to have had the manor granted
to her by Geoffrey Malet, younger brother of William.
Theofania was said to have sued Pain de Chaworth
for the manor, but to have died before the suit
was settled. Thomas de Pavilly 's claim, however,
broke down on the ground that it was William the
elder brother of Geoffrey who held the manor, and
that he was a Norman and had moreover left children.
The king therefore took the manor into his own
hands.13
In 124.3 Willian was granted to Paul Peyvre and
heirs ' until the land of England and Normandy be
one,' in which event Paul was to have a reasonable
exchange. £10 from lands in Willian, which the
king had given to Hugh de Botyun his yeoman for
life, were excepted from the grant.14 Probably this
portion was identical with the 10 librates of land
granted to Paul in 1 249-50. 15 In 1272 the manor
was held by John Peyvre, grandson of Paul, a minor
in the custody of Queen Eleanor.16 John died in
I 3 1 6 and was succeeded by his son Paul," who granted
Willian in 1 32 1 to his brother John and Margaret
his wife for their lives.16 Margaret outlived her
husband and married secondly John Mallore, who
was holding the manor in right of his wife in 1346.19
At Margaret's death in 1348 it passed to her nephew
Nicholas Peyvre, son of Paul.'0 Nicholas died in
1 36 1 and was succeeded by his son Thomas,21 his
widow Avice, who married secondly William de
Clopton, keeping a third of the manor in dower.23
Thomas settled Willian on himself and his wife
Margaret in tail in 1375-80" and died in 1429,
when the manor passed to his grandson John
Broughton, son of his only daughter Mary.24 Robert
Broughton, grandson of John, inherited it in 1489 25
and was succeeded by his son John in I5o6,26 who
granted the manor to Edward Cornwall and Elizabeth
his wife for their lives, with reversion to the heirs of
John Broughton. The latter died in I 5 I 8, leaving a
son 27 and two daughters. The son John, who was
aged six at his father's death, died about 1529.
Willian was then divided between his two sisters
Anne and Katherine.28 Katherine, who was the
first wife of Thomas Lord Howard of Effingham, died
without male issue in 1 5 3 5,23 when her moiety of
the manor apparently reverted to her sister Anne,
who had married Sir Thomas Cheney, K.G., Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports,30 for the whole manor
came to their son Henry Cheney, afterwards Lord
Cheney of Toddington.31 Henry Cheney and his
wife Joan conveyed Willian in 1563 to William
Totnam,32 who in the following year received a
pardon for acquiring it without licence.33 Towards
the end of 1564 he sold it to Edward Wilson,34
who granted it to his son Edward in 1 5 74-35
Edward Wilson, junior, settled the manor upon his
second wife Joan Grey, who afterwards married
Edward Lacon,36 and after whose death in 1624 37 it
passed to Edward Wilson, son of Edward Wilson,
junior, by his first wife.38 Ralph Wilson, son of the
third Edward, died in 1 63 7 during his father's life-
time, leaving two young sons,39 Edward, who died in
1639,40 and Thomas, who died in 1656.4' After the
death of the latter the manor seems to have been
divided, for another Thomas Wilson appears in
possession of a moiety of Willian in 1672.42 After
this the manor is said to have been divided between
three sisters, Frances, Elizabeth and Mary Adams,
daughters and co-heiresses of Mary Adams, widow,
one of whom must have died
soon after, for Mary was hold-
ing a moiety in 1728. The
second sister is said to have
sold her moiety to Richard
Way, who sold it to Sir John
Dimsdale, from whom it passed
to his nephew John Dimsdale,
the possessor in 1728.43 John
left it to his cousin Thomas,
who acquired the other half
of the manor by purchase in
1 767 from Elizabeth Marshall,
to whom Mary Adams had
left it by will.44 Thomas
Dimsdale inoculated the
Empress Catherine and various
Russian princes for the small-
pox and was created a Baron of the Russian Empire
in 1769. He died in 1800.45 Willian continued
in the Dimsdale family until 1 867, when it was
sold to Charles Frederick Hancock,46 from whom
Dimsdale. Argent
a Jesse dancetty azure
bettveen three molets sable
with three bezants on the
Jesse and an augmenta-
tion of a scutcheon or
tvith an eagle's wing
sable thereon.
8 See Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Co
' Pagan de Chahurz was diss
war.'
9 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, PP- 57> 85> no- 22-
140.
10 Cal. Close, 1 23 1-4, pp. 1 90- 1.
11 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 226.
15 Wrottesley, Fed. Jrom the Plea R.
490.
« Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 1 14.
'■'■ Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 27&-
« Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 12.
18 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 180 ;
Assize R. 325, m. 1 8 ; Feud. Aids, ii, 430.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II, no. 55.
18 Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 579; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 33.
19 Feet of F. Herts. 18 Edw. Ill,
no. 296 ; Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 33 ;
23 Edw. Ill, pt. ii (1st nos.), no. 41.
21 Ibid. 35 Ed
no. 42.
-'-' Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 40 Ed
III, pt. ii (1st nos.),
Ill,
23 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
341; Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii
(2nd nos.), no. 27 ; Pat. 4 Ric. II, pt. i,
m. 41; Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 521.
24 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. VI,
no. 21.
85 Ibid. (Ser. 2), v, 131.
26 Ibid. 23 Hen. VII, no. 67.
27 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxiv, 110.
28 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 178 d., i87d.
29 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 5 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. Hil. 5 Eliz. no 157.
33 Pat. 6 Eliz. pt. iii.
178
34 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 & 7 Eliz.
35 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxcix, S8 ;
Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 39.
36 Chan. Decree R. no. 57 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcviii, 80.
87 Monum. Inscr.
38 Visit, oj Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
105 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 22 Jas. I.
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi,
199 ; Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxc,
65.
41 Monum. Inscr.
42 Recov. R. Trin. 24 Chas. II, rot.
128.
43 Salmon, op. cit. 177.
44 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 530.
4i Berry, Herts. Gen. 212 ; see Recov.
R. Mich. 13 Geo. Ill, rot. 12.
46 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
28.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
it passed to his son Col. Mortimer Hancock. In
1 90 1 the manor came to Capt. Mortimer Pawson
Hancock,4' who in 1903 sold a large part of his estate
to the Garden City Pioneer Company Limited.48
Captain Hancock holds the remainder of the property.
BRATS or BRAIES Manor, of which no trace now
remains, belonged to Bigging Priory at Hitchin, and
was leased by that house to Richard Yerdeley in
1 52 1, together with a messuage called le Pounde-
house.49 After the Dissolution it was granted with
'le Poundhouse' to John Cock in 1545.50 By
1564 Brayes had come into the possession of James
Needham of Wymondley Priory and was conveyed
by him in that year to Thomas Rivett51 of Baldock,
from whom it descended about 1583 to his daughter
and co-heiress Anne Lady Windsor," who held it in
1606.53 For almost a century there is no further
record of the manor, but before 1692 it was acquired
by Richard Way, patron of Willian rectory. In that
year he conveyed it to Knightley Holled, clerk,54
who held it in 1 730." In 1746 it was the subject
of a fine between various members of the Priest
family,66 after which no more is heard of it.
Two and a half hides in ' Wilga ' were held before
the Conquest by Alestan of Boscumbe, and in 1086
by William de Ow. They belonged to the neigh-
bouring manor of Weston." In the time of Edward
the Confessor 1 hide of this land was held of Alestan
de Boscumbe by Alviet, and in 1086 this hide and
another were held of William de Ow by William de
Mare. Later the tithes of ' Wilia ' were given to
the monastery of St. Albans by Thurstan, brother of
William de Mare, and ' Robert de Mare gave his
tithe likewise.' 5S In 1086 (as Mr. Round points
out) there were also i\ hides in ' Welga ' held by
Robert de Pontcardon (Puncharden) of Robert
Gernon." It seems possible that there has been
some confusion between ' Wilga ' and ' Wilei '
(Welwyn and Willian) here, and that both these
holdings lay in Willian. Certainly the estate after-
wards known as PUNCHARDEN was in this parish.
The Punchardon family appear to have been tenants
of some importance in Willian in the 13th century.
Gilbert de Tany gave a virgate and a half in Willian
to St. Albans60 about the time of Stephen or
Henry II ; this grant was confirmed by Gilbert's son
Walter,61 and by Ralph de Punchardon,6' probably his
overlord. Roger de Punchardon was holding land in
Willian in 1202." In 1247-8 Richard de Pun-
chardon called himself lord of Wylye,' 64 and a Wygan
Delamere appears as owing him homage. During
the abbacy of Roger de Norton, who was Abbot
of St. Albans from 1263 to 1301,65 William son of
Geoffrey Punchardon quitclaimed his right in a
tenement in Willian to St. Albans.66 After this the
history of the estate is lost until a ' capital messuage
called Puncherdownes,' with lands belonging, appears
WILLIAN
in 1625 in the possession of Edward Wilson, lord of
the manor of Willian.67 He settled it on his son
Ralph Wilson, who held it during the lifetime of his
father. Ralph died in 1637 and Punchardens passed
to his son Edward68 who died in 1639. His brother
and heir Thomas 69 succeeded his grandfather as lord
of the manor of Willian, and Puncharden presumably
continued with that manor.
The parish church of ALL SAINTS,™*
CHURCH standing to the south of the village, is
built of flint, mixed in places with
freestone, and consists of a chancel, nave, west tower
and south porch. The chancel and nave date from
the earlier part of the 12th century. About 1430
the west tower was added, outside the west wall of
the nave ; this wall was then taken down and the
nave lengthened about 4 ft. to join the tower, the
east diagonal buttresses of the tower being built
against the quoins of the nave. A south porch was
added in the 15 th century, and the chancel was
remodelled and probably lengthened in the early
part of the 19th century.
In the east wall of the chancel is reset a 1 5th-century
window of three lights containing 1 7th-century glass
with heraldic panels. In the south wall are a doorway
with a 12th-century rear-arch and modern external
stonework and a late 14th-century two-light window
with a square head. The chancel arch is of about
1430 and is of two moulded orders with shafted
jambs. On the outside of the south wall of the
chancel is a 14th-century tomb recess, very much
repaired with cement.
The north wall of the nave has two windows, the
easternmost being of the 15 th century, of two lights
with tracery over, in a dropped two-centred head.
The westernmost is modern, and cuts into the arch
of the blocked north doorway. There is only one
window in the south wall, of the 15th century, and
of similar type to that in the north wall, but of
three lights. The south doorway, which is of 14th-
century character, has been almost wholly restored in
cement.
The tower arch is of similar character to the
chancel arch and is also of about 1430. The
west tower, into which it opens, is of two stages,
with diagonal buttresses, and has a stair turret on
the north-east and an embattled parapet. The
west doorway has a pointed arch inclosed in a
square head, with shields in the spandrels, one
bearing the instruments of the Passion and the
other a bend in an engrailed border. There is an
oak lintel which is possibly old. Above the door is
a window of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery
in a two-centred head. In each face of the belfry
stage is a two-light window, with cinquefoiled lights
and a quatrefoil over in a two-centred head and a
label with grotesque stops. Below the parapet is a
47 Walford, County Families (1907).
48 Prospectus, First Gar Jen City Ltd.
49 Mins. Accts. 32 & 33 Hen. VIII,
no. 71.
50 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xjc (2), g.
496 (44)-
51 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 6 Eliz.
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccii, 154 ;
G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
53 Recov. R. Mich. 4 Jas. I, rot. 10.
54 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 4 Will, and
Mary.
65 Recov. R. East. 3 Geo. II, rot.
129.
46 Feet of F. Herts. M.ch. 20 Geo. II.
57 V.C.H. Herts, i, 327A. This hold-
ing may be the manor of Lockleys in
Welwyn, which in 1303 was held of the
heir of the Earl of Pembroke (cf.
Weston).
58 Dugdale, Man. ii, 220.
59 V.C.H. Herts, i, 327*.
60 Cott. MS. Otho, D iii, fol. 167.
61 Ibid.
179
62 Ibid. ; Dugdale, Mon. ii, 229.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 4 John, no. 38.
61 Assize R. 318, m. 4.
65 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 194.
66 Cott. MS. Otho, D iii, fol. 167.
67 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi,
199.
69 Ibid, ccccxc, 65.
69a Dimensions : chancel, 26 ft. 6 in.
by 13 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 38 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in.;
tower, 1 1 ft. 6 in. square.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
string with grotesques at the angles and in the centre
of each face of the tower. The stair-turret rises
above the parapet and is also embattled. The south
porch is old, probably of the 15th century, and has
a dropped two-centred entrance archway of two
orders.
The walls of the nave externally show the uncut
small flints, in wide-jointed courses, of 12th-century
work. Some of the courses are set in herring-bone
pattern, and mixed with the flint are some large
blocks of freestone, one of them being a piece of
12th-century moulding re-used in the 15th century
when the walls were raised. The masonry of the
tower is also small, and has been much faced with
cement.
There are the remains, in the chancel archway, of
a rood screen of the 15th century, which has been
Quarterly (1) and (6) : Quarterly fessewise indented
ermine and [azure], for Lacon ; (2) Three cheverons
in a border engrailed ; (3) A ragged cross ; (4) A
bend cotised, for Harley ; (5) Three buckles, for
Remevill.
On the south wall of the chancel is a large mural
monument, with busts and inscription below, of Thomas
Wilson, 1656, and Lucia his wife. Above is a shield
of the arms : Sable a leaping wolf or and in the chief
three stars or ; with the crest of a demi-wolf or.
On the same wall are monuments to John Chapman,
vicar of the parish, 1624, and his wife Anne, 1633,
and to Matthew Thorley, 1634 ; the former having
small kneeling figures in a circular head niche and
the latter being simply a tablet.
In the east window are three pieces of heraldic
glass which are said to be 1 7th-century work. These
Willian Church from the South-east
restored with plaster. It is of three bays, the centre
being the entrance way, with a four-centred arch,
and the side bays similar but traceried. The central
doors have been removed to the porch. Set against
the south chancel wall are the remains of another
similar screen restored with plaster. The stalls in
the chancel are good work of the late 15 th century,
with carved standards, one being an elephant's head,
and one the head of St. John the Baptist in a charger.
On the north wall of the chancel is a brass of
Richard Golden, 1 446, with the figure of a priest
in eucharistic vestments ; the inscription is broken.
On the same wall is a mural monument of Edward
Lacon ofWilleyin Shropshire, 1625, and Joan his
wife, 1624, with kneeling figures of the man in
armour, his wife and three children. Below is a
Latin inscription and above is the shield of Lacon,
are shields of the arms of Chester impaling Berry of
Toddington, Cheney of Sherland quartered with
Shottesbroke, and Engayne impaling an unknown
coat. The shield of Cheney is surrounded by a
garter and appears to refer to John Lord Cheney,
who died in 1496.
On the chancel floor are slabs to Richard Way,
vicar, 1673, and to Alice his wife, 1662.
There are three bells ; the treble by Joseph Eayre,
1 760, and the second and third by Miles Graye,
1662.
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of
171 8 and a pewter flagon.
The registers begin in 1558 and are contained
in three books: (i) all entries 1687 to 1738;
(ii) baptisms 1739 to 1 812, burials 1739 to 181 2,
marriages 1739 to 175 1 ; (iii) marriages 1754 to 181 2.
80
Willian Church : Chancel Screen
BROADWATER HUNDRED
The advowson belonged to the
ADVOWSOH lord of the manor, and is first men-
tioned in 1239, when Thomas and
Roger de Pavilly established their claim to it against
the Prior of Envermeu,70 on the ground that their
grandfather Matthew de Graville presented to the
church. The prior stated that William de Rue,
father of Matthew, gave the church of Willian to
Envermeu, but the claim was not allowed." Paul
Peyvre held it in 1247-8," and in the time of his
grandson John the king presented owing to his
minority. On this occasion the Prior of Bee Hellouin,
to which Envermeu was a cell, is mentioned as having
contested the king's claim to the advowson.73
At the Taxation by Pope Nicholas in 1291 the
church was valued at £13 6s. 8 d., in addition to a
portion of 26/. 8a'. belonging to the Prior of
St. Neots74 ; this payment was evidently long retained
by that priory, for as late as 1428 the same sum was
paid to it.74 The advowson continued in the Peyvre
family until about 1384,76 in which year Nigel Loring
received a pardon for acquiring it from Thomas
Peyvre,77 his son-in-law. In the year following, Nigel
Loring granted it to Robert Braybrook, Bishop of
London, and others,78 who in 1394, or a little before,
conveyed it to the king.79 In that year Richard II
gave it to the Prioress and convent of Dartford, on
condition that they should appropriate it to the use
and profit of the Friars Preachers at Langley.80 The
grant was confirmed in 1 399,sl I42482 and 1466,63
and the advowson remained in the possession of the
Friars until the Dissolution. The rectory was
appropriated by the nuns of Dartford and a vicarage
ordained between 1399 and 1405.84 In 1544 the
rectory and advowson of the vicarage of Willian were
granted by Henry VIII to Thomas Calton, a gold-
smith of London, and Margaret his wife.85 Margaret
survived her husband, and she and William their
eldest son settled them in 1 570 on George and Henry
GREAT or MUCH
WYMONDLEY
the younger sons, with the remainder to William and
his son Thomas. Margaret died in 1571.86
Henry Calton was in possession of his moiety in
1583,87 and by 1589 had apparently become sole
heir, for in that year he conveyed the whole rectory
and advowson to John Phillips.83 Elizabeth widow
of John Phillips held them until her death in 16 14,
when they came to her granddaughter Elizabeth
Johnson.89 At this date the rectory consisted only of
an annual rent of 20 marks issuing from the vicarage.
After this there is some obscurity in the descent.
Richard Way presented in 1673 90 and died in that
year,91 so that the Richard Way who presented in
1676 92 must have been his heir. In 1725 presenta-
tion was made by Stephen Ashby, and in 1739 by
Anne Rooke,93 widow of John Rooke, who died in
1755.9* According to Clutterbuck the advowson had
been sold previous to this to Henry Kingsley, whose
granddaughter Elizabeth married William Pym.95
Their son Francis Pym presented to the vicarage in
1792, l 804 and I 8 1 6,96 and the rectory and advowson
continued in the Pym family until 1893, when they
were acquired by Mr. Joseph Chalmers-Hunt. They
are now in the possession of the Rev. Leonard
Chalmers Chalmers-Hunt, M.A.
A dwelling-house was certified as a meeting-place
of Protestant Dissenters in Willian in 1714.97
In a terrier, dated in 1788, it is
CHARITIES stated that 'there are two acres of
inclosed pasture given by the late
Rev. Mr. Ward, vicar, and by John Izard, to be fed
by cows of the poor people of Willian.' The land is
let at £2 zs. a year, which is distributed in money.
In 1880 James Smyth, by his will, proved at
London 28 February, left .£400, now represented
by ^413 8s. f,d. India 3 per cent, stock, the annual
dividends, amounting to £12 8/., to be distributed in
meat and coal at Christmas. The stock is held by
the official trustees.
GREAT or MUCH WYMONDLEY
Wimundeslai (xi cent.) ; Wilmundele (xiv and
xv cent.) ; Wimley.
The parish of Great Wymondley has an area of
1,490 acres, of which 1,397 J acres are arable land,
348J acres permanent grass and 92 acres wood.1
Two portions of the parish are detached. The first
portion, lying a mile south of Great Wymondley
proper and separated from it by Little Wymondley,
contains the hamlet of Titmore Green, which lies
between Redcoats Green and Todd's Green, each of
which gives its name to a few cottages. The second
detached portion lies still further south, on the
borders of Stevenage parish, and has no houses within
its area, but contains part of Lucas's Wood. The
elevation of the parish in the east is between 300 ft.
and 400 ft., but it slopes downwards towards the
River Purwell on the western boundary. This river
turns the mill of the same name which was leased by
the lord of the manor of Great Wymondley from
Hitchin.2 Near to the mill the foundations of a
Roman house were found in 1884. A little distance
from the boundary, in a meadow beside the road
from Hitchin, are the ' Nine Springs ' from which
rises a brook flowing into the Purwell.
70 The Priory of St. Lawrence of
Envermeu in Seine Inferieure.
71 Cur. Reg. R. 120, m. 14, According
to the descent given under the manor
Matthew de Graville would have been
great-grandfather of Thomas and Roger de
Pavilly. " Assize R. Herts. 318.
78 Ibid. 1220, m. 2.
74 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 33.
75 Feud. Aids, ii, 463.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II, no. 55 ;
Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 579 ; Abbrev. Rot.
Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 341; Pat. 4 Ric. II,
pt. i, m. 41.
77 Pat. 7 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 5.
78 Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 64.
79 Ibid. 1391-6, p. 373.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid. 1399-1401, p. 59.
82 Ibid. 1422-9, p. 264.
83 Ibid. 1461-7, p. 556.
84 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Beaumont,
fol. 3 1 d.
85 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), g. 527,
(8). Under this grant a fee of 24s. is
annually paid to the Crown by the owner
of the impropriate rectory. Information
from Rev. L. C. Chalmers-Hunt.
l8l
* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cbc, 9.
87 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 25 Eliz.
88 Ibid. Mich. 31 & 32 Eliz.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlvii, 6.
90 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.),
« M.I.
92 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
93 Ibid. ; Bacon, Liber Regis.
« M.I.
95 Clutterbuck, op. cit. (1821), ii, 532.
96 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
97 TJrwick, op. cit. 629.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
* Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 43.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the southern part of the parish, where the roads
from Hitchin to Graveley and from Little Wymondley
to Willian cross, lies the village, at the east end of
which is the church. In the village are the former Green
Man Inn, a picturesque little thatched house, and one
or two late 16th-century or early 17th-century timber
and plaster cottages. On the east side of the road
from Willian to Little Wymondley are three ponds.
Adjoining the churchyard on the east side are the
remains of a mount and bailey type of castle. Like
the other smaller castles of Hertfordshire it was
probably only in use for a short time, and was
defended merely by a timber keep on the mount and
stockades around the bailey. There is no evidence of
any masonry works. It may have been thrown up by
John de Argentein, an adherent of King Stephen, in
the time of the anarchy as a manorial stronghold,
Wymondley being the head of the Argentein barony
in Herts. It was probably destroyed as an adulterine
or unlicensed castle in the reign of Henry II.
Adjoining are indications of Roman occupation.3
The Manor Farm is a I 6th-century three-gabled
and plastered house situated at the left-hand corner
where the road from Hitchin enters the village.
There is a tradition that James I once slept there.
It has a fine yew hedge of great age penetrated by
arches. The house is a rectangular building, with
a central porch, the inner doorway to which has the
original oak frame and door. There are also one or
two original fireplaces in the house.
Delamere House, now a farm-house, the residence
of Mr. Hailey, stands a little south of the village.
Only the central part of the old building remains,
flanked on either side by modern additions. No part
of it appears to be earlier than the end of the 1 6th
or beginning of the I 7th century. It measures about
44 ft. in length by 33 ft. in width. The south or
garden front is built of red brick 2 in. thick, and
Dflamere.CreatWvmondley ™'6,3CEI>r,:
Ground Piajn
the building consists of two stories and attics. All
the windows have mullions, and the lower have
transoms as well. There is a modern doorway in the
centre, not apparently part of the original design.
Over the first floor windows is a brick moulded cornice
with dentil course running the whole length of the
building, above which are two brick gables, the upper
parts of which are semicircular, and resemble those
at Rawdon House, Hoddesdon, a building erected in
1622. The north front seems to have been built at
s Mr. F. Seebohm thinks that the ill-
closure with the site of the Roman
occupation represents a Roman holding
of about 25 jugc
a somewhat later period, but probably before the
middle of the 17th century. There are two gables
on this front also, of different sizes, both being straight
and steep, the smaller having kneelers at its springing.
The windows, which are placed irregularly, have all
stone mullions, the upper having a small moulded
cornice over them. The entrance doorway has
splayed stone jambs and lintel, and a small fanlight
over. The oak door is original and is studded with
iron nails. This entrance adjoins the old main stair,
which is an unusual position, but the plan may have
been governed by the arrangement of the previous
building. Under the stair is an old built-up door-
way with a four-centred arch, which gave access to
the cellars which were under the old west wing, now
destroyed. A part of the original wall still exists in
the modern cellar, in which is a little shallow niche
about 9 in. wide, with arched head. Similar niches
exist in the old cellars at Watton Place and Little
Wymondley Bury. The drawing room is panelled
with old oak up to the ceiling, and has a good oak
chimney-piece. The lower part of this, together
with the fireplace, is modern, but the upper part has
two arched panels, with the nail-head ornament, the
panels being flanked and separated by Ionic columns
which support the projecting entablature. The
architrave and cornice are moulded and the frieze is
carved with a flat pattern, which is carried round the
frieze of the room. The arrangement is very similar
to the panelling at Turner's Hall, Harpenden, and
Hammond's Farm, Pirton.
The brickwork of the chimney is of considerable
thickness, and affords space for a small closet between
the chimney breast and the outer south wall. This
closet is lighted by a large window in the south wall,
and there is a small bricked-up window in the west
wall, which seems to show that the west wing did not
project southwards, although old foundations have
been dug up to the south.
In an old house, now pulled down, in the hamlet
of Redcoats Green resided James Lucas, the ' hermit
of Hertfordshire.' His mother's death in 1849, by
which he inherited the family estate at Redcoats
Green, seems to have greatly accentuated his eccen-
tricities. He barricaded his house and henceforth
lived in the kitchen, where he slept on a bed of
cinders and clothed himself in a blanket. He pro-
tected himself by an iron grille from unwelcome
visitors, but was fond of children, to whom he would
give sweets. He died of apoplexy in 1874, having
hoarded a considerable sum of money in his living
room.'
The inclosure award, dated 18 14, is in the custody
of the clerk of the peace. The Authorizing Act was
passed in I 8 1 1.5
The subsoil of the parish is chalk, with a thick de-
posit of boulder clay above it. On the surface clay is
mixed with gravel, penetrated by occasional bosses of
chalk. There is an old chalk-pit near the Purwell.
The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats alternating
with clover, sainfoin, turnips, mangolds and beans.
In the time of King Edward the Con-
MJNOR fessor 8 hides in GREAT WTMONDLET
were held by the church of St. Mary
of Chatteris, Cambs., but three years before King
{Engl. Village Com-
* Diet. Nat. Biog.
6 Blue Bk. Iml. Awards.
182
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Edward's death, i.e. about 1063, the manor was
taken away from that church by Earl Harold, after-
wards king, and attached by him to his neighbouring
manor of Hitchin.6 Three and a-quarter hides,
probably in this parish also,7 were held before the
Conquest by Swen, one of Earl Harold's men.8 In
1086 King William held the 8 hides,9 while the
other 3I hides had been granted to Goisbert de
Beauvais.10
William I or William Rufus gave the whole estate
as an escheat to Reginald de Argentein, as appears
from the evidence of his grandson."
The manor was held of the king in chief by grand
serjeanty for the service of rendering the king a
silver-gilt cup at his coronation feast." This service
was performed by the lords of the manor until the
coronation of George IV. Since that date the state
banquet has been dispensed with, and the lords of the
manor have been exempt from their service.
The manor was confirmed to John, son of Reginald
de Argentein, by King Stephen,13 and he was still
living in 1 1 66." Reginald de
Argentein, presumably the son
of John, since he was grand-
son of the elder Reginald,15 is
mentioned in 1 194,16 and was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in
1 196." He was succeeded
by Richard de Argentein, who
seems to have forfeited, for in
1203 he received a pardon at
the petition of the Earl of
Albemarle from King John,
and had his patrimony re-
stored.18 Part of it he
delivered to Isabel de Argentein in dower in the
same year.19 In 1224 Richard de Argentein was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Essex,20 and in 1225
and 1226 custodian of Hertford Castle.21 He was
also the founder of Little Wymondley Priory,22 and
in 1228 is spoken of as 'a noble and one strenuous
in arms ' who had already been on a pilgrimage to
the Holy Land.23 He returned there later as a
Crusader and was killed in an engagement in 124.6."
His son and successor Giles 2S was engaged in the
war against Prince Llewellyn during his father's
lifetime, and in 1231 was taken prisoner by the
Welsh.26 Reginald de Argentein, son of Giles,
inherited Wymondley in 1283," and was still holding
in 1303.28 His son John, who succeeded in 1307,2'
Argentein. Gules
three covered cups argent.
GREAT or MUCH
WYMONDLEY
died about 13 18, leaving an infant son John, aged six
months,30 and a widow Agnes, who received Great
Wymondley in dower.31 She afterwards married
John Maltravers, who forfeited his lands in 1327,32
probably being involved in Mortimer's rebellion, but
afterwards received them back. At some time, possibly
between these two marriages, Agnes was the wife of
John de Nerford.33 In 1331 Great Wymondley was
restored to her by the king,3' and in 1346 John de
Maltravers was holding it in her name.35 Agnes
died in 1375, when Wymondley passed to John de
Argentein, her son by her first husband,36 who per-
formed his office of cupbearer at the coronation of
Richard II.37 In 1381 he obtained a licence to entail
the manor on his son William and his wife Isabel,38
but upon the death of John it was claimed in 1383
by his daughter Matilda and her husband Ivo
Fitz Warin, and his grandson Baldwin St. George,
son of another daughter Elizabeth.39 These made
complaint ' that whereas the said John [de Argentein]
delivered certain muniments concerning his lands in
a chest under lock and seal to the Prior of [Little]
Wylmondesle for safe custody, certain evildoers seized
the prior at Neumarkethethe as he was coming to
Hallesworth, co. Suffolk to celebrate the obsequies of
the said John, patron of his priory, forced him to
send for the deeds and deliver them to one William
Dargentein and afterwards assaulted the said Ivo
and Margaret wife of the said John and their friends
at Hallesworth, so that they could not do what was
honorably due in oblations, etc., for his decent
burial.'40 This strange tale seems to support the
statement of Cussans that William was an illegitimate
son. William, however, on the strength of the
settlement of 1 38 1, made good his claim, and the
manor was delivered to him.'1 In 1400 he obtained
a confirmation of Stephen's charter to his ancestor
John de Argentein.12 He died in 1 41 9, leaving an
infant grandson John 43 and a widow Margaret, who
held a third of the manor in dower until her death in
1427." The young John died in 1420, leaving as
his heirs his two sisters Elizabeth and Joan,45 between
whom the manor was divided. Joan, who had
married Robert Alington, died childless in 1429, and
her moiety passed to her sister Elizabeth, wife of
William Alington,46 who thus became possessed of
the whole manor. William Alington, who held
Wymondley in right of his wife, died in 1460, leaving
a son John,47 who held it until 1480, when he was
succeeded by his son William Alington.48 The
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 301.
7 The holdings in Great and Little
Wymondley are difficult to distinguish, as
they are both called Wymondley.
8 V.C.H. Herts, i, 335*.
'Ibid. 301. 10 Ibid. 335A.
11 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 391-2.
"Ibid. 162; Testa de Ne-vill (Rec.
Com.), 270 ; Assize R. 318, 323, 325;
Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 20 ; Cal. S. P. Dom.
[660-1, p. 585 j Coron. Rolls ; Round,
The King's Serjeants.
18 Cal. Pat. 1 399-1401, p. 293.
14 Pipe R. 5 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 6 ;
RedBk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 332.
15 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 8.
16 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), 106, 162.
17 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 281.
18 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 25.
19 Feet of F. Div. Co. 5 John, no. 35.
20 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 281.
21 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 88,
139.
22 Dugdale, Man. vi, 555.
M Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 164.
24 Ibid, iv, 587 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 31
Hen. Ill, no. 16.
25 Assize R. 318, 323 ; Excerpta e Rot.
Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 5.
26 Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 203.
27 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Abbre-v.
Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 43 ; Assize
R. 325. ■ Feud. Aids, ii, 429.
29 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 43.
31 Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 50.
32 Exch. Enr. Accts. (L.T.R.), no. 2.
33 Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 84.
34 Ibid. ; Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec.
Com.), ii, 52.
183
35 Feud. Aids, ii, 436.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii,
no. 17.
37 Close, 1 Ric. II, m. 45.
38 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 20 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. no.
39 John de Argentein also had a third
and eldest daughter Joan, whose daughter
Margaret wife of Robert de Bokenham
was a third heir (Close, 7 Ric. II, m. 5 d.).
40 Cal. Pat. 1 38 1-5, p. 260.
41 Close, 7 Ric. II, m. 5 d. ; Coron.
Roll, Hen. IV.
48 Cal. Pat. 1399-1401, p. 293 ; Feud.
Aids, ii, 443.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. V, no. 13.
44 Ibid. 6 Hen. VI, no. 53.
« Ibid. 2 Hen. VI, no. 27.
4G Ibid. 7 Hen. VI, no. 8.
47 Ibid. 38 & 39 Hen. VI, no. 42.
48 Ibid. 20 Edw. IV, no. 58.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Alington. Argent a
bend engrailed between
six billets sable.
latter was killed at trie battle of Bosworth Field in
1485, his son Giles, who was only two years old,
succeeding him.49 Giles
Alington held Wymondley
until 1521,'° alter which it
was held by his widow Mary
in dower until her death in
1 540,51 when it passed to
their son Giles." Sir Giles
outlived his son Robert and
his grandson Giles and was
succeeded in 1586 by his
great-grandson, also named
Giles, then aged fourteen.53
At the coronation of James I
both Giles Alington and his
mother Margaret Elrington
claimed the service.5' From the younger Giles the
manor descended in 1638 to his son William, on
whom he had settled it in 1631 on the occasion of
the latter 's marriage with Elizabeth Tollemache."
In 1642 William was created first Lord Alington of
Killard in Ireland and died in 1648.56 His son Giles
held Wymondley until i659,57when he died a minor
and unmarried, and his brother William succeeded.58
He inherited the Irish title, and in 1682 was also
created Lord Alington of Wymondley.59 He died
in 1684, leaving an infant son Giles, for whom his
mother Diana (Verney) claimed the service at the
coronations of James II and William and Mary.
As she was a woman, however, the service was per-
formed in 1685 by Giles's uncle Hildebrand Alington,
and in 1689 by John Jacob, stated to be the nearest
relation.60
Upon the death of Giles Lord Alington without
issue in 1691 the barony of Alington of Wymondley
became extinct, while the Irish title passed to Hilde-
brand Alington, uncle of Giles and brother of William
Alington.61 Hildebrand claimed the English estates
also, but Wymondley was sold upon a decree passed in
Chancery to Elizabeth Hamilton or Hambleton,
widow,6' daughter of John Lord Colepeper, who
claimed to perform the service at the coronation of
Anne and was allowed, William Hamilton her son
executing the office.63 Hildebrand, Lord Alington,
bought back Wymondley from Mrs. Hamilton in
1704,64 but died childless in 1722-3,65 leaving the
manor by will to his three nieces, daughters of William
Alington and sisters of Giles.66 These three ladies
were Juliana Viscountess Howe, Diana wife of Sir
George Warburton and Catherine wife of Sir
Nathaniel Napier ; at the coronation of George II the
service was claimed by Juliana Howe, Sir Richard
Grosvenor, husband of Diana's daughter Diana,6' and
Nathaniel Napier, widower of Catherine.68 It seems
to have been performed by
Sir Richard, to whom Diana
Warburton had conveyed her
third of the manor upon his
marriage, and to whom the
other two thirds subsequently
came. He died childless in
1732, and his brother and
heir Thomas in the following
year.69 The next brother, Sir
Robert Grosvenor, who thus
inherited the estates,70 is said
to have acquired Wymondley
from Sir Richard in 1730,"
two years before he would otherwise have obtained it.
His son Sir Richard Grosvenor, who succeeded him in
1 75 5," sold the manor in 1 767 to the Hon. Mordaunt
Cracherode,73 from whom it descended in 1773 to his
son Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode, the well-known
collector of books and prints.74 He is said to have
been of such a retiring disposition that his dread lest
he should at any time be called upon to undertake the
service of cupbearer embittered his whole life.75 Upon
his death in 1799 his lands passed to his sister Anne,78
who left Wymondley by will to Shute Barrington,
Bishop of Durham, in trust for sale.77 The latter sold
the manor in 1 806 to William Wilshere of the Fry the,
Welwyn, who performed his service at the coronation
of George IV,78 the last occasion upon which it has
been necessary. William Wilshere was succeeded in
1824 by his nephew William Wilshere, who died in
1 867." Charles Willes Wilshere, brother and heir
of the latter,80 lived until 1906, and was survived by
three daughters, the eldest of whom, Miss Edith Marie
Wilshere, is the present lady of the manor.
Sac and soc, toll, team and infangentheof were
granted to John de Argentein by King Stephen, and
confirmed to William de Argentein in 1400." In
1278 Giles de Argentein claimed view of frankpledge
and amendment of the assize of bread and ale.S2
The manor of DELAMERE (Lammers, xv cent.;
Delamers, xvii cent.), now Delamere House, was
held of Great Wymondley,83 and evidently took its
name from the family of Delamare ; John Delamare
is mentioned as living in Great Wymondley in
1308.64 The manor is first mentioned in 1487,
when John Pulter died seised of it.85 He was
succeeded by his son William, who held it by service
of 40/. yearly, and it remained in the Pulter family.
In 1600 Edward Pulter, whose father Edward held
it before him,86 settled it on his son Litton, on the
49 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), i, 34.
50 Feet of F. Trin. 8 Hen. VIII ;
L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii, 2875 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxvi, 16.
51 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 426 d.
5" L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 1056 (54).
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxi, 163.
64 Coron. Roll, Jas. I ; Cal. S. P. Dom.
1603-10, p. 24.
55 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxci, 90.
56 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
57 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich.
1656.
58 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Coron.
Roll, Chas. II ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1660-1,
p. 585.
59 G.E.C. Complete Peerage; Recov.
R. East. 24 Chas. II, rot. 8.
60 Coron. Rolls, Jas. II and Will, and
Mary.
61 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
62 Chauncy, op. cit. ii, 115 ; Feet of
F. Div. Co. Mich. 10 Will. III.
63 Coron. Rolls, Anne and Geo. I.
84 Ibid. Geo. I.
65 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
66 Salmon, op. cit. 188.
67 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
68 Coron. Roll, Geo. II.
69 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
70 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 26 & 27
Geo. II.
71 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund. 5 2.
78 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
73 Coron. Roll, Geo. IV ; Com. Pleas
D. Enr. Mich. 8 Geo. Ill, m. 114.
74 Diet. Nat. Biog.
75 Ibid.
76 Ibid. ; Coron. Roll, Geo. IV.
77 Will, P.C.C. 603 Kenyon.
78 Coron. Roll, Geo. IV.
79 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 250.
80 Ibid. 251.
61 Cal. Pat. 1 399-1401, p. 293.
82 Assize R. 323, 325.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iii, 74 ;
Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
84 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 87.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iii, 74.
80 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 116.
184
Great Wymondley Church from the North-east
BROADWATER HUNDRED
occasion of his marriage with Penelope Capell.87
Litton Pulter died in 1608 and his father in 1629,
after whose death the manor descended to Litton's
son Arthur.88 The next evidence of this manor is a
recovery suffered in 1 740 by Pulter Forester,89 sug-
gesting that an heiress of the Pulters conveyed the
manor to the Forester family. In 1779 it was
conveyed by Benjamin Palmer and Sarah his wife to
Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode,80 lord of the manor
of Wymondley, and probably it became merged in
that manor.
The parish church of ST. MART,
CHURCH which stands at the east end of the
village, is built of flint with stone
dressings. The nave walls are of wide jointed
courses of uncut pebbles, with a few Roman tiles
GREAT or MUCH
WYMONDLEY
been set in the jambs and rear-arch of a 12th-century
window. In the south wall are a I 3th-century lancet
and a low-side window probably also of the ' 3th
century. All these windows have undergone modern
repair. The early 12th-century chancel arch is in
good preservation. It is semicircular, and rests on
engaged shafts with voluted capitals and scalloped
bases. In the chancel is a 13th-century piscina with
angle shafts and a modern square head. The sill is
also modern, and the capitals of the shafts are restored.
There is an aumbry in the south-west corner of the
chancel, recessed in the east jamb for a door. The
nave is lighted on the north by a two-light window
of the 14th century, with a quatrefoil in a two-
centred head, very much repaired, and by two late
I 5th-century three-light windows, which have been
Wy*
Delamere, Great Wymondley : South Front
interspersed. The chancel is tiled and the nave
roof is of lead.90a
The church consists of a chancel, nave, west
tower, north vestry and south porch. The first
two are of the 12th century, the west tower was
built in the 15th century and the vestry and porch
are modern. In 1883-4 tne building was restored
throughout and the stonework to a great extent
renewed. Windows were inserted in the 13th,
14th and 15th centuries.
The chancel is apsidal, with a 14th-century east
window of three lights, with tracery in a square
head. In the north wall a 1 3th-century lancet has
repaired and their cusps cut away. The north door-
way, possibly retaining remnants of 14th-century
work, now opens to the vestry. The south doorway
is of about 1 1 20, but has been greatly repaired. It
has a round arch with an edge roll and star orna-
ment on the tympanum. The jambs are of two
orders, with abaci, on which the star ornament is
repeated on each face. The shafts of the outer
order have capitals carved with human faces and
inverted cushion bases.
On the north side of the chancel arch is a low
squint of the 15th century into the chancel. Above
it is a corbel, probably originally under the rood-
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ccccl, 94.
88 IbiH. ; Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
89 Reccv. R. 1 x & 14 Geo. II. rot 23S.
90 Feet of F. Herts. East. 19 Ge(
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 19 G<
m. I?.
III ; 9ca Dimensions: chancel, 20 ft. by 16 ft.;
1. Ill, nave, 45 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in. ; tower, 11 ft.
square.
H
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
loft, the stairs to which remain on the north-east in
the thickness of the wall. The upper and lower door-
ways are also still in existence, tut their stonework
has been entirely renewed. The nave roof is of the
15th century and rests on large grotesque corbels.
The tower arch is four-centred and of two moulded
orders, the inner resting upon the shafts of the jambs
and the outer continuous. The work is of late I 5th-
ccntury type.
The tower is of three stages, marked externally
by strings, and has diagonal buttresses. The parapet
is embattled and the roof is pyramidal and tiled.
The west doorway is two-centred, of two moulded
orders, and has been greatly repaired. The west
window above it is old, but the tracery is wholly
modern. In the belfry stage there is a window of
two lights in each face ; all of these are much re-
paired. The string below the parapet has a gargoyle
in the middle of each face, and at the north-west
corner the stair-turret rises above the parapet.
In the north-east corner of the nave is an image
niche with a trefoiled head. The font, which is oct-
agonal and quite plain, is of the late I 5 th or early 1 6th
century. At the west end of the nave are several
late 15th or early 16th-century benches, repaired.
In the nave, at the north-east, is a floor slab,
inscribed 'Henry Barnewell 1638.' On the outside
of the south wall is an imperfect incised sundial.
There are six bells, of which the third is by
Joseph Eayre, 1760, and the fifth by John Dyer,
1595. The remainder are by Mears & Stainbank,
1908.
The plate is modern.
The registers begin in I 561, and are contained in
three books : (i) all entries I 561 to 1690 ; (ii) baptisms
1 7 1 o to 1 8 I 2, burials 1710 to 1812, marriages 1 7 1 o
t0 1755 ; (iii) marriages 1755 to 1 8 1 1 .
The church of Great Wymondley
ADVOWSON seems to have been originally a
chapel to Hitchin.91 In 1 1 99 it
was the subject of a suit between Reginald de
Argentein and the Abbess of Elstow.92 The
abbess maintained th.it Judith niece of William the
Conqueror, who founded the abbey of Elstow, gave
to the nuns the vill of Hitchin with its church and
the chapel of Wymondley pertaining to it, and she
produced the charter and confirmations by William I
and Henry I and II, also the testimonials of the arch-
deacon and the bishop who dedicated the church,
and of Henry the king. Reginald on the other
hand said that the church of Wymondley had never
pertained to that of Hitchin, and that in the time of
William I a certain Alfled made presentation to that
church, and that afterwards it was given to his grand-
father Reginald together with the manor, and there-
fore he now claimed the advowson, as two present-
ments had already been made by his family. In
1208-9 Richard de Argentein, the son of Reginald,
acknowledged the right of the Abbess of Elstow to
the advowson on condition that she would ' receive
him into all benefits and prayers which were made in
the church of Elstow.' 93 About this time Elstow
appropriated the church, and a vicarage was ordained
by Hugh Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, whose episcopacy
lasted from 1209 to 1235.94 Elstow kept the church
until the Dissolution, after which the tithes were
included in the grant of Hitchin rectory to Trinity
College, Cambridge, by Hemy VIII. The church
was evidently still a chapel to Hitchin and the
advowson is not mentioned in the grant.95 The few
presentations of which there are record were made by
Trinity College except in 1663 and 1675, when the
Bishop of Lincoln presented by lapse.96 The benefice
was united with that of St. Ippolitts by an instrument
dated 15 March 1685,97 and the vicar resides in the
latter parish.
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in Great
Wymondley were registered at various dates from
1776 to 1814.98
In 1623 John Welch by will
CHARITIES charged his estate of Redcoats in
this parish with an annuity of £4,
of which £1 l os. was payable to the vicar and £z
to the poor for L read and 10/. to Little Wymondley.
In 1735 Robert Tristram by his will devised I or.
a year for bread for the poor of this parish.
In 1 821 James Lucas by deed gave £150 consols,
the annual dividends, amounting to £3 1 5;., to be
applied as to two- thirds for the relief and assistance
of the poor of this parish and one-third for the poor
of Little Wymondley.
The charities are duly applied.
LITTLE WYMONDLEY
This parish has an area of 1,006 acres, of which
599 acres are arable land, 226J acres permanent grass
and 6| acres wood.1 Two portions of the parish are
detached. One of very small area lies west of Red-
coats Green and the other is situated south of Titmore
Green and contains a few cottages which are called
Lower Titmore Grfen. The parish slopes downward
in a south-westerly direction from an elevation of
nearly 400 ft. The Great Northern railway passes
through the village, but the nearest stations are
Stevenage, 2 miles south-east, and Hitchin, 2.\ miles
north-west. The village lies on the road from Hitchin
to Stevenage. Near its centre a road branches off
northwards to Great Wymondley, passing the site of
the former priory. The Great North Road runs
along the north-east boundary of the parish. The
subsoil is chalk with a layer of boulder clay ; the sur-
face soil is clay and gravel with occasional chalk. There
is a chalk-pit south of the village and a gravel-pit in
a field east of the vicarage. The village has many old
and picturesque cottages. The Buck's Head Inn is
an early 17th-century timber and plaster house, with
91 See Pope NUh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 36.
93 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 8 ; Rot.
Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 391-2.
93 Feet of F. John, no. 120. The
Alfled who is mentioned as an early patron
wag lord of Little Wymondley before the
Conquest. It was perhaps he who granted
Great Wymondley to St. Mary of Chat-
teris, with a reservation of the advowson.
94 Liber Antiquuz (ed. Gibbons), 28.
95 Information kindly supplied by the
Bursar of Trinity Coll.
186
6 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
7 Information kindly supplied by the
rsar of Trinity Coll.
8 Urwick, op. cit. 631.
Statistics from Bd. ot Agric. (1905).
Buck's Head Inn, Little Wymondlet
Little Wymondley Bury from the East
187
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
an overhanging gable at each end, and the ' Plume of
Feathers' is an old red bruit house on the opposite
side of the road.
Wymondley Hall, now a farm-house, the residence
of Mr. M. H. Foster, is a picturesque many-gabled
building, standing close to the railway where it crosses
the main road to Hitchin. There is nothing of
architectural interest inside the building, and modern
subdivisions of the rooms have destroyed all traces of
the original plan. The house appears to have been
erected during the early part of the 17th century,
and is built of thin 2-in. bricks, with a good deal of
timber-framed work covered with plaster on the upper
Little Wymondley Hall : Entrance Doorway
story. The principal front, which faces west, has six
gables, the two northernmost, however, being modern
additions. Of the two middle gables, one has a bay
window its whole height, the other having merely
a slightly projecting oriel on the upper story with
an entrance porch under. The south gable has a
projecting upper story, timber framed and plastered,
below which is a bay window, and up in the gable is
an oriel window finished with a small gable under
the main gable. The corresponding large gable at
the north end has a projecting bay continued up the
two stories and finished with a similar small gable.
All the roofs are tiled. The entrance door and
frame are original. The frame is moulded and square-
headed, the mouldings having ornamental stops out-
side. Many of the features of this front, such as the
moulded door frame and the subsidiary gables over
the oriels and bays immediately underneath the main
gables, bear a close resemblance to those on the front
of Egerton House, Berkhampstead. The back of the
house is chiefly remarkable for the picturesque dis-
position of the chimneys. There are two stacks of
chimneys separated by a small projecting gable.
The Priory farm-house, the property of Col.
Heathcote of Shephallbury and residence of Mrs.
Charles Sworder, stands about half a mile north of
the church on the site of part of the old Priory
buildings, some parts of which are
incorporated in the present house.
Chauncy, writing about the year
1 700, mentions the cloisters and
chapel which existed in his time,
but these have now almost dis-
appeared. The plan of the house
is not on the usual lines, due to the
positions of the old walls ; indeed,
it seems that the builder of the
dwelling-house merely surrounded a
part of the aisleless nave of the
priory church with an external wall.
The old thick I 3th-century walling
has been a good deal cut about in
order to afford passages to the
different apartments, and some
arches which are said to exist in
the wall next the drawing room
and pantry, probably part of the
arcade of the north wall of the
cloister, have been built up. The
only arch now remaining is a por-
tion of one of the south windows of
the church over a doorway to the
bedroom above the drawing room,
and it appears to be in its original
position. The opening is 4 ft. 8 in.
wide, and has a pointed arch of
13th-century date, with arch mould
consisting of two rolls with a deep
hollow between, resting on a de-
tached shaft with moulded capital.
It is of soft limestone or clunch, and
a portion of one side is hidden by a
later wall. The oldest portion of
the external wall is at the back or
east side of the house. It is built
mainly of clunch, and in the wall is
a doorway, now built up, with
splayed four-centred arch. This
wall may belong to the latter part of the 16th century.
All the rest of the external walling is of brick, a good
deal of it refaced in modern times, but the older
parts, chiefly on the north side, are faced with the
original thin bricks rising about 9 \ in. to four courses.
On the north side are three equal gables, the windows
still retaining their old oak mullions and transoms.
Elsewhere the windows have been modernized. The
old chimneys consist of square shafts of brick set
diagonally, and probably belong to the early part of
the 1 7th century. The west front has been much
modernized. Internally many of the rooms are lined
with oak moulded panelling of early I 7th-century date,
and there is a small plain old stair in the north-east
188
. ^-
H
1L /3|
B-V
^PR^S
Little Wymondley Hall from the South-west
Little Wymondley Priory from the North-west
BROADWATER HUNDRED
corner of the building. The old front entrance
door is now used in the doorway to the store adjoining
the pantry. To the east of the house is the old
garden, which still retains part of the old brick
inclosure wall, at one point in which is a small niche
with circular arched head of stone.
There are traces of coloured ornament
in the niche. South of the house is
a large tithe barn of nine bays, with
weather-boarded sides and tiled roof.
It measures externally about 102 ft.
by 39 ft. The remains of a moat
are still visible, partly surrounding
the house, garden and barn. Beyond
the moat, to the south-east of the
house, is the old orchard completely
encircled by a grove of very old box
trees, about 20 ft. in height. To the
north-west of the house is the old
dove-house, now converted into a
cottage. In a field some few hundred
yards north-east of the house are the
remains of the old conduit head, from
which water was brought to turn the
spit in the kitchen, being used for that
purpose until the middle of the 19th century. The
conduit head is a small shallow basin sunk below the
floor of a small building, some of the old floor tiles
being still in their places. The walls of the building
have lately been partly rebuilt, but, as no record of the
old building could be found, the new work was copied
from another old building elsewhere. The old stone
doorway with its four-centred arch still remains.
Wymondley Bury, the residence of Mr. Henry
Parkes, stands in a moated inclosure adjoining the
south side of the church, a little to the south-east
of the village. The moat contains water on the
north-west and north-east sides of the house, but
has been filled up on the other sides. The prin-
cipal, or north-east, front of the house is approached
Little
Wymondley
Bury
Plan
LITTLE
WYMONDLEY
the chimneys, and all the windows have been renewed.
The principal entrance still retains the old door of
two thicknesses of oak planks fastened with iron studs.
The dining room, to the right of the entrance, has a
very interesting fireplace. The old moulded oak beam
Little Wymondley
by a modern bridge over the moat. The present
house, which is probably only a portion of the late
16th-century house, is [.-shaped, and has been much
added to in the I 7th century and modernized both
Outside and inside. All the brick facing, except to
Section
Conduit Head
NE ok House
over the ingle-nook is 1 3 ft. 4 in. in length, and the
depth of the opening is 5 ft., but its width has now
been much reduced by inserting new oak jambs
moulded to match the lintel. This room was probably
the hall of the old manor-house. Beside the dining
room is a small room used as a study, below which is
an old cellar, in the walls of which are eight or nine
small niches with arched heads formed in brickwork.
They are placed from 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. above the
floor, and are from 9 in. to I I in. wide and 9 in. in
depth. Their average height is about I z in. They
were probably used to hold wine flasks. None of
them appear to have had a door. There is a very
similar series of niches in the cellar at Watton Place.
Close to the house on the north is the old brick dove-
house which still contains some 300 nests. A little
to the south-east of the house stands a fine Spanish
chestnut evidently of great age but still flourishing.
Gilpin refers to it in his ' Forest Scenery ' about the
year 1789. The main trunk is badly split, rendering
any measurements misleading.
The old manor-house of Great and Little
Wymondley was pro', ably on the same site,'3 but no
trace of it now remains. It is described as 'a hall
with chambers, chapels and rooms annexed,' and was
called ' Somerhalle.' 2
Wymondley House, a square modern residence,
is now the residence of Mr. James W. Courtenay.
From 1799 to 183Z it was used as an academy for
training young men for the Nonconformist ministry.
This had been founded by Dr. Doddridge at North-
ampton about 1738, and in 1832 was removed to
London.
The inclosure award is included in that of Great
Wymondley.
Before the Norman Conquest LITTLE
MANORS WVMONDLET (Wymundeslai) was
held by one Alflet of Robert Fitz
Wimarc.3 After the Conquest it was divided between
two owners, I hide being held in 1086 by William
of Robert Gernon,4 and a hide and a quarter by
la Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. VI,
VI, no. 53.
i8q
4 Ibid. 323*.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Adam Fitz Hubert of the Bishop of Bayeux.5 The lands
of Adam Fitz Hubert, brother of Eudo Dapifer, went
in other Hertfordshire cases to the Valognes family,
but there is nothing to show what happened to them
here. The Gernon lands forming the manor of Little
Wymondley came to the Montfitchet family (see Letch-
worth), and were divided about 1258 between the
three sisters and heirs of Richard de Montfitchet, to
the second of whom, Aveline, Little Wymondley was
apportioned. This Aveline married William de
Fortibus Earl of Albemarle,6 who was starved to death
in the Levant in I 241, and who was succeeded by his
son William. The latter died in I 2 56 and his two
children died during the lifetime of their mother.7
The earldom of Albemarle being thus extinct, Little
Wymondley was thenceforward held of the king in
chief of the honour of Albemarle for 201. rent yearly
to be rendered at the ward of Craven Castle." By
141 9 the service was reduced to 6s. Sd.3
with the reversion of all the lands belonging to the
priory, was granted to James Needham, ' accountant,
surveyor-general and clerk of
the king's works,'" to be held
of the king in chief by the
service of a tenth part of a
knight's fee.13 James obtained
a licence to entail the manor
on his son John," who suc-
ceeded his father in 1545.15
George Needham, son of
John, settled the manor on
his son Eustace on his marriage
in 161 5, and in 1623 it was
settled on George the son of
Eustace.
George Needham the first
died in 1626. '6 George the younger died in 1669
and was succeeded by another George," his son, who
Needham. Argent
a bend engrailed azure
heticeen rwo harts heads
caboshed sable.
Liitle Wymondley Priory : North Front
Before the end of the 13th century the manor of
Little Wymondley was held in sub-tenancy by the
Argentein family ; it is first mentioned in the pos-
session of that family upon the delivery of the lands
of Giles to his son and heir Reginald in 1282-3.'°
From that date it has followed the same descent as
the manor of Great Wymondley (q.v.).
WYMONDLEY PRIORI' was founded during the
reign of Henry III by Richard de Argentein, lord of
the manor of Great Wymondley, some time previous
to 1218." It was suppressed in 1537 and the site,
died without male issue in 1725.'8 His heirs were his
daughters, Barbara, who married John Sherwin, and
Martha the wife of Thomas Browne,19 the eminent
land surveyor, who for a while resided at his wife's
manor in Little Wymondley. In 1733 the manor
was sold to Samuel Vanderplank,20 from whom it is
said to have descended,21 through his daughter Anna,
who married Gilbert Joddrell, to Anna Joddrell,28
the wife of Christopher Clitherow of Essendon, who
sold it in 1806 to Samuel Heathcote. In 18 1 2 it
came by the will of the latter to his grandson
5 V.C.H. Herts, i, 309a.
6 G.E.C. Complete Peerai
Nevil! (Rec. Com.), 280.
7 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
"Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw
49 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. ]
1381-5, p. 20.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. V, no. 1 3 ;
7 Hen. VI, no. 8 ; 38 & 39 Hen. VI,
no. 42 ; 20 Edw. IV, no. 58.
de
II, no. 43 ;
7 : Cat. Pat.
10 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.),
43-
11 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 555.
12 Diet. Nat. Biog.
13 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii, p. 58
Aug. Off. Dec. ii, R. 57.
14 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, 780.
15 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), \
16 Ibid.
161.
I9O
17 Recov. R. Trin. 5 Will, and Mary,
rot. 91 j Trin. 8 Anne, rot. 94.
18 Salmon, op. cit. (172S), 189.
19 Diet. Nat. Biog.
*> Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 7 Geo. II.
81 Cussans, op. cit. Broadivater Hund.
59-
22 Recov. R. East. 10 Geo. Ill, rot.
311.
BROADWATER HUNDRED
Samuel Heathcote Unwin, who took the additional
surname of Heathcote,23 and died in 1862. The
manor descended to his son Col. Unwin Unwin-
Heathcote,24 who is the present holder.
The capital messuage called WYMONDLEY
BURY, which belonged in the 16th century to
Wymondley Priory (q.v.), was sold after the dis-
solution of that house by an indenture of 1544
to John Pigott and Margaret Grainger, whom
he was about to marry.25 John Pigott died in
1558, but the messuage remained in the possession
of his widow, who married John Palmer. Upon
her death in 1 581 it passed to her son Maurice
Pigott.26 The latter was succeeded by Thomas Pigott,
who in 1609 settled the estate upon himself and
Elizabeth his wife for their lives, with remainder to
his daughter Elizabeth and her husband. Thomas
died in l6ll, his heirs being his daughters, Rebecca
wife of Henry Bull of Hertford and Elizabeth wife
of Beckingham Butler, upon whom it was settled.27
Beckingham Butler became lord of the manor of
Tewin (q.v.) in l620,andWymondley Bury descended
with that manor until at least 1746,28 when it was
held by Edmund Bull.
The parish church of ST. MARY
CHURCH stands by itself on rising ground about
a quarter of a mile from the village, and
is built of flint rubble cemented over, with stone
dressings and a tiled roof. It consists of a chancel,
nave, north aisle, north vestry, south porch and west
tower. 28a
The chancel, nave and tower are of the 15 th cen-
tury, probably late, but the restoration in the 1 9th
century, when the chancel was lengthened and the
aisle, vestry and porch were added, has obscured the
history of the building.
The east and north windows of the chancel and
the chancel arch are modern. In the south wall are
two single lights, probably of the 15th century, but
greatly repaired with cement. The western of the
two is set low in the wall. In the east wall is reset
a 15th-century piscina.
The nave has a modern north arcade. On the
south side the wall is thickened towards the east by
nearly a foot, probably for the rood-stair, as one of the
doors to the rood-loft was discovered during a repair.
In the south wall are two windows, possibly of the
15th century, but much defaced with cement. That
near the east is of two lights and the other of a single
light. Between them is the south doorway, also of
the 1 5th century ; it is two-centred and of two wave-
moulded orders. The modern porch is of brick. The
tower arch is of 15th-century date. It is two-
centred, of two chamfered orders, and has shafted
jambs with clumsy capitals. The tower, of two receding
stages, has a brick parapet, probably modern. The
LITTLE
WYMONDLEY
west window is of two lights with tracery in a four-
centred head, and is much repaired with cement ; the
belfry stage windows, in the north and west faces, are
of two lights in a square head and are in very bad
condition.
On the north wall of the chancel is a brass, consisting
of an inscription to James Needham, who came into
the county in 1536, and his son, with arms. The
plate was set up in 1605 by the grandson of the
former and son of the latter to record his erection
of a monument to them.
There are three bells : the first bears the in-
scription ' Prosperity to the Church of England,
and no encouragement to Enthusiasm,' 1760 ; the
second is by John Dyer and dated 1595 ; the third
is without marks.
The plate for the church of Little Wymondley is
modern and consists only of a silver communion cup,
a silver paten and a flagon.
-The registers begin in 1577, and are contained in
three books, of which the first and second are frag-
mentary : (i) baptisms 1577 to 1727, burials 1628 to
1629, marriages 1629 29; (ii) baptisms 175010 18 12,
burials 1750 to 1812, marriages 1750 to 1753;
(iii) marriages 175610 181 1.
It is uncertain at what date Little
ADfOWSON Wymondley became a parish. There
is no evidence of a church in 1086,
and the living is not mentioned in the Taxot'io of 1 29 1.
In 12 1 8, however, the master of the hospital of
Little Wymondley was inducted into the church,30 and
a vicarage was ordained before 1235.31 After the
Dissolution in 1537 the rectory was granted to James
Needham.32 After this the rectory follows the descent
of the Priory manor, and presumably the lords of
this manor presented to the church, but the advowson
seems to be only once mentioned among the records
of the manor.33 The living is now a vicarage in the
gift of Colonel Heathcote, who holds the Priory
manor. There appears to have been a chantry chapel
attached to the manor-house of Little Wymondley,34
the advowson of which always belonged to the lord
of that manor and Great Wymondley. It is not
heard of after 1485, and had disappeared before the
survey taken by Edward VI.
The annual sum of 10/. is received
CHARITIES from the parish of Great Wymondley
and applied in the distribution of
bread in respect of the charity of John Welch.
The sum of £1 5/., being one-third of the dividends
on ,£150 consols, is also received from the parish of
Great Wymondley in respect of the charity of James
Lucas.
In 1668 Thomas Chapman by his will charged a
cottage and yard in Stevenage with 5/. a year for the
poor, to be distributed in bread on St. Andrew's Day.
13 Clutterhuck, op. cit. ii, 550.
84 Cussans, loc. cit.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxviii,
153. " Ibid, cicciii, 54.
3; Ibid, cccxviii, 153.
38 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 3 Jas. II ;
Herts. Hil. 7 Will. Ill ; Will, P.C.C. 149
Price ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 19 &
20 Geo. II.
s8a Dimensions : chancel, 31 ft. by
14 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 3 1 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in. ;
tower, 9 ft. square.
S9 This book has only two marriages.
30 Dugdale, Men. vi, 1555 n.
31 Liber Antiqum (ed. Gibbons), 28.
«' L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (1), 887
(13) ; Aug. Off. Dec. ii, 57. The 'par-
sonage of Great Wymondley ' here is
evidently an error for the parsonage of
Little Wymondley.
83 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 & 18
Eliz. There are no institutions to this
church in the Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. no ;
2 Hen. VI, no. 27 ; 6 Hen. VI, no. 53 ;
38 & 39 Hen. VI, no. 42 ; (Ser. 2), i,
191
THE HUNDRED OF ODSEY
CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF
ARDELEY CALDECOTE KELSHALL
ASHWELL CLOTHALL RADWELL
BROADFIELD COTTERED REED
BYGRAVE HINXWORTH ROYSTON
RUSHDEN
SANDON
THERFIELD
WALLINGTON
The area of jurisdiction of this hundred extended over a large portion
of the ' champaign country,' which forms the distinctive feature of the
Hertfordshire chalk hills. The two
great roads from London to the north
roughly form its boundaries east and
west, and its northern limit is the
border between Hertfordshire and the
counties of Bedford and Cambridge,
following in part the line of the
Icknield Way.
The parishes of Hinxworth,
Ash well, Caldecote, Bygrave and R ad-
well form with Newnham a tongue of
land projecting northwards between
the counties of Bedford and Cambridge.
In 1086 Newnham was within the
hundred of Odsey8; but the Abbots
of St. Albans, who were lords of the
manor, had transferred the suit of
their tenants to Cashio Hundred
before I286.s Since this time Newn-
ham has formed a detached portion of
Cashio Hundred within the hundred
of Odsey.4 With this exception there has been little change in the
geographical extent of the hundred since the time of the Domesday Survey.5
It is probable that the Survey records under Odsey Hundred the assessment
of Offley, now in Hitchin Hundred, merely through the omission of a
sub-heading.6 The holding of Count Alan in Anstey was placed under the
heading 'Odsey Hundred' in 1086,7 but the lands of Harduin de Scales
there are mentioned under Edwinstree Hundred,8 in which Anstey was
included in the 1 3th and following centuries.9 The Survey also includes
under Odsey Hundred the unidentified lands of Ralf de Limesy at
1 This list represents the extent of the hundred in 1 83 1 {Pop. Ret. 183 1).
2 V.C.H. Herts. 1,315*. 5 Assize R. 325, m. 34 d. * V.C.H. Htrtt. ii, 320.
5 Ibid, i, 301 et seq. 6 Ibid. 328 ; cf. foot-note. ' Ibid. 321a. ' Ibid. 340*.
9 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 193 ; Feud. Aids, ii, 431, 439, 453.
192
y&' ARDELEV ''Jillll
- ■ s
Index Map to the Hundred of Odsey
ODSEY HUNDRED
' Hainstone.' 10 Royston, not specifically mentioned in 1086, was only
partly in Therfield ; the nucleus of the town lay within the parish of
Barkway in Edwinstree Hundred, or across the Cambridgeshire borders in
Arningford Hundred.11
The inclusion of certain manors within ecclesiastical liberties greatly
reduced the royal jurisdiction in this hundred. Before 1278 the tenants
of the Abbot of Westminster at Ashwell, of the Bishop of Ely at Kelshall, of
the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's at Ardeley and Sandon, of the Abbot of
Ramsey at Therfield, and those of the Prior of Royston and the Knights
Templars had withdrawn their suit and aid from the hundred in accordance with
royal charters granted to their respective lords.12 In 1275 it was stated that
Caldecote had not rendered aid since the siege of Bedford Castle (June 1224).13
The men of West Reed in Therfield had also withdrawn from the sheriffs'
tourns ; the aid due from the holding formerly of Theobald ' de Mora ' in
Wallington had been withheld for sixteen years by the bailiff of the honour
of Richmond ; and Richard de Ewell had withdrawn the aid for ' Blayneham '
in Ashwell.14 Nevertheless, the farm of the hundred had recently increased
from iooj-. to ^i2.15
Odsey Hundred was vested in the Crown until the beginning of the
17th century, and was farmed out together with the neighbouring hundred
of Edwinstree.16 Thus about 13 14 Edmund de Ayete received a grant of
the bailiwick of these two hundreds during the king's pleasure.17 In March
161 2—1 3 the hundred was alienated to William Whitmore, esquire, and
Jonas Verdon, gentleman, and to their heirs in perpetuity.18 They sold within
a few days to Sir Julius Adelmare, otherwise Caesar, kt., then chancellor and
under-treasurer of the Exchequer.19 He granted the hundred in 1633 to n^s
son Sir John Adelmare, otherwise Caesar, kt., whose son John sold it in
March 1662—3 to Arthur Earl of Essex.20 The hundred has thenceforward
remained with the successive Earls of Essex.21
The meeting-place for the hundred court is unknown. The name Odsey
survives in Odsey Grange and manor in the parish of Guilden Morden,
co. Cambs. The Grange now lies without the county boundary, but in the
first half of the 1 6th century the lands of the manor extended into Hertford-
shire, and Speed's map of the county published in 161 1 shows Odsey Grange
within the county boundary and in the hundred of Odsey.22 The Grange was
the property of the Abbot of Warden,23 who withdrew from the hundred of
Odsey the suit and service of his lands and tenements in that hundred.24
10 V.C.H. Herts, i, 325.
11 See the account of Royston ; cf. Pop. Ret. 1 83 1 ; Pari. Papers, 1895, iv, 543.
" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 193 ; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 276, 291.
13 Hund. R. loc. cit. ; cf. V.C.H. Beds, ii, 28.
11 Hund. R. loc. cit. 15 Assize R. 323, m. 4.5.
16 Hund. R. loc. cit. ; cf. Col. Pot. 1321-4^. 61.
" Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 202. la Pat. 10 Jas. I, pt. xxi, no. 7.
19 Chart, penes Earl of Essex quoted by Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 28.
™ Ibid. ; cf. Recov. R. East. 15 Chas. II, m. 135.
" Chauncy, loc. cit. ; Recov. R. East. 39 Geo. Ill, m. 33 ; Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund. 5.
" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xviii (2), g. 327 (19) ; Speed, Theatre of Great Britain (ed. 1676), 39.
" Dugdale, Mon. v, 37;.
H Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.)," 276.
TQ3 *5/
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
ARDELEY
Erdelei or F.rdele (xi-xiii cent.) ; Erdcle or Ardley
(xivcent.) ; Yerdley (xv-xvi cent.) ; Yardley (xvi cent.
to about 1850).
The parish of Ardeley was included in Odsey
Hundred until 14 October 1843, when it was
transferred to Edwinstree Hundred.1 It consists of
scattered hamlets lying on the southern slope of the
chalk hills of north-east Hertfordshire, at about an
equal distance from Stevenage station on the main
line of the Great Northern railway and the terminus
of Buntingford on a branch line of the Great Eastern
railway. The River Beane flows through the northern
part of the parish, and the numerous lanes connecting
the outlying parts of the parish - are carried across it
and its tributaries by means of fords. It is recorded
that the water did great damage to the roads early
in the last century.3
The village of Ardeley lies on the western edge of
the hill overlooking the village of Walkern and the
valley of the River Beane. It consists of the church
and the vicarage (a rectangular plastered house built
in 1685,4 having a carved wooden fireplace on the
ground floor) and a few cottages around the farm
known as Church End. The manor-house called
Ardeley Bury, the residence of Col. Hans CM. Woods,
R.A., is situated a little to the west.
North of Ardeley Bury the village street of Cromer
lies on the road from Walkern to Rushden. It has
its own church and a hall, now converted into two
cottages, and is surrounded by its own common arable
fields. To the south is Cromer Farm, a timber and
plaster house on a brick base, built towards the
end of the 1 6th or early in the I 7th century. It is
L-shaped in plan and has two original chimney stacks.
In the hall is an iron fireback bearing the date 1630,
a pheon, an earl's coronet and the letters R.L. The
outbuildings are probably original. Another timber
and plaster house in the middle of Cromer Street,
now divided into two cottages, is of about the same
date. On the higher ground north-east of Cromer
is a windmill probably on the site of the ancient
manorial mill of Ardeley Bury, which was built on
land acquired by exchange from the lords of Cromer.5
Luffenhall Street is a hamlet also surrounded by unin-
closed common fields and is partly in Clothall parish.
Wood End, a considerable hamlet in the timbered
district in the south of the parish, contains the modern
church of St. Alban, a Congregational chapel e and
several farm-houses, including Lite's Farm, possibly
the old manor-house.7 Two of the farm-houses are
of timber and plaster and apparently date from the
I 7th century. The manor-house of Moor Hall, now
converted into a farm, is about a mile north of Wood
End. At Gardner's is a homestead moat surround-
ing farm-buildings near the road from Great Munden
to Rushden which here forms the boundary between
Ardeley and Cottered and further north passes through
the hamlet of Hare Street.
These considerable farms and houses in a purely
agricultural district doubtless represent the tenements
of the well-to-do yeomen freeholders, who ' dealt much
in the making of malt.'8 Chief among these were
the Halfhide family, members of which lived at
Gardner's End,9 Moor Green lu and Wood End,11
and the Shotbolt family which occupied the tenement
called ' Cowherds ' or ' Cowards,' afterwards called
' The Place.' 12 By 1 700, however, the prosperity of
these families had much diminished.13
In addition to barley, wheat and beans are the
chief crops grown. Of 2,424 acres, rather more than
half is arable land. The permanent grass covers 660
acres.133 Some of the grass-land consists of open
greens such as Parker's Green, Munches Green
and Moor Green, and in the 17th and preceding
centuries the inhabitants depastured cattle along the
roadside and on the ' balks ' dividing the holdings in
the common fields.14 The woodland (about 80 acres)
is chiefly about Ardeley Bury and in the south of
the parish. In 1649 seven 'groves' appertained to
Ardeley Manor ; among these were Deereloves,
Rooks, Cockshott, and Great Sprosewell.15
The public elementary school dates from 1 834,
and was enlarged in 1845.16
The manor of ARDELEY was held
MANORS in 1086 by the canons of St. Paul's,
London. It had belonged to the church
before the Conquest,17 and possibly the tradition that
the canons acquired it of the gift of King Athelstan
(924-40 a.d.) is correct, although the charter re-
cording the gift must be rejected as a forgery.18
Apparently the manor included the whole parish
in 1086, and the canons owned also 2 hides in the
hamlet of Luffenhall, which lies partly in Clothall,
partly in Ardeley.19 In 1086 Ardeley was assessed at
6 hides, of which 3 were in the demesne.20 In the
time of Henry I the manor was assessed at 7 hides,
but only 6 of these were accounted for ; 2 hides were
in the demesne, 1 hide having evidently been alienated
to tenants since the time of the Domesday Survey.21
The manor was allotted for the maintenance of
the keeper of the brew-house of St. Paul's.22 The
manor-house and demesne lands were let on lease as
early as the 1 2th century. The rent due from
Osbert of Ardeley, to whom a lease for life was granted
1 Hardy, S«*. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii,
427.
2 The Court Rolls (D. and C. of
St. Paul's, B Boxes 57 and 58) record
many of the names of these lanes, some of
which survive. They were Bedwill Lane,
Hony Lane, Porte Oke Lane, Quynton
Lane and Chesilpette Lane.
3 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii,
264.
* Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 64.
5 Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd. Soc),
21; but the mill was accounted parcel
of Cromer Manor in 1576 (Ct. R.
St. Paul's, B Box 57).
6 The trust deed is enrolled on Close,
1864, pt. lxvii, no. 1 1.
7 In 1674 the homage of Ardeley
Manor returned that there was 'a house
and land called Lights and a cottage to
the left of the highway leading to the
church ' (Ct. R. of D. and C. of St. Paul's
W.C. 1).
8 Chauncy, op. cit. 65.
9 Add. R. (B.M.), 27169.
10 Ibid. 27170.
11 Ibid. 271 71 ; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2),
bdles. 21 1, no. 83 ; 462, no. n.
12 Sec Chauncy, op. cit. 62. See below
under 'Cromer.' n Chauncy, loc. cit.
194
lsa Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
M Add. R. 27169-72.
15 Close, 1649, Pl- U n°- '5-
16 Cf. Trust D. Enr. on Close, 1837,
pt. clxxxi, no. 13; 1846, pt. cxviii,
no. 1 1.
17 V.C.H. Herts, i, 316/..
18 It is printed in Kemble's Cod. Dip!.
1 1 27, and Dugdale's Hist, of St. Paul's
(ed. 1818), 3 ; see the account of
Sandon.
» V.C.H. Herts, i, 317a. »° Ibid.
21 Dom. of St. Pants (Camd. Soc), 140.
32 Cal. Pat. 13 1 3-17, p. 81 ; Dom. of
St. Paul's (Camd. Soc), 160.
ODSEY HUNDRED
Dean and Chapter
of St. Paul's. Gules
the crossed swords of St.
Paul •with a D in the
chief or.
in 1 141, was paid four times a year,'3 on the ninth,
twenty- sixth, fortieth and forty-sixth Sundays after
the feast of St. Faith." The
rent paid to the brew-house at
each term was 64 quarters of
wheat, I 2 quarters of barley,
64 quarters of oats and a
money rent of 42/. At the
same time there were due to
the chamberlain, besides a
fixed sum from the church,
£11 12s. \d. from the manor
for wages, wood and alms25
and 40;. towards the obit of
John Malemeyns.26 The 12th-
century lessee received in
addition to the farm-stock and
three barns filled with wheat,
oats, barley and hay, a good hall (doubtless on the
site of Ardeley Bury) with ' cloisters ' {trisana) and a
chamber leading out of the hall, courtyard, granary
and kitchen, stables and a place for storing hay. In
the hall were four small butts, three cups, ' lead above
the oven,' a bench, a cupboard and two tables.27
In 1222 the farmer of the manor was Theobald
Archdeacon of Essex,29 and it became customary for
the lessee to be one of the canons of St. Paul's 29 and
to farm the courts as well as the demesne lands.30
Sir Henry Chauncy, writing in 1 700, stated that
the manor-house and demesne
lands (only) had been held for
above 200 years by his an-
cestors, who had had several
leases for lives from the dean
and chapter.31 In 1 6 1 o Henry
Chauncy of Ardeley, gentle-
man, evidently the writer's
grandfather,32 sublet ' the Owld
House' with various lands and
tenements, including the great
barn called ' Powles Barn,' to
one John Wright of Ardeley,
yeoman.83 Chauncy then had
a lease for three lives, which
was renewed to his son Henry Chauncy in 1 6 34."
In 1649 the Parliamentary trustees for the lands of
deans and chapters sold the manor to Montague Lane
of London, esquire, Peter Burrough of Clement's Inn,
gentleman, and Edward Head of Ardeley, yeoman.35
At the Restoration the dean and chapter recovered
their lands,36 and continued to take the profits of
Ardeley until 1 808, when the manor-house and
demesne lands were sold to John Spurrier, auctioneer.37
Chauncy. Gules a
cross paly argent and a
chief or ivith a lion
passant azure therein.
ARDELEY
The manorial rights were not included in the sale, but
are now vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
Ardeley Bury and the demesne lands were sold by
John Spurrier to Sir David Baird, K.B., 19 January
1 8 10. He conveyed them in the subsequent year to
Commissary-General John Murray. At his death in
1834 his estate descended to his daughter Susannah
Catherine Saunders Murray, wife of Major Adolphus
Cottin, who assumed the name of Murray.38 She
resided at Ardeley Bury and died 2 1 April 1 860. 39
Her son and heir Adolphus William Murray be-
queathed the property to Philip Longmore of the
Castle, Hertford, his solicitor. Shortly after his
death, which occurred in 1879, the estate was pur-
chased by Mr. J. J. Scott, father of the late Major
J. T. Scott,40 in whose trustees it is now vested.
At Ardeley, as in their other manors, the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's exercised many liberties and
privileges. In 1287 the tenant of their manor
claimed assize of bread and ale, free warren and
gallows.4' They held view of frankpledge for the
whole parish as late as 1638.42 King Edward II
exempted their tenants at Ardeley from supplying
corn to the royal purveyors.13 A grant of free
warren in Ardeley was made by the same king in
February 131 5-1 6.44 The lords of the manor were
entitled to fines arising from pleas before the barons
of the Exchequer, the judges of both benches, the
judges on assize, and all ' Greenwax ' fines.45
In Chauncy's time Ardeley Bury stood in the midst
of an ancient park, then disparked, and was surrounded
by a moat.46 It may therefore have occupied the site
of the ancient hall let to Osbert of Ardeley in 1 141,47
for in 1222 the manor-house was surrounded by a
park of 60 acres.48 The present house was built in
the latter part of the 1 6th century, but was much
altered and modernized by John Murray in 1820.49
It is a red-brick house L-shaped in plan with three
towers in the front. The hall has some original
panelling reaching to about 6 ft. 6 in. from the floor,
and there is panelling in some other rooms. The
deep moat, with an inner rampart, which surrounded
the house, is now dry.
Within the parish three small manors were held
of the main manor of Ardeley, in which they were
probably included at the time of the Domesday
Survey.
CROMER HALL (Crawmere, xiii cent. ; Cromar-
hall, xvi cent.) originated in ' assart ' land reclaimed
from the wood or waste of Ardeley Manor.50 It is
evidently identical with a 'place' next Ardeley Park,
which Ralph son of William of Cromer held of the
main manor in 1222 by service of rendering three
28 Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd. Soc), 135.
24 Ibid. 154-7.
25 Ibid. Introd. p. xlvii.
26 Ibid. 162.
27 Ibid. 136; the lease to Master
Aubrey, also in the 1 2th century, adds
'one handmill, a high ladder, winnowing-
fans, baskets,' &c (13-').
28 Ibid. 21.
29 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
A Boxes 26-40, nc. 424, 425, &c. ;
cf. no. 14.11, 1412, and A Box 52, no. I.
30 See the court rolls, ibid. B Boxes
57, 58.
81 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 53 ;
courtB were held in the name of the
dean and chapter, 1630-8.
32 Cf. Chauncy's pedigree of the family,
loc. cit.
33 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 304,
no. 45.
34 Close, 1649, pt. 1, no. 15.
35 Ibid.
36 Cf. V.C.H. Lond. i, 418.
37 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 600.
38 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
88.
39 Gent. Mag. i860, i, 641. She had
married secondly Sir Robert Murray,
bart. (Cussans, loc. cit.).
40 Cussans, loc. cit. ; information kindly
supplied by Messrs. Sworder & Long-
I9S
41 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
290.
"Add. R. (B.M.), 27169-73.
43 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, pp. 81, 103, 190;
1321-4, pp. 52, 221.
44 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 305.
45 Close, 1649, P'- 'i n°- »S-
46 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 53.
47 See above.
48 Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd. Soc),
21.
49 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. It is not
quite clear whether Chauncy the historian
of Hertfordshire lived at Ardeley Bury or
at Lite's.
s° Dom. of St. PauPs (Camd. Soc),
24.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
capons yearly.51 Ralph son of William also held 3
acres of the demesne,'3 which he had in exchange for
land given for the site of the manorial windmill,'3 and
half a virgate held in villeinage 'for Robert, servant
of Nicholas the Archdeacon.' " From Ralph the
manor apparently descended to Roger of Cromer and
to his daughter Sabina, who married Ralph son of
Roger of Westover (Westoouer), for they surrendered
122 acres in Ardeley, Cromer and Luffenhall to the
lord of Ardeley in 1258-9."
The history of the manor during the following two
centuries is obscure. Chauncy56 identifies Cromer
with the 'manor' in Ardeley held in 1278 by Roger
de la Lee, together with a warren which had been
made by Philip Lovell57 ; but it seems more probable
that Roger's manor was Lite's.53 Possibly the later
tenants again took their name from their holding, for
John of Cromer was living in Ardeley in I290-I,53
and in 1322-3 Alice of Cromer paid towards a
subsidy in Ardeley.60
In 1526 Hugh Brabham with his wife Margaret,
in whose right he was evidently holding, sold the
manor of Cromer to Thomas Catesby and others for
^loo.a This Thomas appears to have been the
younger son of Sir Humphrey Catesby, kt., of
Northamptonshire.62 His heir was his elder brother
Anthony Catesby of Whiston, co. Northants,63 who
in 1 540 sold Cromer Hall to George Clerke of
Benington, yeoman."
In 1550 the homage presented George Clerke for
cutting down trees in the highway at Cromer.65 He
transferred the manor in 1557 to his son Thomas
Clerke of Stevenage,66 whose title was disputed by
John Austen, citizen and haberdasher of London, who
called himself great-grandson of William Austen and
his wife Katherine, who was daughter of Sir John
Clerke, kt.67 Thomas Clerke retained the manor
until his death about 1597, when his next heir was
his son William.69 Thomas and William Clerke and
Beatrice Clerke, widow, dismembered the manor,69 a
process already begun by the alienation of the wind-
mill in I 576.'° The manorial rights with a messuage,
possibly the hall, were purchased by Matthew
Scrivener of Walkern and his wife Grace." Cromer
Hall was ultimately acquired by John Shotbolt.72
Courts having ceased to be held, ' some of the copy-
holders took up their lands in Ardeley Manor, some
ceased to perform any of the customary dues.' 73
The family of Shotbolt had long resided in Ardeley,
where they held a tenement called Cowards. In
1 61 8 John and Philip Shotbolt granted an annuity
of £4.00 out of their ' capital messuage and demesnes '
in Ardeley (? Cromer Hall) to Lady Elizabeth Griffin,74
who is also said to have purchased Cowards through
the agency of Thomas Taylor.73 Lady Elizabeth
Griffin, ' uneasie in this place,' '6 perhaps owing to the
difficulty she experienced in obtaining her annuity
from Cromer Hall, surrendered her copyhold tene-
ments (Cowards, &c.) to Sir Edward Baesh, kt., and
his wife Mary and to Edward Adkyns in 163 7."
In 1 61 9 Lady Elizabeth had sought to enter upon
the capital messuage and demesnes of Cromer Hall,
since John Shotbolt had failed to pay the annuity due
to her ; but she was ' defeated ' in consequence of a
conveyance made to Mary Shotbolt, mother of John.7'
Shortly afterwards the house was acquired (probably
by purchase) by William Halfhide, who in 1630
conveyed it to his son John Halfhide,'9 whose family
had long resided at Ardeley.60
Cromer Hall is a late 16th-century house, now
divided into two cottages. It is of two stories con-
structed of timber and plaster on a brick base. It
still retains the oak ceiling beams, some oak doors,
and the original staircase.
LITE'S MANOR (Leightes, xvi-xviii cent. ;
Lights, xvii-xix cent.) is possibly identical with the
manor of Ardeley which Roger de la Lee held in 1 278.
Philip Lovell had made there a warren which Roger
held with the manor. sl It may be that ' Little Lye
Grove,' near the site of Lite's, is identical with this
warren.
Towards the end of the 1 3th century Lite's was
held by Richard de Harwedune, who was succeeded by
his daughter Maud. About 1322 she conveyed the
manor to Theobald de Bridebrook.82 Theobald's
name does not occur among the inhabitants who paid
to a subsidy in 1322-3, but there was then living
at Ardeley a ' Robert Lithe.' 83
In 1414 John Morris of Ardeley sold the manor of
Lite's to John Hotoft and others. They transferred
their rights to John Bardolf and his wife Joan, who
afterwards married Robert Carleton.84 How long it
51 Dam. of St. Vault (Camd. Soc),
*♦•
52 Ibid. 22.
53 Ibid. 21.
6< Ibid. 27.
55 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
A Boxes 26-40, no. 4.22.
56 Op. cit. 54.
57 Assize R. 323.
58 See below ; it ia also difficult to
identify the messuage, toft and 16 acres
of land to which Geoffrey Ede maintained
his claim against Joan and Alice daughters
of John Ede in 1328 (De Banco R^ 268,
m. 30; 272, m. 11; 274, m. c) ; pro-
bably it was one of the freehold tene-
ments.
69 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 1 20, no. 2 ; he
is styled John 'de Caumere,' evidently
an error for 'Craumcre.'
60 Ibid. no. 1 1.
61 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 8 Hen. VIII.
02 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lii, 99 ;
Will, P.C.C. 23 Holgrave.
13 Ibid. ; no confirmatory evidence of
Chauucy's statement that Cromer was
held by William Catesby, the counsellor
of Richard III, has been found.
64 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 32
Hen. VIII, m. 3.
65 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 57.
66 Ibid.
67 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 203,
no. 17. Chauncy inserts a genera-
tion between Thomas and George
Clerke, but Thomas calls himself ion
of George in the Chancery proceedings,
and is so styled in the court rolls of
Ardeley.
68 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 58.
69 Ibid.
70 Ibid. B Box 57.
71 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 44 & 45
Eliz. ; cf. ibid. Mich. 38*39 Eliz. ;
MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 5 8.
72 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 16 Jas. I. He
acquired 20J acres of the demesne lands
about IC97 (D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 58).
I96
73 Chauncy, op. cit. 55.
74 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 353,
no. 18; cf. Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
16 Jas. I.
lj Chauncy, op. cit. 62.
76 Ibid.
77 Add. R. (B.M.) 27173. Sir Edward
Baesh bequeathed the house called Cowards
or The Place to Philadelphia wife of
Justinian Sherborne, in whose time it
was partly demolished. William Peirson,
goldsmith of London, purchased the re-
mainder and bequeathed it to Robert
Markham, who made additions to the
house (Chauncv, loc. cit.).
78 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 353,
no. 18.
79 Add. R. (B.M.), 27169.
80 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 11; ;
see above.
sl Assize R. 323.
82 Title-deeds quoted by Chauncy, op.
cit. 55.
83 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. II.
s< Title-deeds quoted by Chauncy,
loc. cit.
ODSEY HUNDRED
remained in this family is unknown.85 In 1558
William Fanne suffered a recovery of certain lands
and tenements in Ardeley.56 These may have been
identical with Lite's, which was sold by William Fanne
to George and Joan Brewster in about 1563.87 Joan
survived her husband, and was succeeded by his sister's
son, Toby Middleton, gentleman.68 About 162 1 a
settlement of the manor was made 89 whereby Toby
Middleton was to hold it for life and at his death it
was to pass to Henry Chauncy and his heirs. Henry
Chauncy having died in 163 1 before Toby Middleton, M
the estate passed to his son Henry Chauncy of
Ardeley Bury, who was succeeded in 1681 by Sir
Henry Chauncy, the historian of Hertfordshire.91 His
grandson and heir, also named Henry, mortgaged the
estate to John Hawkins, and Chauncy 's bequest of the
manor to ' the infant Japhet Crook ' was set aside in
favour of Thomas Hawkins. He died in 1742,
having bequeathed it to his niece Katherine, wife
of William Woolball of Walthamstow.92 Their
daughter and heir Katherine carried the estate in
marriage to Sir Hanson Berney, bart., of Kirby
Bedon, co. Norfolk.9' In 1789 their son and heir
Sir John Berney, bart., conveyed it to trustees, from
whom it was purchased by John Spurrier. He sold
it in 1808 to John Simon Harcourt.94 The latter's
only son George Simon Harcourt succeeded to the
estate,95 and sold it to Commissary-General Murray,
the owner of Ardeley Bury.96 The two estates have
thus been amalgamated.
MOOR HALL was also held of the main manor
of Ardeley.97 The early tenants were called after their
holding. In 1284 John 'de la More' was the
wealthiest inhabitant of Ardeley, if the farmer of
Ardeley Bury be excepted.98 It is said that a John
' de la More ' conveyed More Hall to John Munden
about 1 3 17, and that Munden shortly afterwards
conveyed to John de Wylye, parson, of Walton-on-
Thames, probably for a settlement.99 In 1324
Robert of Munden, clerk, possessed a 'little manor'
(manerettum) of Moor Hall in Ardeley, which he had
leased for life to John ' de la Forde ' of Edmonton
and his wife Maud.100 The site of the manor sub-
sequently came into the hands of Edward Kendale.1
John de Wylye is said to have conveyed the manor
ARDELEY
to Kendale and his wife Elizabeth,2 but she had
dower only in it after his death,3 and his right heir
was his son Edward Kendale,' possibly by a former
wife.5
The subsequent history' of Moor Hall is uncertain.
Beatrice, sister of Edward Kendale the younger,
married Robert Turk.6 Their grandchild, Joan
Wallis, married Nicholas Morley. Apparently Moor
Hall descended to the Morleys in the same way as
the manor of Wakeley.7 The manor of Moor Hall
had been acquired by Thomas Morley, gentleman,
before June 1559, when the homage returned that
he was recently dead and that his heir failed to
appear.8 This heir was his son William,9 who sold
the manor in 1568 to Edward Halfhide of Aspenden.10
In 1572 Halfhide conveyed it to William Gurney,
otherwise Gornell,11 probably in trust, for the latter
transferred his rights in 1595 to Mary wife of
George Shurley and daughter and heir of Edward
Halfhide.12
From George Shurley the manor was purchased in
1598 by Richard Saltonstall, alderman and goldsmith
of London.13 He settled it on his son Peter upon
the latter's marriage with Anne daughter of Edmund
Waller.14 In 1605 Peter Saltonstall sold it to Robert
Spence, citizen and fishmonger
of London and Master of
the Levant Company of mer-
chants.10 Spence bequeathed
it to his wife Audrey,10 who
died seised of it about 1635,
and was succeeded by Robert
Spence of Balcombe, co.
Sussex, her son and heir." In
1648 Robert Spence settled
it upon his son and heir-
apparent William Spence of
Lincoln's Inn, upon the latter's
marriage with Mary daughter
of Samuel Short. William Spence having died about
1678 without male issue, the manor descended to his
brother John Spence, also of Lincoln's Inn.18 He was
succeeded by his son John Spence,19 whose second
son Luke Spence inherited the estate.20 He died
at Mailing, co. Sussex, in July 1800, at the age of
Spence. Sable a/a.
battled argent.
83 A John 'Calton' was living in
Ardeley about 1523 (Lay Subs. R. bdle.
1 20, no. 115); Henry Bardolf had a
house at Munches Green in 1637 (Add.
R. [B.M.], 27172).
86 Recov. R. East. 4 & 5 Philip and
Mary, m. 547.
87 Title-deeds quoted by Chauncy, loc.
cit.
83 Ibid. ; cf. MSS. of D. and C. of
St. Paul's, B Boxes 59-60.
89 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 19 Jas. I ;
cf. Chauncy, loc. cit.
90 Chauncy, loc. cit. ; cf. Add. R.
(B.M.), 27171.
91 Chauncy, loc. cit. ; cf. MSS. of
D. and C. of St. Paul's, W.C. I.
92 Notes of Thomas Tipping of Ardeley,
quoted by Cussans, Hist. 0/ Herts. Odsey
Hand. 89 ; cf. Recov. R. East. 2 Geo. I,
m. 71 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Geo. I ;
Recov. R. Hil. 4 Geo. I, m. 18.
93 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antia. 0/
Herts, iii, 603 ; cf. Feet of F. Div. Co.
Mich. 31 Geo. II.
94 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. In 1 8 10
Hanson Berney, heir-apparent to Sir
John, was dealing with the manor
(Recov. R. Hil. 50 Geo. Ill, m. 218) ;
he probably surrendered his rights in
favour of Harcourt.
95 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 604 ; Recov.
R. East. 9 Geo. IV, m. 2S3.
90 Cussans, loc. cit.
97 Ct. R. D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 58, &c.
98 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 2.
99 Chauncy, op. cit. 53, quoting title-
deeds.
100 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 178.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 20. 2 Chauncy, loc. cit.
3 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 74.
4 Ibid. 47 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 20.
s Elizabeth lived to a great age and
died in 1420. Her first husband was
Ralph Camoys ; Edward Kendale was
her second husband, and she survived a
third, Thomas Barre. Her heir was her
grandson John, son of her son Thomas
Barre (Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. V,
no. 47). It is therefore possible that she
had no children by Edward Kendale,
unless Edward Kendale the younger was
her son and died s.p. before her.
197
6 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 156.
7 See the account of Aspenden.
8 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B 57.
9 Title-deeds quoted by Chauncy, luc.
cit.
10 Recov. R. Mich. 1568, m. 1014;
MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's, B Box
57-
11 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Box 57. '
la Ibid. 58 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
37 Eliz.
13 Feet of F. Herts. East. 40 Eliz.
14 Ibid. Hil. 42 Eliz. ; title-deeds
quoted by Chauncy, op. cit. 54.
15 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B Boxes 59-60.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxx, 109.
"Add. R. (B.M.), 27171.
18 Title-deeds quoted by Chauncy, loc.
cit.; Ct. R. D. and C. of St, Paul's,
W.C. 1.
19 Ct. R. D. and C. of St. Paul's, loc.
cit.; cf. Recov. R. Mich. 12 Anne,
m. 74.
20 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 601 ; cf.
Recov. R. Hil. 19 Geo. Ill, m. 25.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
eighty-five, having acted as magistrate for that county
for more than sixty years,2' and was succeeded by his
grandson Henry Hume Spence. Moor Hall subse-
quently came into the possession of Lord Salisbury,
and was purchased by the present owner, Miss G.
Cotton Browne, whose father, the late Rev. J. G.
Cotton Browne, had acquired certain land in the
parish. ili
The church of ST. LAWRENCE,
CHURCHES which stands on high ground to the
west of the village, is built of flint
rubble, mostly covered with rough-cast, with stone
dressings, and roofed with tiles and with lead. It
consists of a chancel, nave, aisles, west tower, north
porch and north vestry."
In the 13th century the church probably consisted
of a chancel and nave only. The nave, the oldest
portion of the church now remaining, was in existence
early in the I 3th century, when the old chancel was
rebuilt and a north aisle added. The south aisle was
not built till a century later, when the present chancel
arch appears to have been built, and the west tower
in about the fourth decade of the 14th century.
During the 1 5th century the clearstory was added,
the north porch was built,22a the north windows of the
north aisle were inserted, and those of the south aisle
altered externally ; both aisles were partly rebuilt, the
windows of the bell chamber inserted, and the em-
battled parapets of the tower and north aisle added.
The church was also re-roofed and was seated with the
existing pews. In the 19th century the chancel
was almost entirely rebuilt and the north vestry was
added.
The chancel has two of the original early 13th-
century lancets rebuilt into the north and south walls.
The east window is modern. At the north-east is a
1 3th-century tomb recess with shafted jambs and dog-
tooth ornament, which may have been used as an
Easter sepulchre, and at the south-east is a piscina of
the same date, also with shafted jambs and dog-tooth
ornament. The chancel arch, which is apparently of
the 14th century, is plain, of two chamfered orders.
It may have been altered when the south arcade of
the nave was built. The rood-loft was approached
by a staircase at the north-east of the nave, of which
remains exist, but the upper door is blocked.
The nave, of three bays, has on the north side an
arcade of the early 13th century, consisting of two-
centred arches on octagonal columns with plain bell
capitals. The south arcade is similar, but more
massive, and is a century later in date. None of the
detail of the original nave now exists, but the walling
over the arcades is a survival from the first fabric,
dating from before the 13th century. The rather
late 1 5th-century clearstory consists of three two-light
windows on each side.
The walls and north door of the north aisle are of
I 3th-century date. The east and west windows are
either original or not much later, but the two north
windows are of the late I 5th century, and contain
fragments of 1 5th-century glass, some of which occupy
their original positions. The south aisle largely escaped
the 15th-century alteration, for though the windows
are externally of that date the openings are of the same
date as the erection of the aisle, the 14th century.
The south door is modern.
The tower arch has shafted jambs, and both it and
the west window are of the late 14th century. The
font is octagonal and the workmanship is rough,
dating probably from the early 15 th century, while
the cover is of the early 1 7th century.
The roof of both nave and aisles is a good example
of 1 5th-century woodwork. The principals are
moulded, and there are carved bosses at their inter-
sections. At the feet of the principals are carved
figures of angels playing upon various musical instru-
ments, and the nave principals have brackets containing
tracery. One of the beams at the east end of the
nave bears traces of decoration in colour, and the
eastern half of the first bay of the roof is panelled to
form a canopy over the rood. The open seating,
with ends adorned with poppy heads, is of the same
date.
There are three ancient brasses in the church.
The oldest, in the chancel floor, is fragmentary. It
consists of the lower part of a woman's figure, with an
inscription to John Clerke and his wife ; the date is
about 1430. On the chancel wall is a brass of
Philip Metcalf, vicar of the parish, dated 15 I 5, and
on the south jamb of the chancel arch is another of
Thomas Shotbolt, his wife, four sons, and two
daughters.
In the nave is a mural monument, with a bust, of
Mary Markham, 1673.
Of the six bells in the tower the first is by
Pack & Chapman, of 1 77 1; the second by James
Bartlett, 1685; the third and sixth are mediaeval, but
of uncertain date, inscribed ' Vocor Maria ' and ' Sit
Nomen Domini Benedictum ' respectively ; the fourth
is by John Dier,i 587, and the fifth, probably by Robert
Oldfeild, 16 1 3.
The plate includes two patens of 1 678 and 1690.
The registers are contained in four books : (i)
baptisms, burials and marriages from 1546 to 1701 ;
(ii) baptisms, burials and marriages from 1 702 to
1753 ; (iii) baptisms and burials from 175410 1812 ;
(iv) marriages from 1754 to 1812.
The chapel of ST. ALB AN, Wood End, was built
in 1853, largely, it is said, of the stones picked up in
the fields by the children of the parish.83
The chapel of ST. JOSEPH, Cromer, was built in
1890.
The right of presentation has
ADVOWSON always belonged to the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's." In March
1290 a vicarage was ordained," and the church was
then assessed at j£i2.36
From 1 690 onwards meeting-places were certified
for Protestant Dissenters in Ardeley. The chapel at
Wood End was built in 1820, as a preaching station
for students at Wymondley Academy, and was rebuilt
in 1855."
" Gent. Mag. Ixx, 6.
21a Information fror
Mil
--' Dimensions : chancel, 3 1
15 ft. ; nave, 39 ft. by 21 ft. ; no
south aisles, 10 ft. wide ; towe:
square.
ft. by 9+
■th and
, 1 oft,
2-'-> In 1508 J. Halfhide left io».
towards the porch (P.C.C. 1 1 Bennett).
1 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey H1111J.
Line. Epis. Reg. Grosteste, roll 8,
records the institution of William of
Lichfield, canon of St. Paul's, about
1241 ; cf. Liber A. Pilosus (D. and C.
of St. Paul's), fol. 23, 30, 66 ; Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.).
25 Line. Epis. Reg. Sutton, fol. 8s ;
Liber A. Pilosus (St. Paul's), fol. 66.
86 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37, 5 I A.
27 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 769-70.
Ardeley Church from the North
Ashwell : Old House near Church
ODSEY HUNDRED
The Ardeley charity estates are
CHARITIES regulated by a scheme of the high
court of Chancery, z March I 836, as
varied by schemes of the Charity Commissioners
dated respectively in 1887 and 1897. They com-
prise : —
1. A piece of copyhold land called Plaistowe's or
Town Close, containing I a. 2 r. 6 p., granted by the
lords of the manor of Ardeley Bury in 1630.
2. The Poor's Acre, copyhold of the said manor,
granted in 1630.
3. Pearson's gift, being a close called ' The Ainage,'
containing 3 a. 3 r. 14 p., the rents and profits to be
applied in bread to the poor, one half on the first
Sunday in January and the remainder on the first
Sunday in February.
4. Robert Austin's gift, founded by deed 1647, and
consisting of a piece of land called Churchfield, con-
taining 1 a. 1 r. 33 p.
5. Edward Hoad's gift, founded by will 1655,
under which the testator gave £zo to be laid out in
land, the interest to be applied in apprenticing poor
children. The endowment consists of a piece of
land now called the Apprentice Land, containing
2 a. 2 r.
ASHWELL
6. Henry Chauncy's gift, founded by will
8 February 1680, and consisting of two small cottages
containing two rooms each called ' Reedings ' with
garden of 16 poles, and the Pightle containing
I a. 2 r.
7. The Town Stock arising from subscriptions
made in 1807 and consisting of £6<) 6s. 11^. consols
in the name of the official trustees, producing
£1 14J. id. yearly.
The income arising from Pearson's gift shall be
applied in bread in accordance with the will of the
donor.
The rents from the Apprentice Land shall accumu-
late until there is sufficient money to place a poor
child out as apprentice to some trade or business.
The ' Reedings ' shall be used for poor people to
live in rent free, and two loads of fuel, to be provided
out of the rent of the Pightle, shall be delivered
at the ' Reedings ' at Michaelmas and Christmas.
From the income arising from the remaining
property a sum of £5 yearly shall be applied towards
the support of the master or mistress of a school, and
the residue for the general benefit of the poor.
The gross income from the estates in 1907 was
£iS 9/. U
ASHWELL
Aescwelle, Eswell, Assewell, Asshewell.
The parish of Ashwell has an area of about 4,108
acres. The ground slopes down towards the north,
the height in the south varying from 200 ft. to
300ft. (with Claybush Hill attaining 328 ft.) and in
the north from 100 ft. to 200 ft. above the ordnance
datum. The northern portion lies between the
River Rhee or Cam — which has its source in springs
in Ashwell village and flowing north-west and then
north forms the north-western boundary of the
parish — and a small stream which flows northward
and' forms the eastern boundary, ultimately joining
the Rhee at the junction of the three counties.
On the south-west the parish is bounded by another
tributary of the Rhee, and on the south-east, for about
three-quarters of a mile, by the Icknield Way. Shire
Balk divides Ashwell from Cambridgeshire on the
north-east.
The soil consists entirely of chalk, except where
the Rhee enters the Gault formation along the western
boundary, and there are some chalk-pits at the
junction of the lower with the higher level. There
are in the parish 3,692 acres of arable land, 398 of
permanent grass and 20 of woods and plantations.1
The extensive common fields called Ashwell Fields
covered the southern part of the parish.
An inclosure award was made in 1862.2 The
Cambridge branch of the Great Northern railway
crosses the parish in the extreme south-east, but
Ashwell station is over the Cambridgeshire border,
about 2 miles from the village.
Arbury Banks, about three-quarters of a mile south-
west of the village, is a prehistoric camp of the
hill-fort type, now nearly obliterated. Within the
parish of Ashwell a copper coin of Cunobeline has
been found, also a barbed flint arrow. Roman coins,
pottery and glass have been found in the neighbour-
hood. There is a tumulus at Highley Hill, and at
Mobs Hole near Guilden Morden, Love's Farm,
Bluegates Farm and Westbury Farm are homestead*
moats.
The village of Ashwell is situated rather more than
a mile from the Icknield Way. The ancient road
called Ashwell Street enters the parish from Steeple
Morden on the east. This if continued in a straight
line would skirt the village on the north, but the
present continuation of it called Ashwell Street Way
makes a bend and passes the village on the south and
then ends. Branching off from the Icknield Way a
little beyond the eastern boundary of the parish is a
road running north through Steeple Morden, and
from this a road branches westward, runs through
Ashwell, where it is called Station Road, skirts the
village on the north, then as Northfield Road runs
parallel with the Rhee until within about 250 yards
of the Cambridgeshire border, where it turns sharply
north-west and crosses the river into Bedfordshire at
Whitegate Bridge. Two other roads connect the
village with Newnham to the south-west and
Hinxworth to the north-west. It was probably the
means of communication afforded by the neighbour-
hood of the Icknield Way and of Ashwell Street
(which may have originally joined the Roman Stane
Street further to the west) that made Ashwell a place
of some importance in the 11th century. The
Domesday Survey records the presence of fourteen
burgesses, the borough dues — which fell to the
Abbot of Westminster — amounting to 49/. \d. a
year.3 Evidence of this small prescriptive borough
exists in occasional references to burgage tenure in
Statistics from Ed. of Agric. (1905).
a Under Loc. Act, 20 Vict. cap. 5.
199
3 r.C.H. Herts, i, 313a
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the 14th and I 5th centuries,4 but there is no sign of
separate borough presentments or of a corporate body.
A frequently recurring entry is that of payments 'for
whate-silver ' from the burgages.5 The gild of St.
John the Baptist may have had some share in the
government of the town. The Brotherhood House
stood in the High Street of Ashwell (see under gild).
The town was divided into five wards in the 15th
century, the name of one ward being ' Dolcelake '
Ward, and another High Street Ward.6 The name
Chepyng Street occurs in the 1 6th century.7
In 1295 the Abbot of Westminster claimed the
right to hold a market by virtue of the original grant
of the manor by Edward the Confessor,8 and it is
probable that the market dates back to that period.
The first mention of it is in I 2 1 1 , when it is recorded
that ' the Abbot of Westminster rendered account
of 2 palfreys that the market of Ashwell may return
to Sunday from Saturday.'9 In 1575 Queen Eliza-
beth granted to the Bishop of London the right to
hold a market weekly on Mondays.10 It had lapsed
View in Ashwell Village
before I792.10a The distance from a main road
evidently made it impossible to maintain successfully
a market at Ashwell in later times. But a thriving
manufacture of malt was carried on in the I 7th cen-
tury. In 1637 the inhabitants of Hinxworth com-
plained that they were not taxed in fair comparison
with Ashwell, ' which has many rich maltsters and
three times as much land and as good as Hinx-
worth.' n
Fairs were claimed by the Abbot of Westminster
in 1295,12 by virtue of a grant of Henry III, which
is, however, not extant. Three fairs yearly were
granted to the Bishop of London by Queen Eliza-
beth,13 but afterwards there appears to have been
only one fair, which was abolished by law in 1872.14
The High Street of the village runs in a north-
easterly direction parallel with Ashwell Street Way.
It contains some old houses, notably a cottage for-
merly the British Queen Inn, which was originally
built in the 15th century, but was much altered in
the 17th century. It is a timber-framed house with
a thatched roof. On the north side is a stone window
partially destroyed and in the kitchen is a moulded
oak beam. There are three or four 1 7th-century
houses of red brick or timber and plaster in this
street, one bearing the date 168 I and the figure of a
dolphin in the plaster. At right angles to it is Mill
Street, which runs past St. Mary's Church to the corn
mill. This is probably the water mill mentioned in
early extents of the manor. Close by the mill is a
brewery, and there is another to the south-west of
the village. Brewing is the chief industry besides
agriculture.
Ashwell Bury, the residence of Mr. J. W. Attwood,
is situated just beyond the
church. Elbrook House, to
the north of the village, is
the residence of Mr. E. S.
Fordham. At Ashwell End,
about half a mile north-west
of the church, is a 1 7th-
century farm-house of two
stories. It is of timber plas-
tered and decorated with
combed pargeting.
Ralph Cudworth, divine
and author, was vicsr of Ash-
well 1662 to i688.14a
The manor oi
MANORS J SH WELL,
originally part of
the demesne of the Crown,
was granted by Edward the
Confessor in his first charter
to the abbey of St. Peter,
Westminster, dated December
1066.15 The Domesday Sur-
vey records that of the 6 hides
at which Ashwell was assessed
the abbot himself held two
and a half in demesne, the manor at this date being
evidently a large one, with land for twelve plough-
teams and meadow sufficient for six. Peter de
Valognes held half a hide and Geoffrey de Mande-
ville 1 virgate of the abbot.16 There is nothing
particularly worthy of note concerning this manor
during the period of nearly 500 years during which
it was held by the Abbots of Westminster. The
abbots possessed here, as in their other manors, the
privileges of free warren,17 view of frankpledge, assize
of bread and ale, pleas of namii vetiti, and exemption
from sheriff's tourn and from scot, geld, aid and
toll.18
* Mins. Accts. at Westm.
5 Mins. Accts. P.R.O. bdle. 862,
no. 8, 12.
6 Will of William Freeman, P.C.C.
12 Stokton ; Will of John Bill, ibid. 20
Blamyr.
7 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 36 Hen.
VIII, m. 17.
8 Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 2S8.
9 Pipe R. 13 John, m. 6 d.
lu Pat. 17 Eliz. pt. i, m. 1.
10a Rep. Com. on Market Rig/its and
Tolls, 170.
11 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1636-7, p. 405.
19 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 288.
13 Pat. 17 Eliz. pt. i, m. 1.
14 Lond. Gaa. 28 June 1872, p. 2976.
14» Urwick, op. cit. 779; Diet. Nat. Btog.
200
15 Cott. Chart, vi, 2.
16 r.C.H. Hem. i, 3 1 3a. These tene-
ments held by Peter de Valognes and
Geoffrey de Mandeville must not be
confused with their independent holdings
in the same parish (see below).
17 Assize R. ^25.
'« Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 193 ; Plac.
de Quo Vfarr. (Rec. Com.), 275, 2SS.
ODSEY HUNDRED
On 1 6 January I 5 3 9-40 Abbot Boston and twenty
four monks surrendered the
abbey of Westminster to
Henry VIII.19 Eleven months
later that king erected the
short-lived bishopric of West-
minster, turning the abbey
into a cathedral, and in
January 1 540-1 Ashvvell was
included in the endowment of
the new bishop,20 Thomas
Thirlby, formerly Dean of
the King's Chapel. But on
29 March 1550 Thirlby re-
signed the bishopric of West-
minster into the hands of
Edward VI, who dissolved it, translating Thirlby to
Westminster
Abbey. Gules the
crossed keys of St. Peter
•with the ring of St. Ed-
ward in the chief all or.
ASHWELL
30 acres, were held on lease by Jeremiah Whitacre,
and that there was a lime kiln
on the demesne lands valued
at ^30 per annum. Court
leet and court baron were at
this time held at the parson-
age.24 On 19 March 1648-9
the trustees sold the manor to
Thomas Challoner of Steeple
Claydon, Bucks., for £416
9/. zd?h When the bishops
were reinstated at the Resto-
ration Ashwell was restored
to the see of London, and so
remained until 1868, when,
in accordance with the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
Gules the crossed sivords
of St. Paul.
Act of i860, the
The ' Rose and Crown,' Ashwell High Street
Norwich.21 Ashwell Manor was granted a fort-
night later by the king to his nominee Nicholas
Ridley, Bishop of London,22 on his installation as
successor to Bishop Bonner. The accession of Queen
Mary brought about the deprivation of Ridley and
the reinstatement of Bonner (5 August 1553) and
in March 1554 a new grant of the manor of Ashwell
was made to Bishop Bonner and his successors in the
see of London.23 At the time of the appropriation
of the bishops' lands by Parliament during the great
Civil War Ashwell was taken from Bishop Juxon and
a complete survey of the manor was made by order of
the trustees for the bishopric in June 1647. It was
then reported that the demesne lands, consisting of
voidance of the see on the translation of the Rev.
Archibald Campbell Tait, D.D., Bishop of London,
to the see of Canterbury in 1868 was taken as the
opportunity for transferring the lands of the bishopric
to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.26 The latter
continue to be lords of this manor.
Two mills were appurtenant to the abbot's manor
of Ashwell in 1086, one held by him in demesne and
one held of him by Peter de Valognes.27 The
Ministers' Accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries
contain frequent references to a water mill and a horse
mill (or windmill) in Ashwell and the necessity for their
repair.28 In 1 198 we hear of a man and a woman
being ' drowned in the pool of the mill of Ashwell.' 29
19 Dugdale, Mors, i, 280, 329.
80 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, g. to 3 1 3 J ).
^ Diet. Nat. Biog. S 3l";
88 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 16.
23 Ibid. 1 Mary, pt. iv, m. 19.
21 Add. MS. 37682, fol. 21.
20 Close, 1649, pt. xlvi, m. 36 ; Add.
M5. 9049, fol. 12.
20I
86 Stat. 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 124.
87 V.C.H. Herts, i, 313a.
88 Mins. Accts. at Westm.
89 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 159.
26
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1086 Peter de Valognes held '2 hides as 1
manor' in Ashwell, these having been part of the
possessions of the Anglo-Saxon thegn Athelmar of
Benington.30 In the reign of Henry II (1154-
89) Robert de Valognes, grandson of Peter, held
'14 librates of land' here, which descended to his
daughter Gunnora, the wife successively of Durant de
Os:elli and Robert Fitz Walter.31 Christina daughter
of Robert and Gunnora married William de Mande-
ville Earl of Essex, and possibly Ashwell was settled
on her, for she granted • all her men in the vill of
Ashwell ' to the priory of Walden in Essex.53 On
her death without issue in 1233 the overlordship
apparently passed to her brother Walter Fitz Walter,
for his grandson Robert Fitz Walter died seised of
one fee in Ashwell in 1 3 28," and his grandson
Walter Fitz Walter died seised in 1386.31 No
further trace of Walden Priory in connexion with
Ashwell has been found, and it seems reasonable to
identify this holding with the manor of ASHIVELL,
which, in 1345, was settled upon Henry Gernet and
Joan his wife.3j She and her husband held lands in
this parish (perhaps the same holding as that after-
wards termed a manor) in 1338.36 Under the
settlement Henry and Joan were to hold for life with
reversion to John Darcy le Fitz and his wife Margery,
to Thomas de Charnels and his wife Maud, and to
Margaret sister of Maud, successively, Margery,
Maud and Margaret being daughters of Henry and
Joan. Henry Gernet died the same year.37 It was
specially reported that he held his lands jointly with
Joan his wife not of the king in chief, but 'of others,'
probably the Fitz Walters.38 Joan survived her
husband,39 and in 1345 received a quitclaim of the
manor from Thomas de la Haye and Elizabeth his
wife, who were possibly holding it in dower.40 The
tenement (or part of it) subsequently descended to
Thomas Brydd, possibly heir of one of the daughters,
who in 1428 was holding 'a quarter of a knight's fee
in Ashwell, which Henry Gernet formerly held.' 41
The county historians are unanimous in identifying
this manor (which is not again heard of as Ashwell
Manor) with a manor of DIGSIi'ELL in this parish,48
though the descents they give after this date vary
considerably, Cussans (alone) maintaining that it was
held by the family of Bill in Ashwell in the 1 6th and
I 7th centuries." The latter theory is supported by
the will of John Bill in 1557, whereby he leaves his
' manor of Dixwell alias Diggewell with a tenement
called Wattes, and land in Glitton and Ashwell ' to
his son James.41 A few years later there was a
complaint over unlawful entry into a messuage ' in
Mill Street in Ashwell,' which the father of the
complainant (Thomas Rooke) had held 'of James Bill,
by copy of court roll of his manor of Dykeswell.' *■'
When Chauncy was writing in 1 700 there was a
manor of Digswell in Ashwell parish, owned by
Samuel Gatward, and said to have been acquired by
him from Sir William Whitmore, bart.46 According
to Clutterbuck he sold it in 1 7 16 to Christopher
Anstey, and it descended to his son Christopher,47
who in 1805 suffered a recovery of this manor.48 He
sold it, according to Clutterbuck's descent, to William
Heath in 1 808, and after the death of the latter
it became the property of Richard Westrope of
Ashwell.'9 Since that date the manor has disappeared.
In 1086 Theobald held half a hide in Ashwell
of Harduin de Scales, which may be identified as
WESTBUR.r.M Harduin is said subsequently to
have divided his lands between his two sons Richard
and Hugh, the latter's son Hugh being in possession
of three knights' fees in several places in Hertfordshire,
including Ashwell, at the close of the 12th century.61
Beyond this date the tenure of the Scales family is
not traceable.
In 1 198 the nuns of Holywell (Middlesex) im-
pleaded Fulk son of Theobald (possibly son of the
Theobald of 1086) for a rent of 1 mark in Ashwell
which had been granted to them by charter of the
said Theobald.53 There is no trace of a grant of land
in Ashwell to the nunnery, but it has been suggested
that the ' virgate of land in Hinxworth of the gift of
Theobald son of Fulk ' confirmed to the nuns by
Richard I in 1195" really lay in the neighbouring
parish of Ashwell.5' There is no subsequent trace
of property held by the Holywell nuns in Hinx-
worth, whereas they were possessed of a manor of West-
bury in Ashwell at the Dissolution, at which time it waf
held on lease by one John Bailey.55 The nunnery
also held tithes in Ashwell from at least the reign of
Richard II,56 the value of such tithes amounting at
the Dissolution to £2."
The subsequent descent of this manor is very
difficult to trace. Setting aside the references to the
manor of Westbury Nernewtes (of which the descent
is given below) there is no record of it until 1606,
when James I granted 'a messuage called le Westbury'
to Thomas Norwood,58 who was already possessed of
the manor of Westbury Nernewtes. In 1664 a
conveyance of Westbury was made to Elizabeth Sone,
widow, by Thomas Bromfield, Laurence Marsh and
a number of persons who were evidently co-heirs.59
In 1678 a settlement was made by Richard
Hutchinson,60 in whose family it remained61 until at
»0 r.C.H. Herts, i, 337A, 276.
Sl Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 78, 94,
97, 175 ; Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 29.
39 Harl.MS.3697(Chartul. of Walden),
fol. 27.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. Ill, pt. i,
no. 59.
34 Ibid. 10 Ric. II, no. 15.
85 Feet of F. Herts. East. 19 Edw. Ill,
no. 304.
36 Ibid. Div. Co. East. 12 Edw. III.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill, no. 36.
38 Cal. Close, 1 346-9, p. 28.
39 See Cal. Pat. 1345-8, p. ill.
40 Feet of F. Div. Co. 19 Edw. Ill,
no. 355.
41 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
42 Direct evidence of such a connexion
is completely lacking.
43 Cussans, Hist. of Herts. Braughing
Hmd. 26.
« Will, P.C.C. 28 Mellershe.
45 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 23, no. 33.
There seems no reason to connect this
manor with the munor of Digswell in
South Herts, which was never held by
the Bills.
46 Chauncy, Hist. Atitiq. of Herts. 35.
47 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Anliq. of
Herts, iii, 485. Salmon, however, says
that it descended to Samuel the son of
the above-mentioned Samuel Gatward
(Hist, of Herts. \17rt}, 344).
48 Recov. R. Mich. 46 Geo. Ill,
rot. 388.
49 Clctterbuck, loc. cit.
40 r.C.H. Herts, i, 339A.
51 Abbrev. PI.ic. (Rec. Com.), 95.
202
a Ibid. 8.
53 Dugdale, Mm. iv, 393 ; Abbrev.
Phc. (Rec. Com.), 37. The nunnery
was founded in 1 1 27.
54 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 344. Pro-
bably also they acquired lands from the
holders of Westbury Nernewtes, for in
later times this estate is said to be held
of Westbury Nernewtes (ibid.).
55 Misc. Bks. (Ld. Rev. Rec), eclxii,
fol. 60 d.
56 Mins. Accts. at Westm.
57 Rentals and Surv. bdie. II, no. 35.
68 Pat. 4 Jas. I, pt. xiii.
59 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 16
Chas. II.
«° Ibid. Hil. 29 & 30 Cbas. II.
81 Recov. R. East. 1 An.ie, rot. 83 ;
I Geo. I, rot. 1S9.
Ashwell : House in the Main Street {Dated 1 68 1)
ODSEY HUNDRED
Nernewt. Gules a
litn argent in a border
gobony argent and sable.
least 1728, when Salmon writes that 'the western
part of this manor (Westbury) is a farm of Sir Richard
Hutchinson's, which holds of Sir George Humble,'"
the Humbles, as hereafter shown, being at this date
owners of Westbury Nernewtes. Subsequently it
passed to the Leheups. William Leheup was holding
in 1779" and Michael Peter Leheup in 1 809."
Westbury Farm still remains a property quite separate
from the manor of Westbury Nernewtes (see below).
It is situated on the west of the village. Westbury
Farm has a homestead moat.
The Buckinghamshire family of Nernewt (Nernuyt)
held land in Ashwell in the 14th century which was
probably originally part of
the Abbot of Westminster's
manor.65 This land became
the manor of WEST BURT
NERNEWTES. In 1340
Sir John Nernewt of Burn-
ham and Fleet Marston,
Bucks., settled ' two thirds of
one messuage, two mills, 4.0
acres of land, 10 acres of
meadow and 1 8 marks' rent
in Ashwell and Hinxworth '
upon his son and heir John,66
whose daughter Elizabeth, wife
of John Hertishorne, inherited
the property.6' John Hertishorne (together with two
others, presumably his feoffees) was holding ' half a fee
in Ashwell which John Nernewt lately held there ' in
1 42s.68 The Nernewt property is said to have passed
by female line to the Harveys, and on the death of
Sir George Harvey (before 1520) to have been pur-
chased by the Lees.69 This descent is doubtful, but the
Lees did acquire possession of Westbury Nernewtes.
In 1 540-1 a conveyance by Richard Heigham and
his wife Mary, Thomas Colt and Thomas Lysley
was made to Anthony Lee, kt., of a moiety of
the Buckinghamshire manors and of the manor of
Westbury in Ashwell.'0 After this the connexion
with Buckinghamshire ceases. In I 5 57 this manor
(henceforward invariably called Westbury Nernewtes)
was conveyed by William Hawtrey and Agnes
his wife to Thomas Norwood,'1 son and heir of
William Norwood of Ashwell. Thomas was succeeded
at Westbury Nernewtes by his son Nicholas, and
Nicholas by his nephew Tirringham Norwood, who
in 161 1 sold this manor to Edward Waller alias
Warren." Chauncy says that Edward Waller
conveyed it to Andrew Laut, citizen of London,
whose son Andrew Laut (of Thorpe Underwood,
Northamptonshire) was lord of the manor at the date man and heir of James,81 who in 1548 conveyed this
ASHWELL
of writing (1700)." The marriage of Sarah daughter
and co-heir of Andrew Laut to Sir John Humble
brought Westbury Nernewtes to the Humbles. " Eliza-
beth Humble, daughter-in-law of Sir John, who sur-
vived both her husband and her only son, bequeathed
this property by her will of 1758 (proved in March
1 770-1) to her brother the Hon. Charles Vane,"
from whom it passed in 1 789 to John Pennell, and
on the latter's death in I 8 I 3 to his daughter Margaret,
the wife of Bernard Geary Snow of Highgate. On
the latter's death the manor went to his widow
for life, and after her death was divided among his
children by Margaret Pennell and by a former wife.
Henrietta, a daughter of the former marriage, died
unmarried, leaving her share of the property to her
betrothed, the Rev. J. B. Smith.
Anna Maria, a daughter
of the Pennell marriage,
married Mr. Edward King
Fordham of Ashwell Bury,
who bought up all the shares
of the manor (including
Smith's) excepting that of the
Rev. John Pennell Snow, an
elder brother of Anna Maria.
This latter share (one-sixth)
was bequeathed by Mr. Snow
to Rupert Donald Fordham,
who sold it to Mr. Edward
Snow Fordham, who had
already (in 1889) inherited
the remaining five-sixths of
the manor from his father and is the present lord of
the manor. The tenants are, however, nearly all
enfranchised and the manorial rights have lapsed.'6
In 1 44 1 John Kirkeby died seised of ' a messuage,
140 acres of land, 8 acres of meadow, 2 acres of
pasture and $os. rent in Ashwell and Hinxworth,'
'a parcel of land in Ashwell called Quarrepette,' and
' a tenement, an acre of land and a croft called
Chalgravecroft ' in the same parish, all held of the
Abbot of Westminster's manor of Ashwell." He left
a daughter and heir Alice. This estate may be
identified with the manor of K1RKEBIES or KIRBTS
in this parish, which in 1489 was settled upon Elizabeth
Mervyn, widow of Thomas Mervyn, and her heirs.'8
She appears to have married subsequently John Clerke,
and by 1530 to have been a second time a widow,
for in that year Elizabeth Clerke sold the manor to
Richard Copcot of Pyrton." He sold it in 1533 to
John Bowles, who sold it in I 540 to James Randall.80
By 1546 it had passed to Anthony Randall, the kins-
ivvuy
chtef ,
befzee
argent
and a*u
with
Barry
62 Salmon, op. cit. 344. Salmon adds,
'The Farmer and his neighbours call it
Nunwick.'
63 Recov. R. Trin. 19 Geo. Ill,
rot. 238.
« Ibid. Mich. 50 Geo. Ill, rot. 393.
63 See Salmon (loc. cit.), who gives ihe
tenure.
66 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 14
Edw. Ill, no. 280. William brother of
John, sen., was apparently holding the
other third for life.
67 See Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, i, 327.
68 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
69 Lipscomb, op. cit. i, 327.
70 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 32
Hen. VIII.
71 Ibid. Herts. Mich. 4 & 5 Phil, and
Mary. It was presumably to this Thomas
that, a grant was made by James I in
1606 of 'le Westbury' (see above).
72 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 9
Jas. I, m. 13.
" Chauncy, Hist, and Antij. of Herts.
3 5-
74 Salmon (loc. cit.), writing in 1728,
says that George, a minor, had then
succeeded his father Sir John. Clutter-
buck (Hist, and Antia. of Herts, iii, 484)
gives Sir William Humble as the son and
heir of Sir John, and in this he is sup-
ported by the pedigree in Burke, Ext.nct
Baronetcies.
74 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
203
76 Informat on supplied by Mr. Ford-
ham of Elbrook House.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI,
file 1 1 5, no. 26. Cussans 'Hist, of Herts.
Odsey Hund. 32) considers this early
hold ng of the Kirkebys to be identical
with a manor of Gassclyns held by John
Kirkby, but the inquisition shows the
latter manor to have been in the parish
of Hatfield.
78 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 5 Hen. VII.
79 Ct. of Req. bdle. 17.no. 117.
80 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 2 c.
Hen. VIII j Ct. of Req. bdle. 17, no.
117.
81 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 38 Hen
VIII.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
manor to Robert Leete and Christopher Browne."2
Possibly the latter were trustees for St. John's College,
Cambridge ; at all events, it was in the hands of that
body in 1565, when it was leased by the college to
' Alice Browne, late the wife of Andrewes,' for twenty-
one years.83 The estate is henceforward found con-
tinuously in the possession of the college and leased
out by them. Kirkby's Manor Farm is situated in
the north of the parish. The Northfield Road passes
close by it and connects it with the village.
A few traces exist of a manor of STANES alias
WAFRIES in this parish. Possibly its origin is to be
found in the tenure of John de Stanes, who in 1303
held one quarter of a knight's fee in Ashwell of
William Fitz Ralph 84 (for whose family see Broad-
field Manor). The earliest mention of a manor
extant is in 1567, when William Bourne and his wife
Margaret conveyed it to John Burgoyne.85 In the
conveyance it is called Stanes alias Wafries, though it
is not until forty years later that it is found held by an
owner of the name of Waferer.80 In I 570 Thomas
Ward was apparently in possession.87 In January
1609-10 Arden Waferer, who had been a member
of the Inner Temple and a recusant,88 died seised of
this manor, having already by his will bequeathed it
to his wife Elizabeth for her life, with reversion to
his son James, then a minor. It was at this date said
to be held of the Bishop of London's manor of
Ashwell by fealty, suit of court and a rent of
I zs. lod.m In 1636 it was held by Edward Greene 90
and in 1703 by Samuel Gatward,91 who acquired a
considerable amount of land in this parish about this
date. It then descended with Digswell (q.v.). The
last trace of the manor to be found is in 1 805,
when a recovery of it was suffered by Christopher
Anstey.92
Two small manors and estates in this parish,
invariably found together, were those of SONIf'ELL
and OTIVAYS. The earliest notice of them is in
1508, when they were held by Elizabeth Orrell,
widow.93 In 1528 James Orrell of Ashwell is men-
tioned in connexion with Sonwell,91 and in 1 563
Thomas Orrell, called of Walsoken, co. Norfolk, sold
both estates to Ralph Dixon of Doddington, Isle of
Ely.96 After this date the property followed the
same descent as Westbury. It was acquired by Eliza-
beth Sone in 1664,96 and passed to the Hutchinsons
and Leheups. The last mention of it is in 18:9,
when it was held by Michael Peter Leheup.
A manor of SUNINGS appears in 1585 held by
Thomas Meade,97 but it is not found again.
The church of ST. MARY has a
CHURCH chancel 50 ft. 6 in. long by 19 ft. 6 in.
wide, nave 89 ft. 8 in. by 24 ft., with
north aisle 89 ft. 8 in. by I 3 ft. 8 in., and south aisle
90 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 6 in. ; there is a west tower
16 ft. square and a north and south porch. There
was formerly a vestry or chapel on the north side of
the chancel. All dimensions are taken internally.
The church is built of flint rubble and clunch, the
tower being faced with clunch.
The nave is the earliest portion of the church, the
first four bays from the east, together with the clear-
story and chancel arch, belong to the middle of the
14th century ; the chancel, west tower and western
bay of the nave, together with the side aisles, were
constructed some thirty years later. The south porch
was built about 1420 and the north porch about the
middle of the I 5th century. During the 1 9th century
new roofs were put on the nave and chancel and the
chancel was repaired.
The east window is of five lights, and the three
windows on the south side of the chancel and the
two on the north are of three lights each. All the
tracery is of a late 14th-century type, and much of it
has been renewed. On the north side are two
blocked 14th-century doorways, one partly under a
window; the other, to the east, was the entrance to
the chapel probably of the Holy Trinity,98 the
piscina of which still exists on the outer wall. On
the south wall is a triple sedilia and piscina, each
under an ogee cinquefoiled arch with crocketed labels
and finials, dating from about 1 3 80. There are
small plain recessed niches on the eastern jambs of
two of the side windows, on north and south respec-
tively, one having a small carved bracket at its base.
The lofty chancel arch is of two moulded orders
supported upon engaged shafts with moulded capitals
and bases, all of 14th-century work. The built-up
doorways to the rood loft are visible, but there is no
trace o a rood stair.
The nave consists of five bays. The eastern four
(c. 1350) have piers of clustered shafts with moulded
capitals and bases, the latter somewhat mutilated. The
arches are of two moulded orders, with labels in nave
and aisles. The details of the western bay differ a
little from the others and the span is wider, and they
abut on solid walling covered with lofty traceried
panels, which form eastern buttresses to the tower.
There are six windows to each side of the clearstory.
The two westernmost windows on each side belong to
the later 14th century, the two middle ones on the
89 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 2 Edw. VI.
63 Baker, Hist, of St. John's Coll. Camb.
393, being an extract from the 'Thick
Black Book ' of the college. For similar
extracts see pp. 401, 420, 424,425, 435,
442,450,455.
84 Feud. Aids, ii, 432. A John de
Stanes received a life-grant of lands in
this parish in 1275 (Feet of F. Div. Co.
Mich. 3 & 4 Edw. I, no. 37).
85 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 9 & 10 Eliz.
86 But the Waferers held the neigh-
bouring manor of Hinxworth in the 15th
and 16th centuries.
87 Recov.R.Mich. 12&13 Eliz.(i57o),
rot. 613.
88 Cal. of Inner Temple Rec. pp. 1, lii, &c.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxxv, 26.
110 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 11 Chas. I.
91 Ibid. Herts. Hil. 1 Anne.
92 Recov. R. Mich. 46 Geo. Ill,
rot. 388.
93 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 23 Hen. VII.
In the 14th century there was a family
called Otway (Otcwy) living in Ashwell
(Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 284; 1340-3,
p 483).
9« Star Chimb. Pr c. lien. VIII,
bdle. 17, no. 332.
Si Fe« of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Eliz. ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 5 Eliz. ;
Recov. R. Trin. 5 Eliz. rot. 339.
911 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 16
Chas. II.
9' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvi, 39.
88 In 14^8 William Freeman of Ash-
well directed that his body should be
buried in the chapel of the Holy Trinity
in the parish church of Ashwell and
desired that the chapel shou'd be paved
204
with ' Flaunders tile.' He also left 40s.
to the fabric of the body of the church,
131. \d. to the rood light and ^18 to a
chaplain to pray for his soul for three
years at the altar of the Holy Trinity
(P.C.C. Wills 12 Stokton). In 1505
William Sewster, mercer of London,
desired that his body should be buried in
the chapel on the north side of Ashwell
Church and directed that 'a stone ot
marble to be laid on me my name in
brass to be written on it with these
words : " Here lyeth William Sewster of
Glitton in the parisshe of Asshwell gent
sometime mercer of London the which
died, " &c.' He left land in Hinxworth
for an obit for himself, his father Nicholas
and his mother, and for the repair of the
church, especially of the chapel where his
body should lie (ibid. 39 Holgrave).
205
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
north side to the middle of the century, the others
being alterations of the 1 6th century.
There is a three-light window of the 14th century
with flowing tracery at the east end of the north aisle,
the five windows on the north being of three lights, of
15th-century date ; the tracery of these windows is
much decayed. The north doorway belongs to the
latter part of the 14th century. The north porch is
a good type of I 5th-century work with traceried
windows, unglazed, under four-centred moulded
arches. The outer doorway is set under a square
head, the inner moulded order forming the arch.
Holes, evidently for a bar, have been roughly cut in
the mouldings of the jamb outside the position the
door occupied. There is a mutilated 14th-century
piscina at the east end of the aisle and a fragment of
a stone bracket, indicating that there was an altar
here and possibly a chantry."
The south aisle has an east window of three
traceried lights corresponding to those in the chancel.
The five windows in the south wall were raised in the
15th century, and decayed remains of the tracery of
that period still remain. The south doorway belongs
to the 14th century, and immediately to the west of
it is a blocked doorway to the parvise stair. The
roof of the aisle appears to be the original one. The
south porch has a parvise over it, the entrance to the
turret stair, which projects on the western angle out-
side, is now from the porch itself. There is a
modern stone vault to the porch, and a late flat roof
over the parvise has taken the place of the original
steep sloping roof, the front gable now standing
unsupported. The porch has unglazed windows with
iron stanchions. At the east end of the south aisle
are traces of a reredos of an jltar ; on the south side
is a 14th-century piscina, above which is a lofty niche
of, probably, 15th-century date, which apparently
held the image of our Lady.100 On the north side is
a recess or aumbry, which may have been formed from
the partly built-up doorway to the rood stair, which
was on the south side.1 On the east wall is a defaced
bracket for an image, wi th remains of carving, and above
it can be seen traces of a distemper painting behind
the coats of whitewash, which probably represents the
figure of our Lady, to whom the chapel was dedicated. -
The west tower is a very striking feature of the
church, and is unusually high, rising, with its spire,
to a height of about I 76 ft. Ashwell and North-
church towers are the only two in the county which
are completely encased with stonework externally.
The walls are about 8 ft. thick at the base. The
tower is of four diminishing stages, with massive
buttresses stopping under the fourth stage. Access
to the tower is by a turret stair at the south-west
angle as far as the top of the first stage, and thence
through a passage-way in the wall to another turret
stair at the south-east angle. The stair has a rounded
handrail cut out of the solid stone wall. The first
stage, inside the church, was formerly covered with a
sexpartite vault of stone, but only the wall ribs and
corbels now remain. The tower arch is of three
subdivided moulded orders, resting on shafts with
moulded capitals and bases, of about 1360-70. On
the west side the arch above the capitals has been
much mutilated, no doubt to obtain support for a
gallery which has been removed. The west window,
which is not central in the tower, has four lights, but
the tracery has been much mutilated and repaired
with cement. On each face of the second stage of
the tower is a long narrow single light, above which
is a wide band of square cusped panels set diagonally
The third or belfry stage has on each face two lofty
arched openings, each of two lights with traceried
heads, but much decayed and hidden behind wood
lattices. Underneath the openings are arched and
cusped panels. The topmost stage is pierced on each
side by a two-light window with traceried head. The
tower was formerly finished with battlements of
which only the corner portions remain. Owing to
the soft nature of the clunch the whole of the face
work of the tower is in a very decayed condition.
The tower is surmounted by a timber spire on an
octagonal drum, very similar to that at Baldock, the
whole being covered with lead. The following in-
scription is in raised letters on the Ieadwork :
THOS EVERARD | LAID ME HERE | HE SAID TO l(aSt) J
AN HVNDRED | YEAR | I 7 I 4.
There are oak traceried and carved 15th-century
screens at the west ends of the aisles, removed from
the Lady chapel in the south aisle 3 ; there are also
some traceried panels of the same period, probably
the lower part of the old chancel screen, now made
up into a screen behind the organist's stool ; two old
carved finials are fixed on the modern end posts.
The pulpit is of oak, panelled and carved and dated
1627. In the south aisle is an oak chest of early
1 7th-century work, and beside the south door is an alms
box on a narrow oak pedestal which may belong to the
same century. The communion table is also of the
17th century. The north and south doors are original
and have plain old iron hinges. The font is modern,
but the steps appear to be original. There are frag-
ments of 15th-century glass in some of the clearstory
windows, and some of later date in the north aisle.
At the east end of the north aisle stands a 15th-
century tomb, with panelled tracery, much defaced,
it bears no inscription ; on the floor of the nave is a
brass inscription to John Sell, 1 6 1 8, and in the chancel
are three slabs with indents of the 15th century, and
a part of another lies at the south door. On the east
wall of the nave is a mural tablet to Ralph Baldwyn,
1689, with his arms.
On the north wall of the tower, internally, the
following 14th-century inscription has been roughly
scratched. The beginnings of the second and third
lines are imperfect :
'xlix
pestilecia q'nz
M. C. T. X penta miserada ferox violeta
. , . .in fine qe vet' valid'
. . . supest plebs pessima testis *
. . . oc anno Maurus in orbe tonat mccc lxi.'
This has been translated by Mr. C. Johnson, M.A./
as ' 1000, three times 100, five times 10, pitiable,
" This may have been the altar and
chantry of the Virgin ; see under advowscn.
100 See will of John Bill (1503) quoted
in Cussans' Hist, of Htm. Odsey Hund. 26.
An indulgence was granted pi obably for
building this chantry by Bishop Burgherah
(1320-40); see his register (Memo. fol.
log d.).
1 The remains of the circular wall
inclosing the stair may be seen outside.
206
* Will of John Bill, as above.
8 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hand. 3 5.
4 See a paper by Mr. C. Johnson in
Tram. St. Alkani and Herts. Arch. Soc
1 899-1900, p. 277.
Ashwell Church from the South-east
Ashwell Church : The Nave looking South-west
ODSEY HUNDRED
savage and violent. A wicked populace survives to
witness [to the shocking plague].' These lines with
their glosses refer to the Black Death of I 350. The
third line alludes to the great storm on St. Maur's Day
(15 Jan.), 1 361, mentioned in the 'Eulogium His-
toriarum.' <a It may be that this great wind destroyed
the newly-erected tower and two western bays of the
nave, which had to be rebuilt ; the present western
bay, which is wider than the others, and the panelled
buttresses to the tower occupy the same space as two
of the earlier eastern bays. Underneath the inscrip-
tion is a roughly incised drawing of a large church
with double transepts, and a lofty central tower and
spire.6
ASHWELL
1686 to 1754 ; (ii) burials 1678 to 1728 and 1735
to 1783 ; (iii) baptisms 1783 to 1 801 ; (iv) burials
1783 to 1 801 ; (v) baptisms and burials 1802 to
I 81 2 ; (vi) marriages 1754 to I 801 ; (vii) marriages
1802 to 1812.
The record of a priest among the
ADFOU'SON tenants of the Abbot of Westminster
in 1086 implies the existence of a
church there at that date.6 In 1223 Honorius III
appropriated the church of Ashwell to the Abbot and
convent of Westminster/ and in 1 24 1 Bishop
Grosteste of Lincoln (in whose diocese Ashwell was
situated) ordained a vicarage there, endowing the
vicar with the court and house next the churchyard.8
Ashwell : Lych-gate to Churchyard
There is an open timber lych-gate, with tiled roof,
at the south-western entrance to the churchyard. It
appears to be of 15th-century work.
There are six bells in the tower : the treble by
John Briant, 1 791 ; the second by Charles Newman,
1694 ; the third and fourth by John Briant, 18 17 ;
the fifth by Robert Taylor, St. Neots, 1808 ; and
the tenor by John Briant, 1789.
The communion plate includes an engraved cup
of 1 ;68 and paten of 1632.
The registers are in seven books : (i) baptisms
from 1686 to 1785, burials 1729 to 1735, marriages
In 1239 a dispute arose between the Bishop of Lincoln
and the Abbot of Westminster as to the appropriation,
Grosteste making provision of the church to a certain
clerk of his diocese.9 Peace was only secured by the
intervention of King Henry III, who decided that
while the church of Ashwell sho dd remain in the
possession of the abbey the right of presentation
should be reserved to the bishop.10 Matthew Paris
remarks that ' by this the Abbey of Westminster
gained great honour, and the Abbot an increase of
300 marks a year.' " It would seem, however, that a
later composition must have taken place by which the
4a Op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 2.
5 Neither Old St. Paul's Cath. nor
Westminster. It has the tower of St.
Paul's and the transept of Westminster.
« J'.C.H. Herts, i, 313a.
7 Cott. MSS. Faust. A iii ; Cal. Papal
Letters, i, 181.
8 Cott. MSS. Faust. A iii.
207
9 Cal. Papal Letters, i, 1 S 1 ; Matth.
aris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 151.
10 Matth. Paris, op. cit. iv, 154.
11 Cf. Dugdale, Man. i, 271.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
abbots recovered the right of presentation, for by the
year 1334 the patronage had clearly come to them."
The dissolution of Westminster Abbey brought the
advowson and rectory of Ashwell into the king's
hands, and they were granted by him to the first
Bishop of Westminster in I 54.1,13 a pension from the
vicarage being granted the following year to the dean
and chapter." Subsequently the advowson was granted
with the manor, first to Bishop Ridley and secondly
to Bishop Bonner.15 In 1556 the vicarage pension
was granted to the reinstated Abbot of Westminster
— all that remained to the abbey of the manor and
advowson of Ashwell. It is interesting to note that
Laud's appointment of Herbert Palmer, the Puritan
divine, to this benefice in 1632 was brought forward
by him at his trial as evidence of his impartial patron-
age.16 The survey of Ashwell taken by the Parlia-
mentary Commissioners in 1647 describes the
parsonage of Ashwell as ' consisting of a hall, a
kitchen, 2 butteries, a brew-house, a malt-house, tiled,
with five chambers over them, 3 great barns, 2 stables
thatched, a granary, a garden, an orchard, a great
yard ; the whole containing about 4 acres.' " The
sale of the manor by the trustees for the sale of
church lands in 1648 makes special exception of
the advowson, though one of the trustees himself
obtained leave to buy the parsonage-house and the
glebe land.18 In 1662 the Bishop of London once
more presented to the living,19 and the patronage
remained with his successors until 1852, when it was
transferred to the Bishop of Rochester,'0 in whose
diocese Ashwell had already been placed in l846.zl
In 1877, however, Hertfordshire was placed in the
new diocese of St. Albans, all patronage of the Bishop
of Rochester in that diocese being transferred to the
Bishop of St. Albans.'J In 1867 this benefice was
declared a rectory.'3
In 1306 Thomas de Staunton and Simon le
Bakestere founded a chantry in Ashwell Church,
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin," for the support of
which Thomas granted 12 acres and Simon I acre
of land in the parish.'0 In I 35 I William de Risseby,
the king's yeoman, founded a similar chantry, which
he endowed with land of the annual value of 1 5/.
and with 5/. rent,'6 and in 1 40 1 John Sennesterre
made a bequest to maintain a chantry priest in the
church." In 1450 is the record of the induction
of a chaplain into apparently the first of these
chantries, the collation being in the hands of the
abbot's treasurer.'8 The foundation in 1476 of a
chantry for the founders of the gild of St. John the
Baptist is mentioned below. At the Dissolution only
one chantry is mentioned, value 100/. per annum.'9
The advowson was included in the grant to the
Bishop of Westminster in 1541. 30 In the reign of
Elizabeth the chantry estate was in the possession of
Nicholas West,31 who settled it upon his son and heir
William West by indenture of 1572. Nicholas West
died seised of this chantry (described as ' the late
chantrey ') with appurtenant lands, rents and services
in 1586.3'
On 26 August 1476 licence was granted to George
Duke of Clarence (brother of the king), Thomas Bishop
of Lincoln, the chancellor, and others, to found ' a
fraternity or gild of four wardens and other persons
wishing to be of the fraternity, to be called the
fraternity or gild of St. John the Baptist within the
church of St. Mary Ashwell.' The members, who
were to include both brethren and sisters, were to
elect their wardens annually, and to act as a corporate
body in the acquisition of lands, &c. Licence was
also given to them to found a chantry in Ashwell
Church for the souls of the king's father, of the present
king and queen after their deaths, and of the founders
and members of the gild.35 A fraternity of St. John
the Baptist had existed before this, for in 1457 one
William Freeman of Ashwell, merchant, left 6s. %d.
by will ' to the fraternity of St. John the Baptist.' *•
Similar bequests follow throughout the reigns of
Henry VII and Henry VIII.34 In 1574 Andrew Bill
and Elizabeth his wife surrendered to Nicholas West
and Joan his wife and William West their son and
heir 'a house or tenement called le Guyldehowse or
St. John's House or le Brotherheadhowse ' in Ashwell,
situate 'in the High Street of Ashwell,' and 'a barn
and a close of pasture containing I acre, pertaining to
the said house.'36 There was also a fraternity of
St. George in Ashwell.37
Licence for a Presbyterian meeting-place at Ash-
well was taken out in 1672, and meeting-places for
Protestant Dissenters were certified from 1692.
The Congregational chapel, dating from about 1 767,
was burnt down in 1850 and rebuilt.3*
The following charities are regu-
CHARITIES lated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners dated 25 May 1897 :
1. Lawrence Williams's, founded by will dated
10 September I 582, consisting of a yearly payment
of £ 3 by the Fishmongers' Company, of which a
yearly sum of zs. is applicable for the sexton and of
6s. for the reparation of the church.
2. John Sell's, by will 24 May 1618, consisting of
I a. 3 r. 10 p. of land in Ashwell.
3. Thomas Chapman's, by will dated 8 March
1668, now consisting of £lio consols with the
official trustees, producing ^3 yearly, representing
redemption of rent-charge.
4. Thomas Plomer's, by will dated 2 August I 701,
under which testator gave £80 to purchase land, 5*.
yearly out of the income to be paid to the parish
clerk.
5. The poor's land comprised in indenture of
6 September I 718 and indentures of lease and release
20 and 21 April 1722. The endowment of this
11 Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 492.
18 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, g. 503 (33).
" Ibid, xvii, g. 714 (5).
16 See under manor.
16 Diet. Nat. Biog.
"Add. MS. 37682, fol. 21. Never-
theless an incumbent wrote of Ashwell
in 1675 : 'It is of small advantage, so
that I could easily quit it' (Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1675-6, p. 42).
18 Add. MS. 17682, fol. 26-30 ; Close,
1 65 1, pt. xxvi, no. 48.
19 Inst. Bks. P.R.O.
20 Land. Gaz. 4 June 1852, p. 157S.
21 Ibid. 8 Aug. 1845, p. 2541.
22 Ibid. 4 May 1877, p. 2933.
23 Ibid. 29 Nov. 1867, p. 6524.
24 Cal. Pat. 1 301-7, p. 48 3.
25 Inq. a.q.d. file 65, no. 4.
* Cal. Pat. 1350-4, p. 184.
*> Court of Husting wills.
23 Doc. at Westm. 26302. It is called
le chantry of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
ossibly the chantries had been amalga-
lated.
»9 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 278.
208
3° L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, g. 503
(33). See manor of Ashwell.
81 Pat. 1 Eliz. pt. x.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxi, 173.
33 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 597.
31 Will P.C.C. 12 Stokton.
35 Wills P.C.C. 29 Blamyr ; 39 Hol-
grave ; 35 Bennett; 23 Holder ; Anct.
D. (P.R.O.), C477.
86 Ct. R. P.R.O. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 176,
no. 139.
37 Will P.C.C. 12 Stokton.
38 Urwick, op. cit. 780-1.
ODSEY HUNDRED
charity together with the charities of John Sell and
Thomas Plomer consists of 32 a. 2 r. 7 p. of land in
Mob's Hole in Ashwell North Fields, producing
£32 10s. yearly.
The income of these charities after deduction of
the fixed payments mentioned above is applicable for
the general benefit of the poor.
In 18S6 Miss Anne Heath Westrope, by her will
proved at London 28 July, bequeathed £100 to the
rector for the time being, represented by ^100 $s.
consols, the annual dividends, amounting to £2 10s.,
to be distributed among the poor, especially the
afflicted poor, without regard to sect or denomina-
tion.
The same testatrix bequeathed £100 to the
minister and deacons of the Independent Chapel
upon the same trusts. This legacy is represented by
£100 5J. consols, and the charity is regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 14 July
1905, which also regulates the trust estate of the
Congregational Chapel comprised in deeds 1829,
1864 and 1875.
In 1 89 1 Mrs. Mary Hitch Westrope, by her will
proved at London I April, left a legacy, now repre-
sented by £187 19/. yd. consols, the annual dividends
amounting to £4 14*. to be distributed among the
afflicted poor, especially widows, without regard to
sect or denomination.
BROADFIELD
The Moss Cottage Homes were founded by George
Moss by indenture 10 July 1905 and endowed by
him with £2,000 London and North Western
Railway 3 per cent. Perpetual Debenture Stock.
The endowment was increased in 1907 to £2,800
London and North Western Railway stock by aug-
mentation of Mrs. Frederika Emily Bowman, pro-
ducing £84 a year. The Homes consist of six cottages
for six aged and infirm persons, and the inmates, who
receive 5/. weekly, may be either married couples
(each married couple counting as one inmate), single
women or widows.
The several sums of stock above mentioned are
held by the official trustees.
The school was founded by the will of Henry Colborn
dated 1 August 1 65 5.39 The Educational Charity
was founded by deed of grant dated 22 March 1 842
made by Michael Edward Rogers, Charles Stubbs
Tinling and Mary Susanna his wife, and consists of a
sum of £306 10/. 3d', consols with the official trustees,
producing £j 13;. yearly, purchased with £300 pro-
duced by sale of the old school site, &c. The charity
is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 6 August 1878. The endowment was aug-
mented in 1878 by a donation of £50 by Edward
King Fordham. This was invested in £51 18/. t)d.
consols with the official trustees, producing £1 6s.
yearly.
BROADFIELD
Bradefella (xi cent.) ; Bradefeld (xii cent.) ; Bradfeld
(xiv cent.).
Broadfield is a small parish containing 374 acres.
As its name would possibly imply, it is comprised
within field boundaries, and was probably originally
a part of Rushden, of which parish it was said to have
been a chapelry in the 1 6th century.1 About two-
thirds of the parish are arable land and the remainder
permanent grass. There are now only three small
woods in the centre of the parish, called Great Wood,
Middle Wood and Chapel Wood, and a small copse
in the south called Foxholes. In the 1 7th century,
however, the woodland was probably more extensive,
as Chauncy describes Broadfield as situated on a hill in
woods.' The soil is generally heavy, with a subsoil of
chalk. A spring which rises a mile to the north of
Broadfield Hall is said to have had at one time powers
of petrifaction.3 The parish lies on the high chalk
land, reaching an altitude in the south-east of 46; ft.
above the ordnance datum, but falls to a little over
400 ft. in the west.
The nearest railway station is in Buntingford on
the Great Eastern railway, about 3 miles to the east.
The small village lies a little north of the road from
Cottered to Throcking, with which it is connected
by a branch road. Until the beginning of the 19th
century this road went no further than Broadfield,
but turned south again and joined the Cottered-
Buntingford road.' It is probably largely due to this
limited communication that the village has consistently
diminished in size and importance. Even during the
last century the population has fallen from thirty-one
to seven, and consists of little more than Broadfield
89 Sec article on Schools, V.C.H. Herts, ii, 99.
1 Norden, Description of Herts, (ed. 1903), 15.
a Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 71.
Hall, the manor-house, now the residence of Mr.
T. H. Whitehead. Chapel Wood, supposed to mark
the site of the church which fell into ruins in the
1 6th century, lies a little to the north of the hall.
Broadfield Hall stands about a mile to the north of
the village of Cottered. Portions of a moat which
originally surrounded the site still exist as ornamental
water. The house was built about the year 1689,
and existed until the middle of the 19th century,
when it was allowed to fall into ruins. In 1882 it
was practically rebuilt on a smaller scale, and portions
of the old house still remain incorporated with the
new work. In the east wall is one of the old windows
with stone mullions and transoms, and part of the
north side is old and has a large brick niche with
semicircular head set in the brickwork. Some of the
old cellars still exist and have round vaults of brick.
On the modern front door is a fine iron knocker of
late 17th-century work, said to have come from
Cottered Lordship. It represents two dolphins with
entwined tails, holding a human head between them
in their jaws. The old staircase and an oak chimney-
piece from the old hall are now at Coles Park,
Westmill.4a The original entrance door is of oak and
is richly covered with moulded panels. The top part
of the door has a semicircular panel with fluted and
moulded spokes radiating from the centre. There is
a good lion's head knocker and a drop handle on a
shaped plate. Both on the rails and in the panels are
a number of iron studs.
The brick stables, which stand immediately behind
the hall, are of the early part of the 18th century.
Some of the old oak stalls still remain in the stable
8 East Herts. Ar
1 Ibid. 168.
<a Ibid. 172.
Soc. Trans, iii, 170.
209
27
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and in the yard behind is an 18th-century square
dove-house of brick, now used as a granary.
The fact that the hall stood empty for nearly thirty
years during the 19th century5 evidently tended to
lessen the prosperity of the village.
Foxholes Farm, a name which occurs as early as
1 59 1,6 lies in the south of the parish. Although
much repaired, the house appears to date from the
beginning of the I 8th century.
In the time of Edward the Confessor
MANOR Broadfield was divided between the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury and Queen Edith.7
The lands of the former, assessed at 2 \ hides, were held
of him by Ledmaer, Ansgot and two brothers.3 Queen
Edith's lands, assessed at half a hide, were held of her
by Goda.9 By 1086 the three holdings of the arch-
bishop had passed to three separate overlords, Sigar de
Cioches,10 Hardwin de Scales n and Robert Bishop of
Chester,12 the last holding a virgate only. Earl Roger
de Montgomery had obtained possession of the lands
of Queen Edith.13 It is probable that the lands of
Roger de Montgomery formed the estate in Rushden
which was given by his daughter Sybil to the Knights
Hospitallers.14 Sigar de Cioches held also the manor
of Rushden (q.v.), and probably his lands in Broadfield
were attached to that manor.
In 1086 Hardwin de Scales had obtained possession
of the chief holding in Broadfield, viz. a hide and
one-fourth of a virgate, and this appears subsequently
as the manor of BROADFIELD. The overlordship
of the manor remained with the Scales family,15 and
descended to Sir John de Scales, who died seised of the
manor in 1388.16 It was apparently attached to his
manor of Throcking (q.v.), for this in 1486 was in
the hands of Robert Hyde, of whom Broadfield at
that date was said to be held.17
Of the tenants in demesne it appears that in 1086
Theobald was holding this manor under Hardwin de
Scales.18 He seems to have had a son Fulk, who
had two sons Theobald and William.19 About 1 1 59
Theobald was holding Broadfield, and with the
consent of his brother William leased it to the abbey
of Warden (co. Beds.).20 The latter Theobald had a
son Fulk, who had succeeded to his lands by 1 198-9,
when he disputed his father's gifts to the nuns of
Holywell.21 On the death of Fulk, Broadfield
descended to his son Ralph, who levied a fine of
the advowson in 1222.22 Ralph had a son of the
same name, who appears to have forfeited about 1266,
when the king granted Broadfield to Maud his wife
for the maintenance of herself and her children.23
Ralph was still living in 1283.24 His lands were held
by William Fitz Ralph in 1303,25 from whom they
probably descended to his son William (see Aspenden).
In 1356 Margaret and Sybil, daughters and heirs of
William, are mentioned.253 But a William Fitz Ralph
was holding Aspenden in 1383, when he granted it
to his son William.20 The manor of Broadfield
apparently also remained with the heirs male, for on
the death without issue of a William Fitz Ralph
(probably the last mentioned) before 1428 it went
to his co-heirs, John Hughessene of Ashwell and
John Clerk, senior, of Ardeley.27 These both quit-
claimed their right to John and Thomas Clerk, who
apparently conveyed to Richard Whapled, vicar of
Steeple Morden, and John Suttrey, for they in 1449
granted the manor to John Dunstable and Margaret
his wife, Ralph Grey and Henry Wells.28 Margaret
Dunstable died seised of the manor in i486.20
Henry Wells survived the other feoffees, and on his
death it passed to his cousin and next heir John
Fayrewayre. He conveyed it to Henry Snow of
London and Magdalen his wife.30 It descended to
their son John Snow, whose daughters and co-heirs
Elizabeth and Dorothy31 conveyed it in 1537-8 to
Edward Brockett.32
In 1 571 Edward Brockett settled the manor on
himself with remainder to Ellen his wife for life with
remainder to John Brockett of Brockett Hall and Ellen
his wife.33 On Edward Brockett's death his executors
conveyed the manor to his widow Ellen and her
kinsman Richard Bardolf. In 1580 John Brockett,
who had been knighted in
1577, and his wife Ellen,
released their interest in the
manor to Edward Pulter 34 of
Great Wymondley,36 and in
1592 Ellen Brockett and
Richard Bardolf conveyed their
interest.36 Edward Pulter
held the manor until 1600,
when he settled it on his son
Litton Pulter in consideration
of his marriage with Penelope
daughter of Sir Arthur Capell,
kt.37 Litton Pulter died in
1608, in his father's lifetime,
leaving a son Arthur, then aged four years.38 Arthur
Pulter held a prominent position in the county,
acting as justice of the peace, a captain in the militia,
and high sheriff for Hertfordshire, but at the out-
break of the Civil War he resigned all these offices,
led a retired life, and at the instigation of his wife
Lady Helen Ley, daughter of James Earl of Marl-
5 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii,
170; Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hund. of
Odsey, 178.
6 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 33 & 34
Eliz. m. 1.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 311, 322, 339, 342.
8 Jbid. 311, 339, 342.
9 Ibid. 322. 10 Ibid. 342
11 Ibid. 339. "Ibid. 311.
13 Ibid. 322.
" See land of the Knights Hospitallers
in Rushden.
15 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 99 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 433 ; Cat. Inq. p.m. (Rec.
Com.), iii, 93. See manor of Challers,
Reed, for Scales pedigree.
16 Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii, 93.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 65.
K V.C.H. Herts, i, 339.
19 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 393 ; v, 372.
20 Ibid, v, 372. Although no term of
years is mentioned in the charter, the
form in which the date is given implies a
lease, as does the subsequent history of
the manor.
« Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 8.
» Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. Ill, no. 45.
23 Cal. Pat. 1258-66, p. 526.
*' De Banco R. 55, m. 101.
25 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
85a Cal. Pat. 1354-8, p. 647 ; J. Harvey
Bloom, Cartae Antiquae of Lord IVilhughby
de Broke, ii, 7.
86 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 154. He was
witness to a deed in 1361 (J. Harvey
Bloom, Cartae Antiquae of Lord Willoughby
de Broke, ii, 8).
87 Close, 6 Hen. VI, m. 14.
2IO
38 Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts
71 et seq.
23 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 65.
30 Chauncy, loc. cit.
31 Ibid. ; see Close, 30 Hen. VIII,
pt. vi, no. 5.
32 Chauncy, loc. cit. ; Close, 30
Hen. VIII, pt. vi, no. 5.
33 Chauncy, loc. cit. ; see Feet of F.
Herts. Hil. 14 Eliz.; Recov. R. Mich.
14 Eliz. rot. 513.
sl Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 22 Eliz.
35 The Pulters had the manor of Dela-
mere in that parish.
86 Chauncy, loc. cit.
37 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 42 & 43
Eliz. ; see Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccv,
in.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccv, ill.
Broadfield : Old Oak Entrance Door from Broadfield Hall
ODSEY HUNDRED
borough, began rebuilding Broadfield Hall. But at
the time of his death in 1 689 the building was still
unfinished.39 He had a large family, but all his
children died during their father's lifetime. His
sons had no children, but his daughter Margaret,
who married John Forrester, citizen of London,
left one son James, who succeeded his grandfather.40
James Forrester married Martha daughter of Sir
Henry Chauncy, kt., and died in 1696, when his
young son Pulter became lord of the manor.41
Pulter Forrester appears to have been concerned with
the fashionable bands of rioters who called themselves
the 'Mohocks' and the 'Hawkubites,' and rendered
the streets of London dangerous for the ordinary
traveller. In 171 1 he was one of the sureties for
Lord Hinchinbrooke's appearance at the quarter
sessions to answer for assaulting the watchman and
causing a riot in Essex Street in the early hours
of the morning.42 Pulter Forrester married Agnes
daughter of William Harvey of Chigwell, Essex,
and died in 1753.43 His son William succeeded
him.44 He had no children, and on his death he
left the manor of Broadfield to his wife's niece,
Millicent daughter of Wrightson Mundy of Markeaton
Park, co. Derby, with remainder to her eldest son on
condition that he should take the name of Forrester.45
She married Richard French, captain in the Royal
Horse Guards, and on her death the manor passed to
her eldest son Richard Forrester French of Abbot's
Hill, co. Derby.46 He suffered a recovery in 1793,47
and continued to hold until his death in 1 84 3-48 He
left no children, and in 1852 his executors sold the
manor of Broadfield to Mr. Robert Bird Wilkins,
timber merchant, of Ware.49 He died in 1868,
and the manor passed to his son Robert Usborn
Wilkins,50 who devised it to Mr. Nathan Humphrey.
He died in 1906,51 leaving the manor to his two
daughters, Mrs. H. W. Smith of Ware and Mrs.
BYGRAVE
H. E. Dudley of Stansted, co. Essex, who now hold
the manor.53
The land which Robert Bishop of Chester held in
Broadfield in 1086 consisted only of 1 virgate.53
There is no record to show how this land descended,
but it appears that like the other lands which Robert
held in this county it passed to the Somerys.54 It
is probable that this land was appurtenant to the
manor of Bygrave (q.v.), for in the reign of Edward I
John de Wengham, Precentor of St. Paul's, who held
a lease of that manor from the Somerys, also held a park
in Broadfield, which in I 297 was broken into.55 Johnde
Wengham's holding in Broadfield was described as a
quarter of a knight's fee in 1303.56 In 1346 it had
descended to his nephew MasterThomas de Wengham,57
but after this date there is no further record of it.
Broadfield Church was a chapel
CHURCH AND of ease,58 apparently dependent on
ADTOWSON the church of Rushden. In 1222
William Basset, lord of the manor
of Rushden, quitclaimed all right in the church of
Broadfield to Ralph son of Fulk, lord of Broadfield.59
The advowson has always passed with the manor.60 It
is not known at what date the church fell into disuse,
but as no inventory was made for it in I 5 53 it seems
that by this date the church was no longer used for
religious services. The rectory was valued at 10/. only
in 1535.61 The advowson was still included in the
sale of the manor until the year 1580.63 Norden, in
his description of Hertfordshire in 1598, states that
Broadfield had once had a chapel of ease which at
that time was decayed.63 The site of the church is
supposed to have been in Chapel Wood in the centre
of the parish, and certain irregularities in the ground
may point to the former existence of a building here.64
By the 1 8th century Broadfield had become ecclesias-
tically attached to Cottered,65 and still remains so.
There are no endowed charities.
BYGRAVE
Biggrafan (x cent.) ; Bigrave (xi-xvii cent.).
The small compact parish of Bygrave, containing
1,793 acres, lies below the northern slope of the
Hertfordshire chalk hills in the angle formed by the
Icknield Way and the North Road through Barnet,
which meet in the adjacent town of Baldock. On
the north and east the boundary is formed by a road
known as the Green Lane. The ecclesiastical parish
was amalgamated with Baldock in 1 90 1 ,' but Bygrave
is still a distinct civil parish.
This parish is still uninclosed, and forms perhaps one
of the most interesting examples in this country of a
concentric mediaeval village of the Teutonic type of
settlement. Although the lands are now all held by
two or three farmers and the village community has
been lost, the mediaeval arrangements are still clearly
marked. The village is in the middle of the parish on
high land. Like other early Teutonic settlements
in this country it lies off the main road, about a mile
and a half from the Roman road to the west and half
a mile from the Icknield Way on the south. It is
approached by roads or drifts uninclosed by hedges
across the open fields from both these main roads, and
by an inclosed road from Ashwell. The church stands
in the highest part of the village, 3 1 4 ft. above the
ordnance datum. Adjoining the churchyard on the
south side is the site of the old fortified manor-house,2
surrounded by a series of moats which, from indications
39 Chauncy, loc. cit.
40 Ibid.
a ibid.
42 Hiit, MSS. Com. Rep. xv, App. ii,
34.6.
a Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 516.
44 See Recov. R. Hil. 27 Geo. II, rot.
219.
45 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
46 Ibid.
47 Recov. R. Trin. 33 Geo. Ill, rot.
174.
48 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
174.
49 Ibid. 60 Ibid.
51 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii, 168.
52 Information supplied by Mr. T. H.
Whitehead of Broadfield Hall.
53 V.C.H. Herts, i, jii.
54 See Bygrave and North Mimms.
Elias de Somery appears as witness to a
lease of the manor of Broadfield in the
reign of Henry II (Dugdale, Mon.v, 369).
^ Cat. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 316.
56 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
211
57 Exch. Q.R. Misc. Bks. no. 3.
58 Norden, Description of Herts, (ed.
1903), 15.
59 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. Ill, no. 45.
60 See under manor.
61 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 278.
62 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 22 Eliz.
63 Norden, loc. cit.
54 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii, 168.
6S Bacon, Liber Regis, 513.
1 Under Loc. Act, 60-1 Vict. cap. 228.
2 Styled the ' Palace ' in the Ordnance
Survey of 1896.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
on the ground, may have at one time inclosed the
church. The modern rectory-house stands on the
east of the church. The village lies to the north-
west of the church along a broad street, which was
evidently the market-place for the market which was
established here by the Somerys in the 13th century.
The attempt to make Bygrave a market town in com-
petition with Baldock, then a new town on the more
important site at the cross roads, was renewed by the
Thornburys two centuries later. Along the village
street are a few cottages and a house now called the
Manor House, occupied as a farm by Mr. C. E. E.
Cook.
The village is immediately surrounded by its
inclosed pasture lands, which extend west and south-
west to the road running south-westward to Baldock.
The name ' Ploughed Warren ' applied to certain
arable land immediately east of a part of this road
suggests that it was originally grass land also, which
would make the pasture land more compact. On the
eastern side of the pasture surrounding the village
near the rectory is 'Park Wood,' which possibly marks
the site of the inclosed lands attached to the Thornburys'
house.
Beyond the pasture land are the great common
fields which occupy not far short of 1,000 acres
undivided by hedge or fence. They stretch in every
direction upon the slopes which surround the village,
and consist of open arable land broken into irregular
strips of uneven size. There are two outlying farms
in addition to the Manor Farm, and the occupiers of
these, with other landowners, hold strips scattered
over the whole area of the field. Parallel strips lie
together in ' furlongs,' such as ' Miller's Furlong,'
shown on the plan. This and other ' furlongs '
generally abut on one of the broad field-paths. Where
there is no road the plough is turned on transverse
strips known as ' headlands.' In consequence the
owner of the 'headland' must wait until the adjacent
land is ploughed before ploughing his own. Some-
times the strips, and more often the furlongs, are
divided by narrow grass banks known as ' balks.'
Here and there, especially in the neighbourhood of
the village, bushes growing on the balks have formed
small hedges ; but for the most part a single furrow is
all that divides the strip of one occupier from that of
his neighbour. The cottagers, as such, appear now
to have no common rights over the open fields ; but
each occupier of arable land grazes his cattle over the
whole field after harvest is gathered, the lord of the
manor also having a right of sheep-walk for one month
in May and October. This right is let with one of
the farms, but it is not exercised, for the other occupiers
purchase exemption.3
Bygrave has always possessed a very small popula-
tion. There are now about thirty-one houses, and
the population has increased between 1 89 1 and 190 1
from 99 to 148.' In 14.28 the whole parish was said
3 Slater, Engl, Peasantry and End. of
Com. Fields, 45. * Pop. Rtt. 1901.
5 Feud. Aids, ii, 454.
6 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 1651,
m. 26.
7 Loc. Act, 43-4 Vict. cap. 58
8 Kemble, Cod. Dipl. 722.
■ It is interesting to note that the
name survived in Clothall in tie 13th
century, when 'Goling son of Lemmar '
held land in Upcroft (Exch. Transcr. of
Charters 15, m. 2).
to contain only seven inhabitant householders.* The
recent increase is due to the eastward extension of the
town of Baldock around the station on the Cambridge
branch of the Great Northern railway, which skirts
the southern boundary of Bygrave, running parallel
with the Icknield Way.
Near Baldock a small portion of the parish lies to
the west of the North Road. It consists of some
rough pasture, water-cress beds and rush-grown waste,
and is traversed by the River Ivel. There can be
little doubt that this extension over the Roman road,
which would otherwise be the obvious boundary of
the parish, was made by the early settlers with the
object of obtaining the water-power from the Ivel to
drive the manorial mill which certainly existed down
to the 1 7th century. The pathway from the village
which comes into the Roman road near to Blackhorse
Farm or Blackhorse Mill is still known as Miller's Way.
It was probably on this land to the west of the Roman
high road in the neighbourhood of Baldock that there
existed a glover's pit and ' Currier's ' pasture early in
the 1 7th century.5 A part of Bygrave civil parish
was annexed to Baldock in 1881.7
Athelstan Atheling (born about 986),
MANOR son of Ethelred the Unready, took
BYGRAVE from a certain ' Leofmere,' but
restored it by his will.8 In the time of Edward theCon-
fessor 'Lemar' (the same name as Leofmere)9 held it.
He was a man of Archbishop Stigand, but could alienate
his land without the archbishop's licence. In 1086,
however, Robert (de Limesey),the recently consecrated
Bishop of Chester and Lichfield, held the manor in
demesne. There were also two sokemen there holding
3 virgates which they had been unable to alienate in
the Confessor's time without the leave of the arch-
bishop.10 Robert de Limesey probably held the manor
as his personal property, as he did North Mimms."
Like that manor it became attached at an early date
to the honour of Gloucester." It is possible that
Limesey died without heirs, and that his lands were
granted to the Earls of Gloucester. Bygrave was
held of the honour by Miles de Somery as three
knights' fees and a half in 1 20 1.13 In later records
the service due for Bygrave is variously stated as two
knights' fees,14 one fee,16 and half a fee.16 The
honour was vested in the Crown by the marriage of
Anne, heiress of the Despensers, with Richard III, and
in 1678 a rent of one-tenth was still reserved to the
Crown.17
It seems possible that Miles de Somery had been
preceded by Elias de Somery.18 Miles de Somery
evidently made sub-enfeofFment of the manor to
another member of his family before his death, which
occurred before I229,19 for in 1220 Hugh de Somery
conveyed Bygrave to John de Somery in consideration
of an annuity of 16 marks.30 Upon the death of
Stephen, son and ultimate heir of Miles de Somery,
the service from Bygrave was assigned to his widow
10 V.C.H. Hern, i, 311A.
11 Ibid, ii, 252.
13 Testa de Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 280.
13 Rot. Cane. 3 John (Rec. Com.), 56.
14 Tata de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 280 ;
Feet of F. Div. Co. 4 Hen. Ill, 13 ; but
this includes land at ' Fennes,' co. Kent.
15 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
16 Ibid. 433 ; Misc. Bks. Exch. K.R.
iii, fol. 118 d.
17 Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), lxxii,
fol. 58.
212
18 See the account of Monks' Lands
below.
19 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
182 ; see V.C.H. Herts, ii, 252. In 1212
North Mimms alone is stated to have
been held of the honour of Gloucester
by Miles de Somery (Red Bk. of Exch.
[Rolls Ser.], 506). The sub-enfeoffment
may therefore have taken place before
that date.
80 Feet of F. Div. Co. 4 Hen. Ill,
no. 13 ; Pipe R. 4 Hen. Ill, m. 7 d.
213
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Joan in dower,21 and it afterwards passed to Richard
de Bachesworth,22 one of the sons of Maud, sister and
co-heir of Stephen de Somery.23 No later trace of
the mesne lordship has been found.
John de Somery was succeeded as tenant of the
manor by Adam de Somery, who had a grant of a
market, fair and free warren on 20 October 1256.24
His widow Margery claimed dower in Bygrave in
1272.25 His heir appears to have been another
Adam de Somery, who gave a life interest in the
manor to Master John de Wengham, Precentor of
St. Paul's.26
In 1287 the manor was again alienated from the
direct line of the Somery family. Adam de Somery
granted his reversionary rights
upon the death of John de
Wengham to John son of John
de Somery, reserving only to
himself and his own son John
two mills, 4 acres of meadow
and 100s. rent.27 John son
of Adam was in 1 3 1 2 charged
with breaking the park of the
Earl of Pembroke at Bishop's
Hatfield.28 It is not clear
whether it was this John de
Somery or the actual lord of
the manor (John son of John)
who as 'John de Somery of Bygrave' received pardon
in October 1 3 1 3 for adherence to the party of Thomas
of Lancaster and complicity in the murder of Piers
Gaveston.23
The manor was held in 1327 by Sir Richard de
Somery, kt., possibly the heir of John son of John.
He then settled it upon himself and his wife Eliza-
beth.30 According to the statement of Richard de
Somery, Robert de Prestbury, the king's yeoman,31
and others of his ill-wishers came to his manor and
carried off goods and chattels, horses, oxen, sheep and
pigs to the value of ^200. This they did under the
pretext that he was an ally of Robert de Baldock the
chancellor, who in 1326 suffered imprisonment for
his support of the Despensers. Somery maintained
that he had even suffered grievous wrong at the hands
of Baldock, and prayed the king to compensate him
from the profits of Orwell Manor (co. Cambs.), the
custody of which had been given to the same 'Master'
Robert [? de Baldock].32
Richard de Somery was succeeded by his son John,
to whom a certain Geoffrey Somery surrendered all
right in the manor on 8 June 1349.33 'n '3 57
John de Somery settled the manor upon himself and his
wife Margery (or Margaret) for life with remainder
to their son John in tail-male and remainder in
default of heirs male to their daughter Elizabeth.3'
Margery de Somery seems to have survived her
husband and her son and to have taken a second and
a third husband, Sir John Maynard, kt.,35 and Thomas
Paynell.36 The daughter Elizabeth married Sir
William de Elington, kt.3' In 1379 Sir Alexander
de Walden, kt., and his wife Elizabeth (probably
Elizabeth Somery) 3' made a settlement of the manor
upon themselves and their heirs with contingent
remainder to the right heirs of Elizabeth.39 Four
years later they sold Bygrave to Sir John Thornbury,40
the ' king's knight,' " and one of his justices of the
peace in Hertfordshire."
In 1386 Thornbury had licence to crenellate his
two houses within the manor of Bygrave.13 He served
as commissioner of array in the county in 1392,
when it was feared that the expiration of the truce
with France might be followed by invasion." He
was succeeded before 1428 by Sir Philip Thorn-
bury, kt.,45 who m 1435 obtained confirmation of
the liberties formerly granted to Adam de Somery.16
In 1457 Thornbury settled the manor upon himself
for life with remainder to his daughter Margaret and
her husband Nicholas Appleyard ; after their death
it was to pass to their son John in tail-male with
contingent remainder to the heirs male of Margaret.17
John Bensted, heir of Edward Bensted (who had
apparently held the manor in trust for either John
or Philip Thornbury),48 surrendered all claim in
it to Nicholas and Margaret Appleyard in 1 4 5 8 .49
Roger, son of a Nicholas Appleyard, inherited
the manor from his father and died seised of it in
1528, leaving an infant son John.50 In 1550 this
John Appleyard with his wife Elizabeth conveyed
the manor to Hugh Stukeley, gent., of London,51
evidently agent in a sale to Laurence Warren and
his wife Joan.52 The latter survived her husband,
who died 4 August 1556.53 Their son William
Warren apparently took the name of ' Bygrave,' for
in the visitation of 1586 'Jane' (for 'Juliana')
Needham is said to have married William ' Warren
alias Bygrave.' 51 He settled an annuity out of the
manor upon her, and died 3 February 1588-9,
leaving a young son William.55 The latter entered
upon the manor about 1602.56 During his long
minority his debts had accumulated and he was
21 Cal. Ina. p.m. Edw. I, 448.
22 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
M See the account of North Mimms,
V. C.H.Herts, ii, 252.
21 Confirmed 1435 ; Cal. Pat. 1429-36,
p. 461. 25 Cur. Reg. R. 208 A, m. 9.
26 Flat, de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
278 ; Assize R. 325, m. 17 et seq. ; upon
one occasion he is called * de Wautham '
(Plac. de Quo Warr. 291); Feet of F.
Herts. 15 Edw. I, no. 197.
37 Feet of F. Herts, loc. cit.
38 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 542. He had
in 1287 warranted to John de Wengham
the liberties of which his father Adam de
Somery died seised in Bygrave (Assize
R. 325, fol. 17 et seq.).
29 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 24.
30 Feet of F. Herts. 1 Edw. Ill, no. 1 ;
De Banco R. 269, m. i2d. (East.
1 Edw. III).
31 Cal. Pat. 1327-30, passim.
32 Pari. R. ii, 389* ; the petition
referred to the common law.
33 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 84.
34 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Edw.
no. 459.
35 Ibid. 46 Edw. Ill, no. 640.
86 Ibid. Div. Co. 1 Ric. II, no. 6.
37 Wrotteslcy, Ped. from Plea
108.
^ Her first husband was dead in
(Feet of F. Div. Co. 1 Ric. II, no.
39 Ibid. 2 Ric. II, no. 18.
40 Ibid. Herts. 6 Ric. II, no. 52.
"Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 535.
42 Ibid. 1388-92, p. 137.
48 Ibid. 1385-9, p. 235.
44 Ibid. 1 391-6, pp. 68, 92.
45 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
46 Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 461.
« Feet of F. Herts. 35 Her
214
no. 1 8 1 j there were contingent remainders
to Thomas son of Richard Thornbury,
John brother of Thomas and to Richard
Thornbury in tail-male ; then to the
heirs of Margaret, then to Thomas
Eston, kinsman of Philip, and to the
right heirs of Philip.
48 Sir Edward Bensted and others pre-
a R. sented a rector to the church in 1415
(Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund. 54).
1378 49 Close, 37 Hen. VI, m. 34.
6, 9). 50 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlix, 37.
51 Ibid, cix, 30 ; Recov. R. Hil. 4
Edw. VI, m. 155.
62 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Edw. VI.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cix, So.
64 Herts. Visit. (Had. Soc. xxii), 77.
65 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxi,
113.
66 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dexviii :
. VI, Extents and Attachments.
ODSEY HUNDRED
0
i
\ ^
^L
Warren. Cheeky or
and azure a quarter
gules ivith a lion argent
therein.
further burdened with the maintenance of his brothers
and sisters. In order to make fitting provision for
them he sold Bygrave Manor about 1613 to William
Whettell of Thetford and Sir
John Heveningham, kt.,57 of
Ketteringham, Norfolk, en-
deavouring to raise the price
by hints that the estate was
desired in high quarters.
Warren had apparently re-
sided at Bygrave, only moving
to London after its sale ; but
to Whettell the value of the
estate was diminished by its
distance from his own home,
yet he refused to accept
Warren's offer to retain the
' mansion house dovehouse
buildings gardens and orchards ' on a ten years'
lease.53 Whettell seems to have transferred all his
rights to Sir John Heveningham, for whom he may
possibly have acted from the beginning.59
In November 1627 Sir John Heveningham was
imprisoned with Sir Thomas Darnel and others, by
special command of the king, for refusing to con-
tribute to a forced loan.60 This case was among the
immediate causes of parliamentary assertion of the
liberty of the subject in the Petition of Right.
Released in January 1627-8, Sir John Heveningham
settled Bygrave on his eldest son William in the
following March.61
Upon Sir John's death in 1633 the estate passed to
William Heveningham, who took sides with the
Parliament at the outbreak of the Civil War. He
was a member of the court nominated to try the
king, and was present 22, 23 and 27 January 1649,
when sentence was confirmed, but he refused to sign
the death-warrant.62 In 165 1
he sold Bygrave to Francis
Cleaver, citizen and draper of
London,63 who already resided
in the parish.64 He trans-
ferred the estate to his son
Charles Cleaver,63 who was
knighted at Whitehall 7 June
l66o.C6 It was, however,
seized by the Crown with the
other lands of William Heven-
ingham the regicide, owing
to some flaw in the convey-
ance to Francis Cleaver.67 Sir
Charles petitioned for its res-
toration 4 June 1663, and
received a grant from the
Crown six days later.69 About I
Cecil, Marquess of
Salisbury. Barry of ten
pieces argent and azure
six scutcheons sable ivith
a lion argent in each dif-
ferenced with a crescent.
he sold the
BYGRAVE
manor at the (then) large price of £13,000 to James
third Earl of Salisbury, who thus consolidated his
estate in the neighbourhood of ' Quicksett Hill."''
Bygrave has since remained with the direct descendants
of the earl.70
There was probably a mansion or manor-house at
Bygrave at an early date. Possibly it was at the house
of Master John de Wengham that Edward I stopped
on his way to St. Albans in January 1299 and April
1302.71 It has been shown that a John de Somery
was resident at Bygrave in 1 3 1 3-'3 In 1386, as
already stated, Sir John Thornbury seems to have had
two houses at Bygrave.73 The mansion house in
which William Warren lived74 was probably the capital
messuage sold with the manor and with Bygrave Farm
to Francis Cleaver in 165 1.75 Manorial works still
exist at Bygrave House and at the adjacent site of the
so-called ' Palace.'
The lords of Bygrave had court baron, but the
Crown held the view of frankpledge by the sheriff,
who either received 5*. or at his departure ' partook
with the lord of whatever stood on the table.'76
The market granted to Adam de Somery in 1256
was held on Mondays. The fair lasted three days,
beginning on the eve of the feast of St. Margaret.77
The date of the fair had been changed by 1880 ; it
was then held on Easter Monday.78 It is now extinct.
In 1286 John de Wengham claimed amendment of
assize of bread and ale. He likewise made good the
right of the lord to infangtheof and gallows, and
asserted a claim to pillory and tumbrel. "
Free warren was also granted to Adam de Somery
in 1256, and with the market and fair was confirmed
to Sir Philip Thornbury in 1435, and the right of
free warren is recited in later records relating to the
manor.80 John de Wengham twice complained of
persons who fished in his stews at Bygrave.81 Free
fishing is mentioned as pertaining to the manor in
1658.1*
In 1086 there was one water mill at Bygrave,83
possibly on the River Ivel, near Baldock. Two mills
were reserved by Adam de Somery in granting the
manor to John son of John de Somery in 1287,84
but a water mill belonged to the manor at the death
of Laurence Warren.85 It was excepted from the
sale to Sir John Heveningham.86 No mill exists
at present.
MONKS' LANDS, an estate comprising a house and
500 acres of land (measuring 1 6 ft. to the perch),87 with
a roadway from the land, was acquired by Adam the
Cellarer of St. Albans from William ' de Wedona ' at
an unknown date. The estate is at the same time
enumerated among the lands acquired by Adam the
Cellarer from Elias de Somery. It is therefore possible
that William de Wedona held the land of Elias as
57 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. II Jas. I;
Trin. 14 Jas. I.
58 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 327, no. 5.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxv, 68.
60 Cobbett, State Trials, iii, 1.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxv, 68.
68 Diet. Nat. Biog.
68 Le Neve, Knights (Harl. Soc), 66.
64 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 1 6 5 1 , m. 26.
65 Recov. R. East. 1658, m. 200 ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 1658, m. 10.
68 Le Neve, loc. cit.
67 The Attorney-General stated that
the deed of purchase had not been en-
rolled, but the enrolment is given above.
68 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1663-4, pp. 163,
167 ; Orig. R. 13 Chas. II, pt. ii, m. 13.
69 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 19 Chas. II ;
Hil. 28 & 29 Chas. II ; Recov. R. Hil.
28 & 29 Chas. II, m. 47 ; Buccleuch
MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), i, 338.
70 See the account of Hatfield.
71 Cal. Close, 1296-1302, p. 229 ; Cal.
Pat. I 301-7, p. 27.
73 See above.
78 Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 235.
74 See above.
75 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 16; 1,
m. 26.
78 Plac. de Quo fVarr. (Rec. Com.), 278.
215
77 Cal. Pal. 1429-36, p. 461.
79 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 52.
79 Plac. de Quo TVarr. (Rec. Com.),
278, 291 ; Assize R. 325.
80 e.g. Recov. R. East. 1658, m. 200.
81 Cal. Pat. 1291-1301, pp. 158, 219,
472.
82 Recov. R. East. 1658, m. 200.
83 V.C. H.Herts, i, 311.
84 Feet of F. Herts. 1 5 Edw. I, no. 197.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cix, 80.
86 See Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 1651,
m. 26.
s7 Misc. Bks. (Aug. Off.), eclxxii,
fol. 33.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
lord of the manor. Henry II confirmed this gift
between the years 1 1 74 and 1 1 82, and the profits
were assigned to the use of the
monks' kitchen.68 As early as
1291 the estate was let out to
farm.89 The yearly rent was
then £6 gs. \d. By 1 526 the
house was demolished and the
lands let to Roger Appleyard,
the lord of the manor, on a
twenty-one years' lease.90
The abbey surrendered to
the Crown 5 December
1539.91 In February 1543
50 acres of meadow and pas-
ture called Monks' Lands were
granted to Sir John Williams and Sir Edward North,
St. Albans Abbxy.
Azure a saltirt or.
Bvgrave Church from the North-west
treasurer of the Court of Augmentations.95 Six months
later (26 August 1543) the toft with lands called
Monks' Lands was granted to Thomas Godwin.93
Both had been leased to John Bowles. The toft and
garden commonly called Monks' Lands subsequently
came into the possession of Nathaniel Disborrow, son
of John Disborrow of Eltisley, co. Cambs., who sold
them to William Whettell. The estate was thus
united to the manor of Bygrave.94
The church, of unknown dedica-
CHURCH tion,96 consists of a chancel 2; ft. 6 in. by
14 ft. 6 in., nave 31 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in.,
and south porch 6 ft. by 5 ft. All dimensions are
taken internally. The church is cemented on the
outside, the dressings being of stone and the roofs
tiled.
The nave is the earliest part of the church, and
belongs to the 12 th century, the chancel to the latter
part of the 14th century, and the west turret to the
1 5 th century, when the windows were altered and the
rood stair was built.
The east window is transomed and has three
cinquefoiled lights, traceried in the head. In the
north wall is a small 14th-century door, and beside it
a low-side window of one cinquefoiled light ; the
only other window is of two cinquefoiled lights set
under a square head. In the south wall are two
windows, one a window of two lights similar to that
on the north side, the other of three cinquefoiled
lights under a four-centred arch. On the south side
of the chancel is a 14th-
century moulded and arched
piscina, and on the north side
is an arched niche for a tomb.
The chancel arch is of two
moulded orders, with engaged
shafts under.
The nave has a window in
each of its north, south and
west walls consisting of two
cinquefoiled lights under
square heads. The doorway
to the rood stair is set in a
splay on the north side of the
chancel arch ; the stair and
openings to the rood loft still
remain. The north doorway
has been blocked ; the south
doorway is of the 12 th cen-
tury, but is much restored.
The arched head is slightly
pointed and has the roll
moulding. There are shafts
in the jambs with scalloped
heads, but the whole has been
much restored. The south
porch is of 1 8th-century work.
There is a small semi-
octagonal turret against the
west wall on the south side of
the west window which gives
access to the bell.
The font belongs to the
15th century ; it is octagonal,
standing on a square base. The sides of the basin
have rectangular sunk panels, carved with the instru-
ments of the Passion ; round the stem are angels
holding shields. The wooden cover is a bastard
Gothic of perhaps the 1 8th century.
The rood screen is of the 15 th century, the upper
part having open tracery work, the lower closed panels
being traceried. There is a carving of the royal
arms on the cornice of the screen of late 17th-century
work. The communion table and rails also belong
to the 1 7th century.
There are some traceried panels of the 1 5th
century incorporated with the modern pulpit, and
88 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 229, cf. p. 233.
89 Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), ;iA.
90 Misc. Bk«. (Aug. Off.), cclxxi
fol. 33.
31 Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 249.
93 L. and P. Hen. Fill, X'
. .32; xix(i), 368 (vii).
93 Ibid, xviii (2), g. 107 (50).
2l6
91 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 165 1,
(1), m. 26.
95 It is to be noted that the fair was
held on the feast of St. Margaret.
ODSEY HUNDRED
fixed to the pulpit is a 1 7th-century wrought-iron
hour-glass stand. There are some I 5th-century bench
ends with poppy heads in the church and some plain
old seating. Some fragments of 15th-century glass
still exist in the nave windows, and in the church-
yard by the west wall of the church is an old stone
coffin without a lid.
The bell is dated 1718, but has no maker's mark.
The communion plate is a modern set presented by
the rector, the Rev. J. H. Carnegie, in 1873.
The surviving registers are in two books : (i)
baptisms from 1802 to 1805, burials 1805 to 1808 ;
(ii) marriages 1765 to 1808. The earlier books
were accidentally destroyed by fire.
The church was given to the
ADFOWSON monks of St. Albans by William de
Wedona and assigned with Monks'
Lands to the use of the kitchen.96 The assignment
was confirmed by the pope in 1 2 1 8.97 No appropria-
tion took place,98 however, and in 1 220 it was John
de Somery, lord of the manor, who presented a
rector.99
The right of John de Somery to the advowson is
not clear, but the successive lords of the manor sub-
sequently presented when the church became void,
CALDECOTE
and the patronage of the church continued with them
until 1 90 1, when the parish was united to that of
Baldock.100
The case of an early rector of Bygrave shows the
lawless condition of the country. John Legat, rector,
it was presented in I 381, went to the house of John
de Walden, probably a relative of Sir Alexander de
Walden, for a time lord of the manor, and with his
chaplain William Huberd and others beat and killed
John de Walden and threw his body into the high-
way.101
In 1608 George Coke, brother of Sir John Coke,
' using but his purse and labours,' became rector of
Bygrave.102 While parson there he purchased a little
land at Baldock ' upon twenty-six years' frugality ' 103 ;
but Archbishop Laud blamed him for leaving the
parsonage ' stark nought and unfit for any man's
habitation ' 1M when he was consecrated Bishop of
Bristol 10 February 1632-3.
Another notable incumbent was John Savage, the
historian, who held the living from 1701 to 1708,
when he resigned it for the more valuable benefice of
Clothall.'05
There are no schools or endowed charities at
Bygrave.
CALDECOTE
Caldecota (xi cent.) ; Caldecote and Chaldecote
(xiv cent.) ; Calcott or Caldecott (xvi-xvii cent.).
The parish of Caldecote, which is only 325 acres
in extent, forms part of the plain in the north-west of
the county. The highest part of the parish is in
the south, where the land is some 190 ft. above the
ordnance datum, but from here the ground has a
gradual slope downwards to the north-west to a level
of 157 ft. near the bed of the Cat Ditch, a small
stream which forms part of the south-western boundary
of the parish. The low ground about this stream is
probably that referred to in a charter of 167 1 as
' Caldecott Marish.' ' The manor-house with a few
farm buildings lies in the south-west of the parish
near the church. These are the only buildings of
importance in the parish. Nor does the village appear
ever to have been of much greater extent, for in 1428
it was said that Caldecote paid no subsidy because
there were less than ten householders,' and in the 17th
century the population was formed of six families.3
But, small though this village probably was in the
14th century, it took its share in the peasant revolt
and aided in extorting a charter of liberties from the
Abbot and convent of St. Albans.4 There are no
main roads within the parish, but the Great North
Road running at a distance of about three-quarters of
a mile from the village gives easy communication with
the station of Baldock on the Cambridge branch of
the Great Northern railway. The soil is of a chalky
nature, and lies on a subsoil of chalk. The inhabit-
ants are occupied in agriculture, the greater part of
the land being arable. There are about 35 acres of
grass land and some 4 acres of woodland.4" In the
14th century it appears that the manorial lands were
cultivated on the two-field system.5 A 14th-century
place-name is ' Eldefeldbrade.' 6
In 1274—5 •' was sa'd that the vill of Caldecote
had been accustomed to pay \s. yearly to the sheriff,
but that this payment ceased7 about the time of the
siege of the castle of Bedford (June 1224), though
by what warrant was unknown.8
Before the Conquest Caldecote was
MA~NOR held by Lemar, a man of Archbishop
Stigand, and he had the power to sell.
In 1086, at the time of the Domesday Survey, it was
part of the Hertfordshire estate owned by Ralph de
Limesi, who held the manor in demesne.9 From
Ralph it presumably descended to Alan his son and
heir, who was succeeded by his son Gerard. This
Gerard owed scutage for lands in Hertfordshire about
1160.10 His heir was his elder son John.1' The
heirs of John de Limesi were his sisters Basilia wife
of Hugh Oddingselles and Eleanor wife of David
Lindsay.12 In 1 21 3 the former had livery of a
moiety of the Limesi inheritance in Hertfordshire
and elsewhere." Apparently the manor of Caldecote
96 Dugdale, A/on. ii, 229.
97 Ibid. 233.
98 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37.
99 See the list of patrons given by
Cussans, Hist, of Hern. Odsey Hund. 53.
100 Under Loc. Act, 60-1 Vict. cap.
228.
101 Assize R. 337, m. 4 d.
102 Hiit. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. iii,
133-4.
103 Ibid. App. ii, 146.
104 Ibid. 198. "» Diet. Nat. Biog.
1 Add. Chart. 35409.
3 Feud. Aids, ii, 454, 45 S.
3 Herts. Gen. and Antia. i, 22.
4 Walsingham, Gesta Abbat. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 330.
4j Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
5 Walsingham, op. cit. iii, 94-5.
6 Lansd. MS. 404, fol. 46.
7 i.e. it was probably appropriated by the
lord of the manor.
» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194.
9 V.C.H. Herts, i, 325A.
217
10 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 29,
693.
11 Dugdale, Mon. iii, 300-1 ; Stacey
Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus, 27.
12 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
81, 323 ; Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec.
Com.), 507 ; cf. tie account of Pirton.
The younger brother Alan (Dugdale,
loc. cit.) evidently died without issue
before John.
13 Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.),
507.
28
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
was included in the lands assigned to Oddingselles in
right of his wife." A sub-enfeoffment was made
probably before I 2 I 5,'5 the overlordship descending
after Hugh's death about 1305'6 to his son John
Oddingselles.17 The latter remained in possession of
the overlordship until 1328,18 when, under the style
of ' Sir John de Odyngselles lord of Long Igington '
(Itchington, co. Warw.), he surrendered to the Abbot
of St. Albans, then actual tenant of the manor, all
his rights except scutage.19 No further record of this
service has been found.
Gerard Furnivall was apparently tenant of the
manor under the Oddingselles in 1287.20 His grand-
father Gerard Furnivall had
presented to Caldecote Church
in 1239,*' and was probably
at that time lord also of the
manor. Gerard Furnivall, the
grandson, conveyed the manor
to William Hurst in 1287,"
reserving to himself the
service of id'.23 This rent
of \d. descended to his
daughter Loretta and her
husband John of Ousefleet
(Usflete).24 Apparently it was
intended that Hurst should
convey to the priory of Bush-
mead, co. Beds., for he had already obtained the
necessary licence to alienate in 12S3.25 It was
intended to endow two canons at Bushmead to pray
for the souls of ' Sir ' Gerard, his son and his wife, and
for Walter Hurst, brother of William, and others.56
The priory had owned \s. rent in Caldecote in
1236."
Apparently the intended alienation of the manor
by Hurst to Bushmead Priory did not take effect.
The priors had no interest in the manor in 1 29 1,28
and in 1 303 it was still held by William Hurst.29 His
widow Alice gave full seisin of this estate in I 3 17 to
Thomas of Chedworth and Robert his brother.30
Yearly rents of corn were reserved to Alice Hurst,
John Hurst (possibly her son), and to John's sisters
Christiana and Joan.31
Chedworth and his brother appear to have conveyed
the manor to Adam of Newnham,32 chaplain, probably
an agent for its conveyance to Abbot Hugh and the
convent of St. Albans.33 This conveyance took place
about I 32 1 34 with the licence of John Oddingselles,
the overlord.35 Royal licence also was given for the
acquisition of this manor by St. Albans, in part fulfil-
ment of a permit to acquire lands and rents to the
value of £ 100 a year.36 From this date the manor
was retained by the monastery of St. Albans until the
Dissolution.37
The Prior of Bushmead brought his claim to the
manor against the abbot in 1 341, asserting that he
had been unjustly dispossessed by William Hurst.38
Before the plea was terminated the prior made a formal
surrender of his claim to the abbot.39 At this time
Adam of Newnham was tenant for life, holding a lease
under the abbot.40
In 1356 the escheator seized the manor into the
king's hands, laying claim to the profits during the
last three vacancies of the abbey." The abbot, how-
ever, ' lacked not the heart to defend his right,' and
upon inquisition 42 it was found that the corrodies due
to Alice Hurst, John Hurst and his sisters had ex-
ceeded the profits of the manor, which was therefore
restored to the abbot.43
After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539
the king held the manor for a short time, and in
1540 granted it to Ralph Rowlatt the elder to
hold in as full a manner as Richard Bourman
(Boreman), the last of the abbots, had held it.44
Rowlatt dying in March 1542-3 left as heir his
son Sir Ralph,45 who entered the estate and held
courts in July I544.4G Early in the year 1557
Sir Ralph granted the manor to John Sapcote, John
Dowman and Jane his wife.47 This conveyance
appears to have been on behalf of the Dowmans, and
the manor remained with that family until 1593-4,
when James Dowman and Jane his wife, Edward
Dowman and Mary his wife conveyed it to James
Spurling, gent.48 The latter sold to William Plomer
of Gray's Inn and George Cockayne, and in 1597
Plomer again sold to John Spurling for ^1,200."
John Spurling died seised of it in September l6o3.,°
By his will he directed that the manor should be sold
to pay his debts, the residue of the price to be
14 In 1222 the custody of the lands
of David Lindsay which belonged to
the inheritance of John de Limesi in
Hertfordshire and elsewhere was granted
to the King of the Scots (Excerpta e Rot.
Fin. [Rec. Com.], i, 8r), but no record
has been found of any connexion between
Lindsay or his heirs (the Pinkeney family)
and Caldecote Manor (cf. the account of
Pirton). 15 See below.
16 Roberts, Cal. Gen. ii, 690.
17 Ibid.; Add. Chart. 19960.
18 Walsingham, Gesta Abbat. (Rolls
Ser.), ii, 121; iii, 93 ; Lansd. MS. 404,
fol. 46; Add. Chart. 19959; Cal. Pat.
1317-21, p. 563 ; Hisi. MSS. Com. Rep.
viii, App. i, la.
19 Add. Chart. 19960.
90 Feet of F. Herts. 1 5 Edw. I, no. 208.
21 Line. Epis. Reg. quoted by Cussans,
Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund. 20. Cussans
also includes John de Redewill, 121 5, in
his list of patrons ; it is possible that in
this, as well as in other cases, the pre-
sentation was to Caldecote, co. Cambs.
92 Feet of F. Herts. 15 Edw. I, 20S ;
Add. Chart. 19958.
23 Feet of F. Herts. 15 Edw. I,
no. 208.
24 Inq. a.q.d. file 145, no. 10. This
mesne lordship continued for a time
with the Furnivalls, but is later lost sight
of [Feud. Aids, ii, 432).
23 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 71. The
licence styles the estate to be alienated
'one carucate of land in Caldecote and
the advowson of the church.'
26 Stevens, App. to Mon. ii, 97.
27 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 283.
28 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), passim.
29 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
30 Cott. MS. Otho, D iii, fol. 140 et seq.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 63 ; Walsingham, Gcsta Abbat.
(Rolls Ser.), iii, 94.
82 Otherwise called Adam Flaun of
Newnham (Walsingham, op. cit. ii, 330).
33 Inq. a.q.d. file 145, no. 10.
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. Ill
(2nd nos.), no. 63.
35 Add. Chart. 19959.
36 Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 563; lint.
MSS. Com. Rep. viii, App. i, 2a.
31 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, g. 733 (42).
218
38 Walsingham, loc. cit.
39 Ibid. 332 ; cf. Stevens, App. to Mon.
ii, 97.
40 Walsingham, op. cit. ii, 331.
41 Ibid, iii, 92-3.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 63.
43 Walsingham, Gesta Abbat. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 92-5.
44 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, g. 733
(4*)-
45 Herts. Gen. and Antia. ii, 87 ; Harl.
MS. 757.
4b Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 2, 5.
17 Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. iv,
m. 24 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3 & 4
Phil, and Mary.
4» Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 36 Eliz.
49 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 39 Eliz.
m. 3; Add. Chart. (B.M.), 35403,
35405 ; Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxv, 127.
There was a reversionary lease for
twenty-one years to Henry Spurling
and others contingent upon the death of
Jane Turpyn, widow.
M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxv,
127.
ODSEY HUNDRED
divided among his five daughters. M His son and heir
Philip entered upon the estate,52 and in June 1 604
he and his mother Anne sold
the manor to Richard Hale
of Mincing Lane, citizen and
grocer of London,53 and lord
of the manorof King's Walden.
Richard Hale died in 1621,
having settled Caldecote on
his second son Richard.51 It
apparently descended to the
latter's son Robert Hale of
Newnham,55 since a Robert
Hale presented to the church
in 1666.56 In 1672 Robert
Hale the elder and his son
Robert conveyed the manor
to Sir John Hale, kt., of Stagenhoe,57 and in that
year an agreement was made between William Hale
of King's Walden and Sir John Hale of Stagenhoe,
CALDECOTE
under the tower, 3 3 ft. by 1 4 ft., tower erected over
the west end of the nave, and south porch 9 ft. 6 in.
by 7 ft. All dimensions are taken internally.
The walls are of flint rubble covered with cement,
with stone dressings ; the low-pitched roof is lead-
covered.
The whole of the building belongs to the middle
of the 15th century, with later repairs.
The chancel is of the same width as the nave, and
there is no chancel arch ; the old screen was demolished
before the middle of the 19th century.62 The east
window is of three cinquefoiled lights, traceried and
transomed. In the north wall is a two-light window
under a square head, and there is a similar window in
the south wall ; there is also in the south wall a single-
light low-side window.
In the south wall of the nave is a three-light
traceried and transomed window, and on the north
side is a similar window which has lost its tracery,
and has had two mullions and a transom substituted,
Caldecote Church from the North-west
whereby it was settled upon the latter for life with
remainder to his grandson John, second son of Sir John
Austen, bart., of Bexley. 8 Sir John Austen presented
to the church in l68o,59 but in 168; he transferred
the manor to William Hale of King's Walden.60 It
subsequently descended in this family until after 1873.
It was held by Mr. Wickham Inskip in 1906, and
Mr. William Dawe is now owner.
In 1356-7 there was on the estate a capital
messuage,61 possibly on the site of the present farm,
where there are traces of a homestead moat.
The church of ST. MART MAGDA-
CHURCH LENE consists of a chancel 17 ft. by
14 ft., nave, inclusive of western bay
all covered with cement. The south doorway has an
arch of two moulded orders and moulded jambs
without capitals ; the north doorway has been much
renewed. The south porch has a moulded arch under
a square head ; the jambs are semi-octagonal with
moulded capitals, but partly made up with cement ;
there is a two-light window on either side of the porch.
In the north-east corner is a 15th-century stoup
under a lofty and richly crocketed canopy, with a
broken basin supported on a stem decorated with
quatrefoiled panels. The whole is about 8 ft. 9 in.
in height, but much defaced.
The west tower is carried over the western bay of
the nave by three arches ; on the east by an arch of
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxxxv,
127.
52 Add. Chart. 35405, 35407.
53 Ibid. 35403, 35404.
54 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
no.
55 Vkit. of Herts. (Harl. Soc), 61; cf.
V.C.H. Herts, ii, 355.
50 Inst. Bk». (P.R.O.).
57 Add. Chart. 35412 ; Recov. R. Hil.
23 & 24 Chas. II, m. 63.
68 Add. Chart. 3541 1.
219
59 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
60 Add. Chart. 35413; Feet of F.
Herts. Hil. 1 Jas. II.
61 Walsingham, Gesta Abbat. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 94.
« Cussans, op. cit. OJsey Hun J. 1 8.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
two moulded orders, the outer order being continuous
down tlie jambs, the inner having a shafted jamb with
moulded capitals and bases ; on the north and south
by arches of two chamfered orders, well within the
lines of the nave walls, dying on the wall under the
eastern side of the tower ; and by the west wall of the
nave, which carries the west side of the tower. The
spaces thus formed between the tower and the north
and south walls of the nave are covered with lean-to
tiled roofs, the battlements on the walls of the chancel
and nave being stopped and returned against the east
angles of the tower. A similar form of construction
may be found at the neighbouring church ofNewnham,
but not elsewhere in the county.
The tower is of one stage above the roof, and has
no spire ; the parapet is plain. On each side of the
upper or belfry stage of the tower and in the west
wall of the nave is a two-light window with a quatre-
foiled head, all repaired with cement.
The font is octagonal, of I Jth-century date. The
sides of the basin are decorated with traceried panels.
Underneath are shields facing the four cardinal points ;
that on the east bears a saltire, that on the north a
cross, that on the west the instruments of the Passion,
and that on the south three crowns.
There are some plain I 5th-century benches in the
nave.
In the east window are some remains of 15th-
century decorative glass, and in the south nave
window is part of a kneeling figure in a blue gown
and the name William Makeley.
There is a tablet on the south wall of the nave to
Francis Squire, 1732, and a floor slab to James Flint,
1763.
There is one bell, dated 1630, by Robert Oldfeild.
The communion plate includes an engraved cup of
1569 and a paten of 1638.
There is a transcript of parish registers from
October 1609 to 1725,63 but the existing registers
date only from 1726. Book (i) contains baptisms,
burials and marriages from 1726 to 1807; (ii)
baptisms and burials from 1808 to 18 I 2. This last
book was designed for m.irriages also, but none were
solemnized in this parish during that period."'
In 1086 the nine villeins of
ADFOH'SON Caldecote with one priest had a
plough and a half." The advowson
was probably attached to the manor from the first. The
patron in 1239 was Gerard de Furnivall,66 grandfather
of the Gerard who held the manor in 1287.6'
Thenceforward the advowson descended with the
manor. The present patron is Mr. Wickham Inskip.
No appropriation seems to have taken place while
the Abbots of St. Albans were patrons of the living.
A terrier of 1638 states that 'the custome for milch
cows is fourepence a piece for ghest cows twopence
for lambes whose number amounts not to a tyth
fourepence a piece and for weaneling calves but
half-pence.' Other dues to the parsonage were
' the goring of two calves in the common and the
custome of paying two-pence for every plowe.' 6S
In 1657 the living of Caldecote was worth £40
annually, and that of the adjoining parish of
Newnham only £17.^ As there were only thirty-
three families in all in the two parishes, the
churches were only three-quarters of a mile apart and
none of the houses at a great distance from either, it
was thought advisable to unite the two livings. The
s de of the advowsons by Robert Hale probably pre-
vented the execution of this plan. The present
rector holds both livings, and since 1 894. service
has been held in either church alternately. The
rector lives at Newnham, and the old rectory-
house at Caldecote, which is near the church, is now
converted into a cottage. It dates from the end of
the 16th century, but little remains of the original
work except the moulded beams.
The church terrier of 1638 mentions a 'parsonage
howse and yearde,' a barn, a stable, and other out-
houses, and a ' plott of ground being in all by
estimation about the quantitie of three roodes of
grounde lying on the north side of the church and
compassed about on every side with high wayes save
only on the west side lyeth the cottage ground in
ye tenure of William Starre.' 70 He was apparently
the churchwarden whose ' mark ' is subscribed to this
terrier.71
There arc no endowed charities.
CLOTHALL
Cladhele (xi cent.) ; Clahall or Clohall (xiii cent.) ;
Clothale (xiv cent.).
The parish of Clothall lies on the summit and
slopes of the chalk hills to the south-east of the town
of Baldock. It is a district of scattered farms and
homesteads. The church, with the rectory and
schools, lies to the south-east of the main road
from Buntingford to Baldock in a commanding
but somewhat isolated position on the eastern
slope of Hickman's Hill. A branch of the main
road here turns the summit of the hill at a
height of about 492 ft. above sea level, descending
abruptly northwards. Between Baldock and Clothall
Church lies Clothall Field, containing about 600 acres,
a ' common-field ' of open arable land famous for
its barley, and divided into irregular strips by ' balks,'
or narrow banks of grass, sometimes grown with
bushes.1 The strips are still divided among the three
chief landowners : the rector, the Marquess of Salis-
bury and Miss Cotton Browne.' On the hill-side the
scarped terraces, or ' lynches,' form a distinctive
feature of the parish. The high ridges between these
terraces have the appearance of artificial defences,
but are in reality due to the custom of turning the
63 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 32.
64 Midd. and Hens. N. and Q. iii, 62.
05 I'.C.H. Herts, i, 325A.
06 Epis. Reg. quoted by Cussans, Hist,
of Herts. Odsey Hand. 20.
a See the account of Great MunJen.
The liit of patrons given by Cussans
includes John de Redewell, 1215. It is
not clear whether he presented to Calde-
cote in Herts, or to Caldecote in Cambs.
To the latter belong the presentations in
1262 and 1 268 included in Cussans' list (cf.
Chan. Inq. p.m. file 4;, no. 9 [Edw. II] ;
Testa deNcvilllR.ee. Com.], 354, 356).
220
68 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 226.
69 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 357.
70 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 224.
'i Ibid.
1 Cf. the open field at Bygrave.
9 Inform, kindly supplied by the
A. R. Buckland.
Caldecote Church : I 5th-century Stoup in South Porch
ODSEY HUNDRED
sod down-hill in ploughing. Groups of parallel strips
lie together in 'furlongs.' In the 13th century
' Greneweyhull ' was the lord's furlong ; other fur-
longs were ' Hepingborow ' and ' Smelinke.' 3 The
lord of the manor had right of foldage.'1 The
villagers no longer claim any rights in the open fields.
An attempt to inclose in 1885 was frustrated by
lack of unanimity among the landowners.5
Westfield, the second common field, lies south-east
of the church. In 1609 there were at least two other
open fields, ' Piebushfield ' and ' Sheldonfield,' 6 the
former near Kipple Field in LufFenhall.7 The arable
land south and east of the church is for the most part
inclosed ; in fact, the inconvenience of scattered
holdings in the common fields was already experi-
enced by the middle of the 13th century, when a
certain William Pasket apparently endeavoured to
consolidate an estate by buying up 23 acres in ten
parcels in addition to bondmen, houses, crofts of
pasture and other lands.8 Especially about Kingswood
Farm are the lands inclosed ; in a 1 5th-century lease
of the farm it was agreed that the owner should do
all 'reparacions as of dyking and closing.'9 In 1547
the owner of Kingswood had also 27 acres in the
common field called Sheldonfield and 38 acres in
Westfield, and these were held in twenty-one separate
strips. '"
The most notable of the scattered homesteads is
Quickswood, which lies to the north-east of the
church near the site of the former residence of the
Earls of Salisbury.11 The old house was demolished
about 1790, but the brick foundations of the house
and cellars exist immediately to the west of the present
farm-house. The cock-pit may still be seen in a field
to the north of the old house. Near Quickswood on
the borders of Wallington is Spital Wood, evidently
at one time the property of the hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene.1' Farther south a larger wood shelters
Clothallbury, which appears to be on the site of the
house called ' Clothall ' held by George Kympton
at the beginning of the 17th century.13 The existing
farm-house is said to have portions of the out-houses
of the old 'bury' incorporated with it, though it shows
very little signs of antiquity, but a few hundred yards
to the south-east are traces of an extensive mansion
apparently of considerable antiquity. Within the
well-defined inclosure are several old pollard oaks,
one of which measures 1 8 ft. in circumference 5 ft.
from the ground. The inclosure has been moated.
South of the church is Hooksgreen Farm with a
few cottages and the ' Barley Mow' public-house oppo-
site the ancient site of Hook's manor-house. These
lie near a moated site which tradition asserts was that
of Clothall Hospital. Another such site to the south-
east, upon Burnt House Lane, is that of the ' Tabard,'
CLOTHALL
a 16th-century inn, which with the adjacent meadow
called Fidler's Mead and other land (probably
including the neighbouring field called Chapels)
belonged to the gild of Baldock.1'
Kingswood Bury is a farm in the occupation of
Mr. Edward White in the south-east of the parish.
Beyond it the ground slopes downwards to the hamlet
of LufFenhall, built in a single street and lying partly
in Clothall, partly in Ardeley. Around it lie three
small open fields, known as LufFenhall, Newell and
Swamstey Commons. Over these the farmers have
the right of 'shackage' or grazing after harvest;
but the farmers generally come to a mutual agree-
ment about their rights of sheep-walk,15 and the
greater part of the LufFenhall land is inclosed. The
hamlet is well watered by the River Beane and its
tributaries.
The hospital of St. Mary Magdalene was founded
by Sir Hugh de Clothall, kt., probably the Hugh de
Clothall who was lord of the manor in 1 2 1 7.16 It was
at first a house for lepers, known as the ' Hospital
without Baldock.' 17 In 1 226 a two-days' fair upon the
feast of St. Bartholomew was granted to the hospital
until the king (Henry III) should be of age.18 In I 275
the brethren had licence to inclose a highway 588 ft.
long from their close to Clothall Church.19 The
original building was in an unsafe place, more than a
mile from the town, and suffered much from raids and
burnings by robbers.80 About 1308 it was therefore
removed to a more secure spot at ' Brade,' 21 but the
brethren were bound to continue the services at the
old chapel. Tradition locates its second site within
the moat near Hook's Green, but the name
'High Brade' was applied in 1839 to a field on
the main road, further south, between LufFenhall
Common and Westfield.22 The advowson of the
hospital belonged to the lords of the manor, and the
lords of Botteles and Hauvills evidently presented
jointly.23 When suppressed in 1547 the chapel was
said to be more than a mile from the church, and
there were many people dwelling about it.2* It was
then simply a chantry chapel.
In 1086 Clothall consisted of a main
MANORS manor and several small holdings. Osbern
held the main manor of Bishop Odo.
Leuiet held a virgate which may have been the
nucleus of the lands known as Mundens.25 The manor
of William de Ow, in the neighbouring parish of
Weston, extended into Clothall, where a certain
William (lord also of Hinxworth) held half a virgate
and 3 acres of him.26 LufFenhall was already a
separate hamlet, part of which was held by Osbern,
while the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's held the
manor of LufFenhall,27 and Theobald, tenant under
Hardwin Scales, had a holding which included halF
' Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv.
* Cal. Close, 1360-4, p. 387.
5 See Slater, Engl. Peasantry and End.
of Com. Fields, 43-4.
6 Add. MS. 335S2, fol. 5d., 8d.
7 Tithe apportionment, 1839.
8 Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv, passim.
9 Add. Chart. (B.M.), 3542!.
10 Close, ; Edw. VI, pt. iv, no. 26.
11 See below.
12 See below.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccviii,
118.
14 Misc. Eks. (Aug. Off.), lxviii, fol.
270 d. ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. East.
I Eliz. m. II; cf. tithe apportion-
ment.
15 Slater, op. cit. 45 ; inform, kindly
supplied by the Rev. A. R. Euckland.
16 There is no direct proof that this
Hugh was the founder, but the priests
were to celebrate daily for his soul and
those of his parents (Harl. Chart. 112
A3).
17 Harl. Chart. 112 A3.
18 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 107.
19 Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 85; Inq.
a.q.d. file 4, no. 7.
20 Harl. Chart. 112 A 3 ; Line. Epis.
Reg. Dalderby, fol. 239.
221
21 See an interesting article on the
hospital by H. C. Andrew, East Herts.
Arch. Soc. Trans, iv (1), 86.
22 Tithe apportionment 1839; the name
' Brode,' however, seems to have been
somewhat general ; it was also applied tu
a field near Baldock abutting on the
Icknield Way and on 'Bradstreet ' (Harl.
Chart. 112 F 14).
23 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, iii, 506.
21 Chant. Cert. Herts. 20, no. 65.
25 See below.
2« V.C.H. Herts, i, 328a.
27 See below.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
a hide in Luffenhall and a virgate all but 3 acres in
Clothall.28
The main manor of CLOTHJLL was held in the
time of Edward the Confessor by Alnod Grud, a man
of Archbishop Stigand's, and he could sell it without
the archbishop's licence. After the Conquest it was
acquired by Odo of Bayeux, of whom Osbern, tenant of
a considerable fief in Hertfordshire, held it. Osbern 's
holding included 7 hides and 3^ virgates.29 In the
time of King Edward three sokemen of the king held
2 hides and 3 virgates, paying I id. to the sheriff as
commutation for 'avera,' or cartage; but after the
king's death (and presumably before that of Stigand,
whose men they became) their land was attached
to the manor.30 Two other sokemen of the archbishop
held half a virgate which they retained in 1086. It
also seems probable that the land which Osbern held
of Odo of Bayeux in the hamlet of Luffenhall was
added in the course of time to the manor of Clothall.
This holding consisted of 2 \ hides ; I \ hides had been
held by two men of Archbishop Stigand, while the
remaining hide had been held by a man of Almar de
Benington, who had formerly rendered ' avera ' as
the king's sokeman.31
Odo of Bayeux forfeited Clothall with all his other
English possessions in 1088, when he led the Norman
rebellion against William Rufus. Many of his lands
were subsequently held by service of castle guard at
Dover ; some of these were assigned to the custodia, or
castle-guard barony, of Port,33 and among them was
Clothall. The barony was held by the family of Port
of Basing,33 and in 1 166 John de Port returned the
name of Robert de Clothall (Glahalde) among the
knights who owed him service.34 This Robert had
apparently succeeded to the holding of Osbern.
The holding of Robert was stated to be one knight's
fee,35 but early in the next century the tenant of
Clothall owed the service of two fees to the Port
barony.36 It was rendered three times yearly,37
covering altogether twenty-four weeks.38 During the
1 6th century the manor was still said to be held of
the king as of the 'honour of Dover,'39 but the
re-grant to Thomas Chalmer and Edward Cason, kt.,
in 1604 stipulated that it should be held in socage
and not by knight's service of the manor of East
Greenwich.40
The overlordship passed from John de Port to his
son Adam de Port,41 and probably from him to his
son William ' de St. John.' It remained in the male
line of the St. John family until 1337." It was then
assigned in dower to Mirabel widow of Hugh de
St. John, who had married Thomas de Aspall.43 It
afterwards formed part of the share of Margaret wife
of John de St. Philibert, eldest daughter and co-heir
of Hugh de St. John, after the death of her young
brother Edmund.44 Her heir was her sister Isabel
wife of Luke Poynings,4, but the mesne lordship
was probably allowed to lapse, for late returns record
only the service due to the Crown at Dover Castle.
In the 1 2th and 13th centuries the immediate
tenants of the manor took their surname from Clothall.
It is possible that one of these was a certain Laurence
called ' Laurence Scot of Clothall,' for 13th-century
charters refer to service due to the ' heir of Laurence
Scot lord of Clothall.' 46 Robert de Clothall held the
manor in 1166.47 Richard de Clothall, who was
living in I 200, was tenant of the manor in I 2 I 1-1 2."
During the disturbances of 12 I 5 and 12 16 his lands
were in the hands of the king, who granted them to
Eustace ' de Campo Remigii.'49 The overlord, how-
ever, had the custody of Clothall, possibly during the
minority of Richard's heir.50 This seems to have been
his son Hugh de Clothall,51 who probably founded the
hospital of St. Mary Magdalene.52 In 1 2 1 7 Hugh
was restored to all the lands of which he had been
dispossessed at the beginning of the war,53 evidently
in consequence of the grant to Eustace. At the same
time he delivered to the Sheriff of Hertfordshire for
the king certain chirographs and charters of the Jews.54
He may possibly be identical with Hugh de Clothall
(Clahull), who died seised of lands in Ireland before
I 246. 5S At Clothall he was succeeded by his brother
Simon de Clothall,56 who died before I 248," leaving
three daughters and co-heirs, Emecine, Muriel and
Maud.58 During their minority Robert de St. John,
the overlord, granted the manor to John de Gisors for
fourteen years. He subsequently sold the marriage of
Emecine for 40 marks to Geoffrey de Hauvill, the king's
falconer and bailiffof Rockingham Forest.59 Geoffrey
and Emecine in contravention of an agreement made
with the overlord entered upon the manor before the
lease to John de Gisors had expired. The tenant
brought a plea into the King's Court charging Geoffrey
and Emecine with ejecting him by force, ' with
habergeons, bows and arrows,' and with carrying off
his corn and goods. It was finally agreed that John
de Gisors should retain two-thirds of the manor
(possibly the shares of Emecine's younger sisters) till
the end of his term, while Geoffrey and Emecine
paid the compensation estimated by Richard de
Havering and William Pasket.60
In 1 27 1 Maud wife of Richard de Bottele and
youngest daughter of Simon de Clothall surrendered
one-third of 32/. ^d. rent and of the advowson to
Geoffrey and Emecine.61 It is said that this Maud
died childless, and that her portion of the inheritance
28 V.C.H. Herts, i, 3384.
29 Ibid. 309A.
30 Cf. ibid. 267-70.
31 Ibid. 309A.
32 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 618.
33 Cf. V.C.H. Hunt:, iv, 115-16.
34 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 208.
35 The same service is given in the
time of Adam de Port (Testa de Nevill
[Rec. Com.], 270, 280).
36 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 618,
721.
37 Ibid. 706.
36 Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Trin.
+4 Edw. Ill, 'Recorda,' m. 1.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, 23.
*" Pat. 2 Jas. I, pt. xix, m. 21.
41 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 270,
280.
42 Feud. Aids, ii, 433 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
3 Edw. Ill, no. 67 ; 1 1 Edw. Ill, no. 49.
For the pedigree see Gen. (new ser.), xvi,
I, and V.C.H. Hants, iv, 115-16.
43 Cal. Close, 1337-9, P- 2°-
44 Ibid. 1349-54, p. 70.
45 V.C.H. Hants, iv, 1 15-16.
*e Exch. Tranacr. of Chart, xv, m. id.;
Harl. Chart, ill D 24.
47 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 208.
48 Ibid. 618; Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec.
Com.), ii, 275.
49 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 251.
50 Testa de Ncvill (Rec. Com.), 270,
280.
222
51 Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv, m. 1.
52 See above.
53 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 324.
54 Ibid. 323.
55 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 487. There
were, however, others besides the lords
of the manor who took the name of
Clothall (cf. Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv,
passim).
56 Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv, m. 1 ;
Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 706.
57 Cur. Reg. R. 161, m. 3.
58 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
59 Cal. Bat. 1301-7, p. 227.
60 Cur. Reg. R. 161, m. 3.
61 Feet of F. Div. Co. 55 & 56
Hen. Ill, no. 4S8.
ODSEY HUNDRED
was so divided between her two sisters that Muriel had
the greater part of the manor.62 It is doubtless due
to this fact that Muriel's purpart)' in Clothall was
known from the 15 th century onwards as 'the manor
of BOTTELES.' Apparently she married first Roger
Scales,63 and afterwards John Poley,64 who was holding
this moiety of the manor in 1303.60 It is said that
she had a son Laurence,66 possibly the Laurence ' de
Bottele ' who held land in Clothall about 1 3 1 7." In
February 136 1-2 Henry 'son of John Bottele of
Clothall ' conveyed certain rents with manorial rights
and one-third of the common fold of Clothall and one-
third of the advowson of the church to Sir John de la
Lee, kt., and Joan his wife.68 These appear to have
been identical with Botteles Manor. This Henry
was s.tid (in 1405) to have been son of Laurence son of
Muriel Poley.69 It seems possible that he was grand-
son of Laurence, and that the descendants of Muriel
took the name of Bottele from their estate at Clothall.
Sir John ' atte Lee,' kt., died seised of the manor in
1369, leaving a son and heir Walter,™ afterwards
knighted. Sir Walter was burdened with debt,71 ar.d
after his death his trustees transferred all his rights in
Clothall to three brothers, Matthew and Henry Rede
and Thomas Blount.72 By 1405 these three had also
acquired the manor of Hauvills (see below). Henry
Rede died about 1421 and Matthew before that date.73
Hauvills and Botteles were settled upon Margaret wife
of John Mitchell,74 for whom they had possibly been
holding in trust. Her husband was returned as the
tenant of a knight's fee (Hauvills) in Clothall in
1428,75 and in February 1444-5 he died seised of
both Hauvills and Botteles.76 Margaret survived till
about 145 5. " Of her three daughters, Cecily wife
of William Sydney, who died in her mother's lifetime,
had two grandchildren, Elizabeth and Anne, aged
respectively seven and six in 1465. Another daughter
Elizabeth wife of John Wode died 26 March 1463—4,
and the third, Joan, married first William Druell and
afterwards John Brunne.78
Hauvills and Botteles passed to the descendants of
Joan Druell. In 1485 William Druell (possibly the
son of William and Joan) died seised of them.79 He
was succeeded by his son John, who died childless in
1495, his mother Anne (then wife of George
Alyson) 80 being still alive.81 His brother and heir
Burgoyne. Gules
chcveron or befween thr
tatbots argent ivith
battled chief argent at
three martlets axle
therein.
CLOTHALL
Richard Druell came of age in 1 503. S2 The Cloth.ill
estate descended at his death in 1525 to his daughter
Anne, who married first Robert Warner83 and
secondly Thomas Perient of Digswell.84 Two of her
daughters, Mary then wife of
George Horsey and Anne wife
of Anthony Carleton, con-
veyed their shares in Clothall
in the spring of 1550 to
George Burgoyne,85 who had
married a third daughter,
Dorothy.86 In 1572 settle-
ment of two-thirds of the
manors was made on George
and Dorothy Burgoyne with
successive remainders in tail-
male to their sons Thomas,
George and others. George
Burgoyne died in I 588," but
his widow apparently con-
tinued to reside at Clothall,
with her younger son George,88 upon whom the re-
maining third of the manors was settled.89 During his
mother's life the elder son Thomas Burgoyne of Weston
raised £2,000 on his reversionary rights in the two-
thirds of the estate acquired by his father.90 In February
1 602 Dorothy Burgoyne presented to the rectory.91
Probably she died soon afterwards, for in 1603 Peter
Pierson and William Plomer and others were dealing
with the estate,92 and in 1 604 her first cousin George
Perient of Little Ayot and others surrendered to the
Crown ' the manor of Clothall and manors of Hauvills,
Botteles, Hooks and Brickfields formerly the possessions
of Simon of Clothall and late of George Burgoyne and
Dorothy his wife.' 93 The surrender seems to have
been intended to procure a change in the tenure.9'
In 1604 the estate was re-granted to Sir Thomas
Challoner, kt., and Edward Cason,95 agents in a con-
veyance to Nicholas Trott,96 son-in-law to George
Perient.97 Trott sold to William second Earl of
Salisbury in June 16 17,98 and the estate has remained
with his direct descendants until the present day.
The moiety of the main manor which descended
to Geoffrey and Emecine de Hauvill after the death
of Simon de Clothall afterwards took the name of
HJUHLLS.*9 Geoffrey de Hauvill died about
62 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
83 Feet of F. Herts. 56 Hen. Ill,
no. 638. M De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
65 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
66 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
67 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 10.
68 Cal. Close, 1360-4, p. 387. It is
noteworthy that the manor of Hooks
was, at a later date, said to be held of
John Botles (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. z],
xlv, 23).
69 De Banco R. 578, m. 231. It is to
be noted that Laurence ' de Bottele' was
coroner of Hertfordshire till 1327, when
he was disqualified by infirmity and age
{Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 16).
70 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Edw. Ill, no. 37.
In 1357 Thomas Hauvill, lord of the
second moiety of Clothall, released all
reversionary rights in this moiety to Sir
John (Assize R. 339).
71 Close, ;o Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 8 d., 9,
12, 13 d.
72 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
73 Sharpe, Cal. of Wills in Ct. of
Husting, ii, 424.
74 The manor was settled on her heirs
(Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 31).
75 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
7S Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Hen. VI, no. 15.
77 Ibid. 33 Hen. VI, no. 31.
78 Ibid. 4 Edw. IV, no. 25.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), i, 134.
80 H. C. Andrew, ' Hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene,' East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
iv(l), 92.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xi, 12.
82 Ibid, xvi, 119-20.
83 Ibid, xlv, 23. His second daughter
Joan, who was fourteen years younger,
does not seem to have inherited and
possibly died s.p. In 1546 Anne was
styled heir, not co-heir, of Richard Druell
(Feet of F. Herts. East. 38 Hen. VIII).
84 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii),
•57-
85 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3 Edw. VI.
88 Visit, of Herts, loc. cit.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cciii, 85.
88 Chan. Proc. Eliz. Bb iii, 40.
Evidently misled by an erroneous reading
of these proceeding?, Mr. Andrew asserts
223
that this Dorothy was wife of the younger
George [East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iv
['].95)-
69 Close, 36 Eliz. pt. x, m. 2.
90 Ibid. The money was to be repaid to
John Goodman of Cumberlow in the
church porch of Clothall ; cf. Feet of F.
Herts. Mich. 29 & 30 Eliz. ; Mich.
33 & 34 Eliz.; Hil. 35 Eliz.; Hil. and
East. 38 Eliz. ; Recov. R. Trin. 39 Eliz.
m. 6. Dorothy Burgoyne suffered recovery
of the remaining third in I 588 (Recov. R.
Hil. 30 Eliz. m. 66).
91 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
7*-
98 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 Jas. I
93 Close, 2 Jas. I, pt. xxxi.
94 See above.
95 Pat. 2 Jas. I, pt. xix, m. 20.
™ Close, 9 Jas. I, pt. xxxiv, no. 13;
cf. Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 10 Jas. I.
97 Herts. Visit. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 157.
98 Hatfield MSS. quoted by Clutterbuck,
op. cit. iii, 503.
99 The name has first been found in
1445 (Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Hen. VI, 15).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
1302,'"° and was succeeded by his son John,1 who
also held his father's office in Rockingham Forest.2
It is said that Richard Monchesney and his wife Joan
acquired a life interest in Hauvills in accordance with
a settlement made by Geoffrey de Hauvill, and that a
certain Reginald de Hauvill succeeded under the
same settlement.3 Certainly Richard Monchesney was
assessed for a sixteenth in Clothall in I 3 16-18,' and
he had grant of free warren in Clothall in 1 3 3 3-4
Joan widow of John (possibly an error for Richard)
Monchesney was holding this moiety of Clothall in
I 349-6 She seems to have been succeeded by Reginald
de Hauvill,' and his son Thomas witnessed the convey-
ance of Botteles to John atte Lee in 1 36Z.8 Reginald
de Hauvill had a brother Ralph of Baldock, whose
widow Beatrice claimed dower in certain small parcels
ofland in Clothall in 13569 ; but it does not appear
that Ralph had any right in the manor, although his
title to it was asserted later.10
The earlier settlement on Richard Monchesney
evidently brought upon Thomas de Hauvill dissensions
with the Monchesney family, for he was charged with
entering the manor of Walter Monchesney ll at Clothall
and carrying away £280. At the same time he was
accused of imprisoning the king's bailiff at Southwark
for thirty-seven weeks. and committing various other
enormities.12 The heirs of Thomas were his sisters
Emecine and Anne. Anne's son Robert sold his
moiety of Hauvills to Matthew and Henry Rede and
Thomas Blount, who also acquired Botteles. The
second moiety descended to Emecine's granddaughter
Katherine wife of John Piers.15 In 1395-6 John
and Katherine conveyed their share in the manor to
John and Anne Bunvell,14 from whom it was acquired
by Matthew and Henry Rede and Thomas Blount.15
It was thus re-united with Botteles and the rest of
Hauvills.
The reputed manor of BRICKFIELDS (Brettevyle,
xv cent. ; Brytvyles or Britfield, xvi cent.) was held of
the manor of Hooks ls (q.v.). During the 14th century
it was held by the Bretteville family. In 1300 Hugh
Bretteville of Hertford gave to his son William, upon
his marriage with Eleanor daughter of William Bretun,
his tenement in Clothall with villeins, homage,
wards, reliefs and escheats.1' William son of Hugh
Bretteville was possessed of land in Clothall in
131 8,ls and in 1333 William and Eleanor Bretteville
granted their ' manor of Clothall ' to Hugh Bretteville
and his wife Joan in tail with remainder to John
brother of Hugh.19 A William Bretteville and his
wife Joan conveyed the manor to William Pekke and
William Goldington in 1443.'° It ultimately came
into the possession of Richard Druell, who held it with
Hauvills and Botteles at his death in 1 525.21 Its
subsequent descent is identical with that of the main
manor (q.v.).
HOOKS (Hokeslond, xv cent. ; Howkes, xvi cent.)
was apparently held of the manor of Botteles.2' It
was presumably held by Robert Hook, citizen and
grocer of London, about 1408, when he presented a
rector to the church.23 He would therefore appear
to have acquired the one-third of the advowson which
was subsequently attached to the 'manor' of Hooks
between 1405, when Matthew and Henry Rede and
Thomas Blount were possessed of the entire advowson,
and 1408.'1 Robert Hook again presented a rector
in 1421," but between that date and 1445 'a moiety
of the manor of Clothall called Hokeslonds ' was
granted to John Mitchell, lord of Hauvills and Botteles,
by a certain William Aston.'6 ' Hokesmanoir ' was
settled on Elizabeth daughter of Margaret Mitchell.
Her heirs were her sister Joan and nieces Eliza-
beth and Anne.2' The subsequent history of Hooks
is identical with that of the main manor.
The site of the 'manor-house' lies on the way from
Clothall to Cumberlow, nearly opposite Hook's Green
Farm.'8
KINGSWOOD BURT (Kingeswode, xii-xiii cent. ;
Kingswoodbery, xv-xvi cent.) was held of the Abbot
of Westminster as of his neighbouring manor of
Ash well.'9
A separate tenement of this name existed in 1 198,
when seisin of it was recovered by Robert son of
Osbert,30 who seems to have been succeeded by
Julianne de Kingswood.31 Robert de Kingswood
owed service in Clothall about the middle of the 13th
centurv ; and there is reason to suppose that Kings-
wood was identical with the wood called ' Socage ' in
Clothall Park, for which Simon de Clothall owed two
pounds of pepper to Adam de Hippegrave.32
The Kingswood family held land in Clothall during
the first half of the 14th century.33 The 'manor' of
Kingswood Bury came later to John and Joan Venour
and was divided among their daughters and co-heirs.
Margery Venour, one of these, surrendered her third
share in the manor to Peter Paul and his wife Alice
in 1422.34 Alice Paul seems to have held another
third in her own right.35 Peter Paul was in possession
100 He was pardoned for taking a stag
in the king's forest 28 May 1302 (Cal.
Pat. 1301-7, p. 227). His son held
Clothall in 1303 (Feud. Aids, ii, 433).
1 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
3 Cal. Tat. 1 301— 7, p. 323 ; see Cal.
Gen.\\,yoy. 8 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
4 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 10, 11.
5 Chart. R. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 23. In
1329 an inquisition on the knights' fees
held of John de St. John returns the
tenant as 'Amice' de Hauvill (Chan.
Inq. p.m. Edw. Ill, file 19, no. 1). It is
possible that this refers to Emecine wife
of Geoffrey, for in such returns the name
given is often that of a former tenant.
6 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 70.
7 De Banco R. 578, m. 231. A Regi-
nald Hauvill was also assessed for the
sixteenth of 1317-18 (Lay Subs. R. bile.
120, no. 11).
8 Cal. Close, 1360-4, p. 38- ; cf. De
Banco R. 578, m. 231.
9 De Banco R. 348, m. 435 d. ; 349,
m. 171 d.
10 Ibid. 578, m. 231, by James Billing-
ford and his wife Aubrey, who failed to
make good their claim to it.
11 This may refer to part of Walling-
ton Manor (q.v.), which extended into
Clothall.
u Assize R. 339. The roll is undated ;
apparently the presentments were made
in or after 1362.
13 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
14 Feet of F. Herts. 19 Ric. II,
no. 169.
15 De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, 23.
17 Harl. Chart, m D 57.
18 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 11 ;
cf. Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 382.
19 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Edw. Ill,
no. 153.
20 Ibid. 22 Hen. VI, no. 116.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, 23.
224
■- Ibid.
23 Epis. Reg. quoted by Clutterbuck,
Hist, and Antiq. of Herts, iii, 504.
u Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 3 Hen. VI, no. 3 1 ;
De Banco R. 578, m. 231.
25 Epis. Reg. quoted by Clutterbuck,
cit.
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Hen. VI, no. 1 5 :
cf. 33 Hen. VI, no. 31.
-r Ibid. 4 Edw. IV, no. 25.
'-s See Andrew, 'Hospital of St. Mary
M^dalene,' East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
iv (,), 89.
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), x, 70 j
xxxix, 88 ; De Banco R. 349, m. 279.
30 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 177.
31 Ibid, ii, 233.
32 Exch. Transcr. of Chart, xv, m. 1 d.
33 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 1 1 ; De
Banco R. 349, m. 279.
3i Close, 10 Hen. V, m. [8 ?].
35 Feet of F. Herts. I Hen. VI, no. 2 ;
cf. ibid. no. 14.
ODSEY HUNDRED
of the whole manor by 1437. 3S In accordance with
settlements made in 144.5 and 1466" it descended
to his son Richard Paul of Baldock, who in 1477
let it to John Sturgeon for twelve years in return for
£50 and a gown of cloth.38 In 1484 Richard Paul
conveyed the manor (probably in trust) to John
Sturgeon and others.39 In 1485 Thomas Nudegate,
son of Richard's sister Alice, surrendered his right in
the manor to Sturgeon.'10 The latter sold to Richard
Sheldon, who was succeeded in 1494 by his son
Richard." Richard Sheldon the younger settled this
manor on himself and his wife Alice with remainder
to his nephew Richard Barington. He died in 1518,
but his wife survived.12 It is not clear whether
Barington inherited the manor. Some, at least, of
the manorial lands had been leased to Edmund
Kympton of Weston." In 1546 Peter Hering and
his wife Joan conveyed the manor to Thomas Matthew
and others," evidently trustees in a sale to George
Lucy, to whom Edmund Kympton released his rights
in 1 551."
George Lucy was succeeded by his son Sir Edmund
Lucy, kt., of Broxbourne before 1580,46 and in 1610
Sir Edmund entailed the manors of Kingswood Bury
and Mundens upon his son Henry and the latter's
wife Anne Sheldon.47 Sir Edmund died in 1630,
and his son Henry inherited the estate,48 which was
retained by his widow after his death. In 1656 she
joined with her eldest son, Edward Lucy, in a sale to
Rowland Hale of King's Walden for the benefit of
his son William Hale of Gray's Inn, who was about
to marry Mary Elwes.49 The manor remained thence-
forward in the family of Hale50 until 1888, when
it was purchased by the Marquess of Salisbury, in
whose family it still remains.
In 1552 the site of the manor is described as
' motted rounde abowte with an orcheyard gardeyn
and a cow-yard adjoyning to the same motte.' M
LUFFENHALL was granted with Ardeley to the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's.52 It has since con-
tinued to be a member of Ardeley Manor in this
hundred (q.v.).
MUNDENS was a reputed manor near Kingswood
Bury, its lands lying on the side of Burnt House Lane
opposite the place called ' Chapels.' 53 Some of these
may be identical with the virgate held by Osgot, one
of Eddeva's men, before the Conquest, and afterwards
attached to Munden in Broadwater Hundred. In
1086 this virgate was held of Count Alan by Leuiet.54
The earliest known reference to the ' manor ' of
Mundens in Clothall dates from 1466, when it was
entailed upon the heirs of Peter Paul and his wife
Alice.55 It has subsequently remained in the posses-
CLOTHALL
sion of the successive lords of Kingswood Burv
(q.v.).
QUICKSJVOOD or QUICKSETT was the resi-
dence of George Burgoyne in 1554.56 It may
therefore be the site of either of his manor?, Hauvills
or Botteles. The site of the former house is near that
of the present farm. Nicholas Trott resided at
Quickswood,57 and for many years after the acquisition
of Clothall Manor by the Earl of Salisbury Quicks-
wood was an occasional residence of the Cecil family.58
It was occupied by the earl in 1620,59 and in 1632 he
caused the annual sermon provided by St. John's
College, Cambridge, to be preached at Clothall
instead of Cheshunt.60 In 1647 the earl's bailiff was
obliged to quarter four Parliamentarian soldiers at
Quickswood.61 The house was razed to the ground
by James Cecil, the seventh earl, about 1 790.63
The church of ST. MART THE
CHURCH VIRGIN stands on rising ground to the
north-e.ist of the village, and is built of
flint rubble with stone dressings ; the roofs are of
lead. It consists of chancel 27 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.,
nave 36 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft., south chapel 18 ft. by
10 ft. 6 in., and south tower, the lower stage of
which forms the porch. All the measurements are
taken internally. A north vestry was added in the
19th century. The present church appears to have
been erected c. 1350-70 on the foundations of the
older one or the older stones re-used, as some of the
lower stones are of shelly oolite, the rest of the stone-
work being of clunch. The south chapel, tower and
chancel may have been built a little later in the 14th
century.63 All the windows of the chancel are of
modern stonework, and the chancel arch has been
cemented. The roof is modern. In the south
wall is a trefoil-headed piscina of late 14th-century
work, and in the north wall is a square locker with
rebated edge ; there is a blocked doorway on the
south side. On the north wall of the nave are two
windows having two cinquefoiled lights ; one is of
15th-century date, the other being a modern copy;
the west window of two cinquefoiled lights also
belongs to the 15 th century. All the old tracery has
been repaired with cement. In the south wall is a
14th-century arch opening into the south chapel.
The arch is of two splayed orders, the jambs of semi-
octagonal piers separated by filleted bowtels, and with
moulded capitals and bases. The south doorway is
of the 14th century, and retains the original plank
door, with ornamental iron hinges. The name 'John
Warrin' is painted in black letter on the inside. The
south chapel has an east window with 15th-century
tracery of three lights, the jambs being of earlier date.
36 Close, 15 Hen. VI, m. 10.
37 Add. Chart. (B.M.), 35417-19.
39 Ibid. 35421.
39 Feet of F. Herts. 2 Ric. Ill, no. 8 ;
cf. Add. Chart. (B.M.), 35422.
40 Add. Chart. 35423-4; cf. Feet of
F. Herts. 22 Edw. IV, .10. 65, a quit-
claim from Naverina wife of William
Foljambe two years before the convey-
ance from Paul.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), x, 70.
" Ibid, xxxix, 88.
43 Close, 5 Edw. VI, pt. iv, no. 26.
44 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 37 Hen. VIII.
45 Ibid. Mich. 5 Edw. VI.
40 Recov. R. East. 22 Eliz. m. 105.
47 Add. Chart. 35429-30 ; cf. ibid.
35431-
tb Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxvi, 5 8 ;
cccclxxxi, 186.
49 Add. Chart. 35432-3; Recov. R.
East. 1656, m. 107.
50 Add. Chart. 35416 ; Feet of F. Herts.
Hil. 10 Anne ; see the account of King's
Walden. 51 Add. MS. 33582, fol. 4.
58 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
W.D. xvi, fol. 80, &c.
53 Add. MS. 33582, fol. 5.
M V.C.H. Herts, i, 319/..
55 Add. Chart. 35419. In 1362 Henry
Bottele had rent from lands ' sometime
Mundenes' in Clothall (Ca/.Ctef, 1360-4,
p. 387). :,li Acts of P.C. 1554-6, p. 106.
57 Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 157.
58 Bucekuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.),
i, 33S.
225
59 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 113.
60 Andrew, 'Quickswood,* East Herts.
Arch. Soc. Tram, iv (1), 96.
61 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. i, 1 70a.
62 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
64. See above.
63 Richard Druell (d. 1525) bequeathed
31. 4<£ to the sepulchre light in the
church ofClothall(P.C.C. Wills, 7 Porch).
In 1526 Grace Druell directed that
her body should be buried in the
chapel of St. James within the parish
church of our Lady of Clothall, leaving
261. 8</. for the repair of the chapel and
all her bee-hives for the maintenance of
the lights (ibid. 14 Porch). The south
chapel is probably the chapel of St. James
here referred to.
29
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the south wall is a two-light window with flowing
tracery of the 14th century, the inner sill being
carried down to form a seat, and beside it is a single-
light window of the same date. There is a cinque-
foil-headed piscina in the south wall, and just above
it and in the north wall opposite are two small stone
brackets, with sockets in their tops, probably for
lights ; there is a small square locker in the north
wall.
The tower is of two stages with a tiled pyramidal
roof. The lower stage forms the south porch, which
has a moulded arched entrance, the mouldings dying
on the splayed jambs. There is a single-light cusped
opening on each face of the tower at the belfry stage.
There are a few old timbers in the nave roof. The
font is of the 12th century. It is of Purbeck marble,
and has a square basin carried upon a large central
shaft, with a smaller shaft at each angle ; the bases
are moulded and rest on a square plinth. On each
face of the basin are four shallow round-headed panels.
The 17th-century cover is of wood.
In the east window is some old glass ; the head of
a female saint is probably of late 14th-century work ;
a number of quarries painted with birds and a border
with ' Maria ' monogram repeated may belong to the
next century. In the south-west window of the
chapel are some heraldic fragments.
There are some 15th-century bench ends with
poppy heads at the west end of the church, much
defaced. In the chapel are fragments of a slab with
foliated cross and remains of a marginal inscription
in Lombardic characters, probably of mid- 14th-
century date.
In the chancel are several brasses : a priest in cope,
without inscription, of the early 1 6th century ; a priest
in eucharistic vestments, the arms missing, to John
Vynter, rector of the parish, who died in 1404; a
priest in eucharistic vestments, holding chalice and
wafer, with the symbol of the Trinity above, to John
Wryght, rector of the parish, 15 19; to Anne
Bramfield, 1578 ; to William Lucas, rector of the
parish, 1602. Fixed to the wall of the chapel is an
inscription to Thomas Dalyson, rector of the parish,
who died in I 541 ; this probably belongs to the brass
in the chancel.
There are two bells in the tower : the treble is
inscribed ' calit me joannes + ' with mark of
Richard Wymbish, 14th century ; the tenor 'i.h.s.
ijc T . w 1J1 s.' by an unknown 16th-century founder.
The communion plate includes an engraved cup
and cover paten, 1 571, and a paten of 1693 presented
by Rev. W. Neale, M.A., rector in 1755.
The registers are in two books : (i) baptisms and
burials from 171 7 to 181 2 and marriages 1 71 7 to
1 75 3 ; (ii) marriages from 175410 1812.
There is a bishop's transcript for the year com-
mencing Michaelmas 1588.
The earliest known record of
ADVOWSON Clothall Church is the presentation
of a rector in 1237 by Simon de
Clothall, lord of the manor.64 Maud de Bottele, one
of his three daughters, surrendered her share in the
advowson to her sister Emecine de Hauvill in I27I,6S
and at the same time it was agreed that Muriel
Scales, the third daughter, and her heirs should
present for one turn and Emecine and her heirs for
the two following turns.66 This arrangement held
good until 1404, when James Billingford and his wife
Aubrey presented a certain John Hogges, under colour
of their acquisition of the rights of John son of
Richard kinsman of Ralph brother and heir of
Reginald de Hauvill. Matthew and Henry Rede and
Thomas Blount, who had acquired the manors of
Hauvills and Botteles (q.v.), brought a plea against
Billingford in 1405, and judgement was given in
their favour.67
It has been seen that one-third of the advowson
subsequently descended with themanor of Hooks (q.v.).
The whole advowson was re-united when John
Mitchell acquired that manor, and has since been
retained by the successive lords of the main manor.
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters in Clothall
was certified in i720.bS
The official trustees hold a sum
CHARITIES of /131 6s. 2d. consols, which is
regarded as representing the invest-
ment of £60, stated in the Parliamentary returns of
1786 to have been given to the poor by Dr. James
Sibbald and others, and of a legacy of £50 by will of
James Smyth, proved in the P.C.C. 20 September
I 810. The annual dividends, amounting to £■} $;.$</,,
are distributed in bread at Christmas-time.
COTTERED
Choldrei (xi cent.) ; Keldreia (xii cent.) ; Codreye,
Coudray, Coddram, Coddred, Codreth (xiii cent.) ;
Cotrede (xvi cent.).
The parish of Cottered contains 1,832 acres. Of
this about two-thirds consist of arable land and one-
quarter of permanent grass.1 The only piece of wood-
land in the parish is Drinkwater Wood, which lies to
the south-east. The soil is generally heavy on a
subsoil of chalk. The River Beane flows through
the parish, the western districts of which are liable to
floods. In the north-east the land rises as high as
493 ft. above the ordnance datum.
The Roman road known as Stane Street passed
through Hare Street, a hamlet on the borders of
Cottered and Ardeley, its course being apparently
marked by Back Lane, which forms the south-western
boundary of Cottered. There is a record of this road
in Cottered in 1346, when the 'King's Highway
called Stanestrat ' is referred to as a boundary.2
Cottered lies 3 miles west of Buntingford, in which
town is its nearest railway station on the Great Eastern
railway, and 6 miles east of the market town of
Baldock.
The main road which connects these two towns
passes through Cottered. Other roads connect it
with Throcking and Ardeley.
" Line. Epis. Reg. Grosteste.R. 8, m. 1.
84 Feet of F. Herts. 56 Hen. Ill,
no. 488.
M Ibid. 638.
67 De Banco R. C78, m. 231.
&s Urwick, op. cit. 787.
226
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
2 J. Harvey Bloom, Cartae Antique*
of Lord Willoughby de Broke, 6.
\i}W^ -
Cll/l/^-W^ 1
i
fcl
a^^H-**- / .^- — '^H HP*^^i^M
s^
i
*f&.
1
1 1
-
M-'-^lmm
■*r
'
' ^B^fl H^^HaHMI^H^^^^^Hfli
■B^^H
-
Clothall Church from the South-east
Cottered Church from the South
ODSEY HUNDRED
The village of Cottered lies about three-quarters of
a mile north of the Roman road above referred to,
around and within a triangle formed by the junction of
the roads from Buntingford, Ardeley and Cumberlow
Green. The church stands
at the south angle of the
triangle in a fairly large
churchyard3 with the Lord-
ship to the south-east of it
and Cheynes, the manor-
house of Cheyney Cottered,
to the south-west. The
village is mainly along the
road a little to the north of
the church. The 18th-
century almshouses known as
the Town Houses, the village
school built in 1829, the
rectory and a Congregational
mission chapel stand in this
road.
The Lordship, now a
farm-house, is a timber-
framed building, occupied
by Mr. Tucker. It stands
in a moated inclosure, the
moat being fairly perfect and
filled with water on the
south and east sides of the
house, but filled in on the
north and west. The house
apparently dates from about
the middle of the 15 th cen-
tury, and contains several
interesting features of an early date. It is roughly
T-shaped on plan, and the entrance porch of two
stories is placed in an angle of the cross which only
projects 4. ft. on the north or entrance front. It is
not very easy to determine the original plan, owing
to alterations and later subdivisions of the apart-
ments.
The entrance door is evidently part of the original
house. It is of oak, and has four panels the full height
COTTERED
iron knocker. It seems probable that the present
kitchen, and perhaps a small room and lobby to the
west of the kitchen, formed the old hall, the existing
passage occupying the place of the ' screens.'
The Lordship. Cottered.
GROUND PlAN
SiDSCeivruKY
E30J1 Century
ED Modern
ScaJe o£ fcer
of the door with pointed arched heads filled with
cusping. The moulding is a simple cavetto. On
the door is an excellently designed late 17th-century
8 In 1657 there were houses in the churchyard which were
afterwards pulled down (East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii, 130).
Cottered : The Town Houses
To the left of the entrance is now a sitting room
with oak panelling of the Jacobean period, which
apparently formed part of the original kitchen, as the
brew-house adjoins it and appears to have entered off
it at one time, and the fireplace and oven are back to
back. There is a Jacobean chimney-piece in the
sitting room, with an overmantel divided into two
parts by flat fluted pilasters, having projecting carved
frieze and cornice above. The frieze between the
pilasters is fluted. Each panel has two circular-headed
arches, round which are bands of a richly carved
interlacing pattern. Between the arches is a moulded
spindle or drop carried down about three-fourths the
height of the panels. The fireplace is modern.
The upper floor contains a good deal of plain
Jacobean panelling, and some of the doors retain the old
iron hinges of the period. A few months ago some of
this panelling was temporarily taken down for repairs,
and it was found that the partitions had been previously
lined with boarding, much of which still remains,
and was decorated with painted work.
There are large attics in the roof, but these are
not now used, as there is very little flooring on the
joists and there are no windows. There were no
doubt dormer windows at one time, as there are
several octagonal shafts of oak with perpendicular
moulded bases and embattled capitals, over which are
curved struts supporting the main roof timbers. These
form part of the original structure, and occupy a similar
position to the portion of the shaft still remaining in
the roof at Little Wymondley Bury.
Externally the house is plastered, and at one time
was ornamented with flush panels filled with the usual
basketwork and other patterns, but only a little of the
227
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
old work remains on the breu'-house. The two old
chimney stacks are built with thin 2 in. bricks.
That over the present kitchen fireplace is a massive
projecting chimney with offsets at intervals, but its
appearance is marred by the modern scullery and
chimney. The old wide fireplace in the kitchen still
remains with its seats in the ingle-nook. The chimney
over the present sitting room and brew-house has two
square shafts set diagonally. The roofs are steep and
tile-covered. The moat averages about 24. ft. in
width and appears to have inclosed a space measuring
about 184 ft. from east to west by about 64 ft. from
north to south.
Broom Farm is a 16th-century timber and brick
house, to which a brick front was added about 1 700,
in the hamlet of Hare Street. It is L-shaped in
plan and has many original details inside the house.
Near to it is a large 17th-century barn of timber on
a brick base.
From the village a road runs south, passing Cripple-
gate, Little Osbournes and Meeting House Cottages ;
it then forms a loop, passes the Warren, Flanders
Green and Brook-end and rejoins the main road
further east. Both Cripplegate and Brook-end are
described among the lands which were purchased in
accordance with Robert Page's will in 1553.' The
Osbournes are referred to in a will of 1577/ In
1762 the firm called the Warren was included in a
settlement of the manor,6 and is mentioned in the
will of Edmund Swallow of 1629.' Meeting-place^
for Protestant Dissenters in Cottered were certified
from 1 69 1. There was a chapel in 18 10, the
minister of which was the Rev. T. B. Browne. On
his death in 1 823 the services were discontinued for
a time.8 The chapel is now served from Buntingford.
Dissent has always had a strong hold in Cottered.
The rector of Cottered is said to have been one of
the ministers who were turned out ot their livings in
1662. Many of his parishioners sympathized with
him and many belonged to the Society of Friends.9
In this movement William Joyce, a carpenter, and
the Extons were the leaders. John Exton in 1 7 10
gave a piece of land on the Lordship estate to the
Friends for a burial-ground.1"
Among those who have held the living of Cottered
may be mentioned the Rev Anthony Trollope, who
was grandfather of the authors Anthony Trollope
and Thomas Adolphus Trollope. He was incum-
bent of Cottered for forty-four years and died in
1806.11
In the reign of Edward the Confessor
MANORS Cottered formed part of the demesne
lands of St. Peter of Winchester." The
Norman Conquest did not disturb this tenure, and in
1086 the manor of Cottered was held by Bishop
Walkelin of Winchester.13 On his doth in 1098 "
it appears to have been detached from the bishopric
and to have become part of the honour of Boulogne.
Queen Maud, daughter of Count Eustace of Boulogne
and wife of King Stephen, is said to have granted
half a virgate of land in Cottered to Reimer de
Wivellelme, to hold of the Knights Templars.14 Her
son William de Blois granted the honour of Ongar to
Richard de Lucie,16 and apparently part of his lands
in Cottered were granted at the same time, and became
the manor of COTTERED.'7 Maud, the daughter
and heiress of Richard de
Lucie, married Richard de
Rivers in the reign of John,18
and the overlordship of
Cottered descended with this
family, and was held in 1303
by John Lord Rivers.19 He
died about 1 3 1 1 and was
succeeded by his son John
Lord Rivers. His son
Edmund left a daughter and
heiress,20 and it is probable Ri\ers, Lord Rivers.
that on his death the over- 0r * Um "zurt-
lordship of Cottered passed
to the king, for in 1 461 the manor was said to be
held of the king as of his duchy of Lancaster,21 and
subsequently of the king in chief.29
In the reign of Henry II Jordan Chamberlain was
apparently holding this manor in sub-tenancy, for he
made a grant of the advowson during that period.93
He was succeeded by his son Martin Chamberlain,
who in 1258 disputed the grant of the advowson."
The records of this family are few, but by 1303 the
manor had come into the possession of John
Chamberlain, who was holding a quarter of a knight's
fee in Cottered of John de Rivers. "'', This descended
to Sir William Chamberlain, kt., and from him passed
to his daughter Cecily, who
married Andrew de Bures of
Suffolk.96 Cecily died before
1367, in which year her hus-
band Andrew de Bures was
holding the manor of Cottered
for life, the reversion belong-
ing to Katherine the wife of
William Phelip and Ellen
wife of John Owdyn, sisters
of Sir William Chamberlain.9'
' As they are also described as
kinswomen and heirs of
Andrew's son William 28 it
seems probable that Andrew
and Cecily had an only son William who died before
his father. Andrew de Bures died in January 1 368-9."
Katherine died in I 371, leaving a son Brian, aged
twelve.30 He apparently died young, as there is no
further trace of him in Cottered. Ellen appears also
to have died before 1372, for in that year Katherine
Bures. Ermiii
chief indented sable 1
two lions or therein.
4 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hand.
184.
5 Ibid.
s Close, 6 Geo. Ill, pt. vi, no. 8.
7 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 184.
6 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 791.
9 Ibid. 788, 790.
10 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii,
158,230.
11 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 1 7 3.
u V.C.H. Herts, i, 305/..
13 Ibid.
" Diet. Nat. Biog.
15 Chauncy, Hist, and Antij. of IL,ts.
66.
16 Morant, Essex, i, 127,
17 See also advowson.
18 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Rivers.
"Feud. Aids, ii, 433; G.E.C. loc.
cit.
20 G.E.C. loc. cit.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 28.
92 Ibid. 18 Edw. IV, file 546, no. 45 ;
Col. Inq.f.m. Hen. Vll, i, 102.
228
23 Cur. Reg. R. 160, m. 25 ; Dugdale,
Mm. v, 4^6.
" Cur. Reg. R. 160, m. 25.
25 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
86 De Banco R. 427, m. 1.
17 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill,
pt. ii, no. 40.
28 De Banco R. 427, m. 1 ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. East. 41 Edw. Ill, no. 33.
49 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii,
no. 40.
;,u Ibid.
ODSEY HUNDRED
wife of Edmund Gessyng, presumably her daughter,
levied a fine of the manor.31
In 1387 Katherine, then the wife of Philip Bluet,''
joined with her husband and a certain Margaret and
John Radeswell in selling the reversion of the manor
after the death of John Owdyn to Andrew de Bures,
son and heir of an Andrew de Bures of Suffolk.3"'
Andrew de Bures was holding Cottered in l40O,33but
shortly afterwards seems to have conveyed it to John
Fray, who was holding it in 1 42s.34 Fray became
chief baron of the Exchequer, and held the manor
until his death in 14.6 1, 3,> when it passed by his
will to his wife Lady Agnes Fray. Some accounts
of the manor between the years 1462 and 1467
show that the lord of the manor received yearly
for rents and customs ^23 6s., fifteen capons, £4
for the farm of the water mill, one pair of gloves
and one needle and thread, whilst the perquisites
COTTERED
in February I 546-7 was knighted by Edward VI after
his coronation." In 1574 Sir Humphrey Stafford
died and the manor of Cot-
tered passed to his brother
John Stafford,*5 who sold it
in 1 581 to Edward Pulter."
At this time there was a wind-
mill in Cottered, the lease of
which was not included in
the sale of the manor.
Edward Pulter bought the
neighbouring manor of
Broadfield (q.v.), and from
this date the two estates have
descended together. In
1624-5 his grandson Arthur
Pulter sold the site of this manor to Toby Cocks
and Edward Hamond."
border engrailed
Cotttred : The Lordship from the North-west
of the court included two capons.36 Lady Agnes
Fray died in 1478." The reversion of Cottered
had been settled on their daughter Agnes with
remainder to their youngest daughter Katherine.38
Agnes died without issue, and the manor passed to
Katherine wife of Humphrey Stafford,39 who held it
until her death in 1482. ,0 She was succeeded by her
son Humphrey, aged eight," who was knighted and
held the manor of Cottered until his death in 1545."
His son Humphrey Stafford inherited his lands,'5 and
The manor of CHErNET-COTTERED (Cottered,
xiii cent. ; Cheines Place, Cheyneys, xv cent.) formed
part of the honour of Boulogne, but its lands extended
into Ardeley, Aspenden, Wakeley Throcking, Rushden
and Broadfield, and parcels of the manor were held
of various overlords."8
The lands forming this manor were apparently
reserved by William de Blois when he granted the
manor of Cottered to Richard de Lucie (see above),
and remained part of the honour of Boulogne until it
31 Feet of F. Herts. 46 Edw. Ill,
no. 630.
32 Ibid. 11 Ric. II, no. 97.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, no. 36.
34 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
35 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 2S.
86 Mins. Accts. bdle. 849, no. 10.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, file
546, no. 45.
38 Early Chan. Proc. bdlc. 71, no. 40.
39 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV,
file 546, no. 45.
4U Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ii, 72.
41 Ibid. ; see Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
6 Hen. VIII.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxii, 86 (i).
43 Ibid.
44 Shaw, Knights of England, ii, 60.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxiii, 74-
« Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 23 & 24
229
Eliz. ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 23 &
24 Eliz. m. 1 ; Recov. R. East. 25 Eliz.
rot. 147.
« Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 22 Jas. I.
48 Red Bk. of Exc/i. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
582 ; Testa de Nevill {VLec. Com.), 274* ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 1 Mary,
m. 11 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill,
no. 49 ; 2 Hen. IV, no. 52 ; 8 Hen. V,
no. 46 ; 9 Hen. VI, no. 42.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
came into the king's hands." William de Ken
received a grant of £6 rent there at the beginning
of the 13th century.50 He died before 1224. and his
lands descended to his son William." In the same
year they were granted to Fulk de Montgomery for
his maintenance in the king's service.5' He held them
until 1236, when they were restored to William de
Ken.53 In February 1 243-4 ne granted 10 marks
rent in Cottered, apparently the extent of the manor,
to Walter de Ken. These rents were taken into the
king's hands among the lands of the Normans in
March of the same year." In 1248 the king granted
all William de Ken's lands in Hertfordshire and
Cambridgeshire, including Cottered, to William
Chesney,55 who received a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands of Cottered and other lands of his
possession in 1258.56 He died in 1274 and was
succeeded by his son Nicholas Chesney,57 whose
holding in Cottered was described as a quarter of a
knight's fee in 1303." He died in 1326 and was
succeeded by his son William,59 who died in 134;,
when his lands descended to his son Edmund,60 who
made proof of age in March 1346-7.61 In 1374
Edmund Chesney, kt., settled the manor of Cottered
on the heirs of his body with contingent remainder
in tail to his brother Sir Ralph Chesney.63 Sir
Edmund appears to have died without issue before
1383, for the manor had passed to Sir Ralph by that
year.63 In 1400 Sir Ralph died and was succeeded
by his son William,61 who held Cottered until his
death in 1420,65 when his lands passed to his son and
heir Edmund, aged eighteen.66 The manor of
Cottered was settled on Edmund and his wife Alice
in tail.67 Edmund de Chesney died in 1430, his wife
Alice surviving him. He left three daughters and
co-heirs, Elizabeth, aged six, Anne, aged three, and
Cecilia, aged one.68 Cecilia died the same year as her
Cheyney. Gules a
Jesse indented of four
points argent ivith four
scallops sable thereon.
father.69 Elizabeth married Sir John Colyshull, kt., of
Benamy, co. Devon,70 but had no children,71 and
Anne became sole heir. She married Sir John
Willoughby, kt.," grandson of Lord Willoughby de
Eresby,'3 and had one son, Sir Robert Willoughby.71
He was a staunch supporter of Henry VII and took a
prominent part in the battle of Bosworth Field. He
was rewarded by being created Lord Willoughby de
Broke in 1 49 1, taking his title from one of the
manors he had inherited from his grandfather, Sir
Edmund Chesney.7' In 1502 he was succeeded by
his son Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke, who held
the manor of Cottered76 until his death in 1 52 1.77
Edward, his only son by his first wife Elizabeth
daughter and co-heir of Richard Lord Beauchamp,
had died during his father's lifetime, leaving three
daughters, Elizabeth, Anne and Blanche.78 He had
two sons by Dorothy, his second wife, of whom
Henry was aged twelve at his father's death, but they
died within a few weeks of one another, and the
barony fell into abeyance.79 His three granddaughters
then became his sole heirs. Anne died while still a
child, Blanche married Sir Francis Dawtrey, but had
no children, and on her death Elizabeth, the eldest
sister, became one of the richest heiresses in England.
She married Fulk Greville, the
second son of her guardian,
Sir Edward Greville of Mil-
cote, co. W a r w i c k.80 I n
March 1 541-2 Sir Anthony
Willoughby, kt., of Gorley
quitclaimed to Fulk Greville
and Elizabeth his wife and
her heirs all right in the
manor of Cottered.81 Fulk
Greville died in 1559 and
Elizabeth in the following
year. Their lands passed to
their son Sir Fulk Greville,83
and in 1606 to his son Sir
Fulk Greville.63 He in
January 1 620-1 was created Baron Brooke of Beau-
champ's Court.81 In 1628 Lord Brooke was stabbed
by a man named Heywood, who considered that his
services had been insufficiently rewarded.85 He left
no children, and the manor of Cottered passed to his
only sister Margaret the wife of Sir Richard Verney
of Compton Murdock, co. Warwick.'6 She held it
until her death in 1631, when it descended to her
son Sir Greville Verney, aged forty.87 He died in
1642 and his son Greville in 1648. His lands were
inherited by his posthumous and only child, Greville
Verney, who held them until his death in 1668.
William Verney, his son, died in France in 1 68 3, at
the age of fifteen, and his lands reverted to his great-
uncle, Richard Verney. The barony of Willoughby
Greville. Sable a
cross engrailed and a
border engrailed or •with
five roundels sable on the
cross.
•> See Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
582.
50 Ibid. 582, 80+.
51 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
1 10.
» Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 7.
53 Cal. Close, 1234-7, p. 386.
" Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, 21.
65 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 331.
66 Ibid. 1257-1300, p. 8.
57 J. Harvey Bloom, Cr.rtae Antiquae of
Lord Willoughby de Broke, pt. iv, preface.
^ Feud. Aids, ii, 4.33.
59 Cal. Inq. p.,,:. 10-20 Ed-w. II, 475.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill, no. 49.
61 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 257.
62 Chan. Inq. p.m. 48 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 20 ; see Abbrev. Rot. Orig.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 334.
63 J. Harvey Bloom, op. cit. ii, 10.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, no. 52.
65 Ibid. ; see Feud. Aids, ii, 444.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. V, no. 46.
67 Ibid. 9 Hen. VI, no. 42.
68 Ibid.
«» Ibid. no. 53.
70 Wrottesley, Fed. from Plea R. 472.
71 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Ric. Ill, no. 42.
73 Wrottesley, loc. cit.
73 G.E.C. Complete Peerage,
71 Ibid.
75 Ibid.
230
76 See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8
Hen. VIII.
77 G.E.C. op. cit.
78 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
xlii, 98.
73 Ibid. ; Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts. 68. ^ G.E.C. op. cit.
81 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 34
Hen. VIII, m. 5.
83 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
88 Ibid. ; Had. MS. 75S, fol. 11 zb.
84 G.E.C. op. cit.
85 Chauncy, op. cit. 67.
86 W. and L. Inq. p.m. xlix, 213.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiv,
ss-
ODSEY HUNDRED
de Broke, which had been in abeyance since I 52 1,
was allowed to Richard Verney in 1696 by the
decision of the House of Lords,"3 and the manor
descended with the Lords Willoughby de Broke
until it was sold to Mr. Newbolt, who sold it to
Mrs. Campe, from whom it was bought by Mr.
Herbert Goode, the present owner.88
The church of ST. JOHN THE
CHURCH BAPTIST consists of chancel 3 5 ft. 6 in.
by 1 6 ft., north vestry 1 3 ft. by 1 2 ft.
6 in., north chapel 22 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft., nave 60 ft.
by 25 ft., south porch 1 1 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft. 6 in.,
and west tower 12 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., all dimensions
taken internally. The walls are of flint rubble
covered with cement and the dressings are of stone ;
the north wall of the vestry is of brick. The roofs are
tiled and leaded. There are large blocks of flint
conglomerate, or ' pudding stones,' used as foundations
under the western angles of the tower.
The chancel, nave, with south porch and west
tower, were built about 1350 ; the north chapel and
the roof and windows of the nave belong to the I 5th
and the north vestry to the 1 6th century.
The east window is modern. On the north side
of the chancel is an arcade of two arches of 1 5th-cen-
tury work, opening into the north chapel. The
arches and jambs are of two continuously moulded
orders ; much of the work has been renewed. In
the south wall are two early 16th-century windows
with square heads, one of which is inserted in an
earlier opening, partly blocked. The south doorway
is blocked, and above it is a small quatrefoil light of
modern stonework, the jambs of which, internally,
are old. In the south wall is a small plain pointed
piscina, and adjoining it a sedile, 4 ft. 7 in. wide,
under a moulded arch. Both are of the 14th century.
The chancel arch, c. 1350, is of two moulded orders,
whose separate shafts have moulded capitals and bases.
The jambs have been forced out of the perpendicular.
The vestry has one window in the east wall, of two
cusped lights under a square head, of 16th-century
date, with the original iron stanchions ; the door is
original. In the north wall of the chapel are two
windows, each of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery,
under a four-centred arch ; the tracery is modern.
The 15th-century doorway has a modern arch.
There is an opening with a modern arch between
the chapel and the nave ; its sill is 6 ft. 4 in. above
the floor ; it is probably 14th-century work. There
is a 15th-century piscina in the south wall.
The two eastern windows in the north wall of the
nave are each of three lights and are very lofty ; they
have a transom over cusped lights midway up, and
traceried head under a four-centred arch ; the two
opposite windows in the south wall are similar. The
westernmost windows in the north and south walls
are similar in detail, but are of two lights only, with
cusped arches under square heads. All the windows
are of 15th-century work, a good deal repaired.
Some tragments of 15th-century glass remain in the
heads of the north windows. At the north-east angle
of the nave, externally, is an octagonal turret contain-
ing the stair to the rood loft, which is continued up
to the roof. The upper and lower entrances, which
are both in the north wall of the nave, are blocked,
COTTERED
only the arch of the doorway remaining in the case
of the latter. The north nave doorway is blocked
and much defaced ; on the outer side the original
door still remains in situ. The south doorway is of
two moulded orders with the original 15th-century
door ; both doorways are of c. 1350. At the east
end of the south wall is a 14th-century piscina.
There is an early 16th-century two-light window,
under a square head, on either side of the south porch ;
the entrance doorway is coated with cement. There
are remains of a stoup in the porch.
The west tower is of three stages, with an embattled
parapet, and a slight, lofty spire covered with lead.
The tower arch is of three chamfered orders, the
innermost stopping on jambs with moulded capitals
and bases, and the two outer continuous ; the stone-
work has been restored. The west doorway is
modern, but the window over it is of c. 1350 ; it is of
two lights and has been repaired with cement. On
each face of the tower, at the belfry stage, was a two-
light trefoiled opening, the tracery of which is almost
gone.
The roof over the nave is of 15th-century date,
with moulded principals and purlins. Many of the
corbels and carved bosses are missing. Parts of the
chancel roof and the beams over the north chapel
belong to the same period.
The font, which dates from about 1 700, is of grey
Derbyshire marble and has a moulded circular basin,
decorated with scallops, resting on a circular moulded
stem.
On the north wall of the nave is a large distemper
painting of St. Christopher, now very indistinct.
There is a late 16th-century chest in the vestry.
In the chapel is a brass inscription (partly broken) to
[Litton] Pulter, 1608, in the porch are some slabs
with indents for brasses, and on the chapel floor are
several inscribed slabs of the 17th century to members
of the Pulter family. In the vestry is a 17th-century
table.
There are five bells : the treble by John Briant,
1793 ; the second by Thomas Mears, 1 841 ; the
third by Lester & Pack, 1759 ; the fourth and tenor
by Miles Graye, 1651 and 1650.
The communion plate includes cup and cover
paten, 171 1.
The registers are in five books : (i) baptisms from
1563 to 1684, burials 1558 to 1686, marriages 1558
to 1684; (ii) baptisms and burials from 1688 to
1772, marriages 1691 to 1772; (iii) baptisms and
burials from 1 773 to 1 79 1 ; (iv) baptisms and burials
from 1792 to 1812 ; (v) marriages from 1773 to
1812.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON Cottered was held in the reign of
Henry II by Jordan Chamberlain,
lord of the manor of Cottered, and he gave it in the
same reign to the abbey of Westwood in Lesnes, in
the parish of Erith, co. Kent, which was founded by
Richard de Lucie in 1178.89 In 1 258 Martin
Chamberlain, son of Jordan, claimed to present, and
brought a suit against the abbot, but judgement was
given for the latter.69* The advowson remained
with the abbey until the 15 th century, when the
abbot granted it to John Fray, lord of the manor
1 G.E.C. Complete Ptcr,
88 Inform, supplied by Mre. A. C.
Hobart-Hampden.
231
53 Dugdalc, M011. v, 456.
89a Cur. Reg. R. 160, m. 25.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Cottered, who died seised of it in 1461.90 It
remained attached to the manor until the end of
the 1 8th century," when Richard French Forrester
appears to have granted it for life to the Misses
Harriet and Anna Jones, who presented in 1806,"
and held the patronage as late as 1 822." By
1835 it had reverted to Richard French Forrester,94
but in 1841 H. Brown presented,95 from whom it
passed to the Rev. W. Brown,96 who presented him-
self to the church of Cottered in 1854.97 In 1 861
the advowson was in the hands of the Rev. John
J. Manby, who presented himself.98 The Rev.
Aaron Manby presented himself in 1870,99 and he
held the advowson until 1885, when it was held by
the trustees of the rector, the Rev. T. Izod,100 who
left the advowson by will to his nephew, the
Rev. Henry Izod Rogers,101 who had been appointed
rector of Cottered in 1895. 10! He held it until 1908,
when it was acquired by Mrs. A. B. Hobart-Hampden,
the wife of the present rector, who continues to hold
it.103
In 1492 Robert Page by his will
CHARITIES gave £20 to be invested in land, the
rents to be received by the church
greaves, part thereof to be applied to superstitious
uses, other part thereof in payment of two whole
tasks of the town of Cottered, and the residue 5/. to
be spent in charitable uses and meritorious deeds.
Since the inclosure of the common fields in 1805
the property has consisted of about 34 acres of land
and several cottages, producing about £50 yearly ;
5/. yearly is distributed in cash to widows and the
residue is applied in upkeep of the church. A tene-
ment called the Town House, belonging to this
charity, contiguous to the churchyard, was pulled
down by Dr. Chauncy, rector 1723-62, who erected
a new building at a short distance from the original
site. In 1 8 1 9 this was used by the parish as a
poor-house, and still retains the name of the Town
House.104
In 1 714 Joseph Edmonds by his will gave ,£5, the
interest to be applied to poor who usually receive
the sacrament and resort to the parish church. A
sum of 4/. yearly is distributed to poor widows in
respect of this bequest.
In 1577 Philip Antwissell by his will gave 20/.
yearly to the poor out of his lands called Osbourne's,
at Michaelmas and Lady Day.
In 1629 Edmund Swallow by his will gave 20/.
yearly, out of a farm called the Warren Farm, to the
poor.
In the Parliamentary Returns of 1786 it is stated
that George Roberts gave a rent-charge of £\ to the
poor. This sum is paid out of Coles Green Farm.
The income from these three last-mentioned chari-
ties is distributed as follows : £2 101. in bread to
about fifty or sixty persons and 10;. in cash to
widows and widowers.
In 1689 Arthur Pulter by his will gave £40 for
apprenticing children. The endowment now consists
of a sum of £43 is. consols, producing £1 is. \d.
yearly. The income is accumulated and applied as
required in apprenticing.
In 1768 Anne Chauncy by her will gave ^200,
the interest to be expended in firing for the poor at
Christmas, and £100, the interest to be spent in
material for gowns for six poor women, the same
women only to receive the benefaction once in three
years. These sums were invested in .£337 is. 6d.
consols, producing £8 8/. \d. yearly.
In 1888 John Riggs Miller by deed gave ^100,
the interest to be applied in coals to the poor. This
sum was invested in £103 4/. 6d. consols, producing
£2 lis. ifd. yearly.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees, and the dividends are duly applied.
The school. — Henry Aldwin Soames by deed dated
24 June 1825 (enrolled in Chancery 17 October
following) conveyed to himself and others a clear
yearly rent-charge of £40 issuing out of a messuage
at the corner of Bow Lane, Cheapside, to be applied
in the education of children of poor cottagers. The
annuity was applied towards the salaries of the
schoolmaster and schoolmistress of the school, which
was erected by the donor in 1829 on the village
green.
HINXWORTH
Haingesteworde, Hainsteworde, Hamsteworde (xi
cent.) ; Hingslewurd (xii cent.) ; Hengsteworth,
Hyngstrigge, Hcynceworth (xiii cent.) ; Hangte-
worth, Hynxworth (xiv cent.) ; Hyggextworth,
Hyngxtworth (xv cent.) ; Henxworth (xvi cent.).
The parish of Hinxu'orth is in the extreme north
of the county on the borders of Cambridgeshire and
Bedfordshire. It lies low, the ground nowhere rising
more than 172 ft. above the ordnance datum. An
ancient track called the Ridgeway crosses the low land
on the east of the parish, running parallel with the
River Rhee, which forms the north-east boundary.
The area is 1,463 acres, of which nearly three-
quarters are arable land, and the rema'nder, except
for some 8 acres of woodland, pasture.1 The soil is
loam and blue clay, the subsoil varies. The chief
crops are wheat, barley and turnips. Coprolites have
been dug in the parish and are still to be found.
An Act authorizing the inclosure of the common
fields was passed in 1 802 and the award was made
in i8o6.la
The nearest railway station is Baldock, 5 miles
to the south, on the Hitchin and Cambridge branch
of the Great Northern railway.
The Roman road through Hertfordshire, known
further east as Stane Street, skirts the parish on the
west and forms its south-west boundary. Not far
from this road, on the borders of Hinxworth and
•" Chan. Inq. p.m. I Edw. IV, no. 28.
« Ibid.
91 Clutterbuck, H;». and Antiq. of Hern.
96 Ibid.
iii, 519; sec Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.), 1662,
97 Cussans, h
1681, 1723, 1762.
182.
» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.), 1806.
98 Ibid.
95 Clergy List.
*> Ibid.
01 Ibid.
lu" Cltrgy Lis
i, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
232
101 Inform, supplied by Mrs. A. Hobart-
Hampden. '°2 Clergy Lit.
1113 Inform, supplied by Mrs. A. Hobart-
Hampden.
104 Char. Com. Rep. xxix, 451.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
>a Blue Bk. Inch A-wards^b^.
ODSEY HUNDRED
Caldecote, Roman remains were discovered about
1720 by some workmen who were digging there for
gravel with which to repair the road. These included
several human bodies, urns and paterae and other
objects, and a Danish or Dutch coin.2 In 1 8 10 a
further find of great interest was made in the parish of
two rare Greek coins or medals, one of Mithridates
King of Pontus, and the other of Perseus King of
Macedonia, both very well preserved.23 Near the
River Rhee in the north of the parish and not far
from the camp at Arbury Banks or Harboro, and
near the Ridgeway, a hoard of more than 500
Roman coins was discovered. Near them were
found other Roman remains.21"
The village of Hinxworth lies a little more than a
mile to the east of the Roman road, with which it is
connected by roads leading north-west and south-
west, the former being continued on to Ashwell.
The church 3 and rectory stand on the south-east of
the angle formed by the road to Ashwell and that
leading south-west to the Roman road, and the small
village lies a little to the north-west of the church.
At the beginning of the 1 8th century it had only
thirty-five houses, of which three were alms-
houses.4
Hinxworth Place, the manor-house, the resi-
dence of Mrs. Sale, stands about half a mile
south of the village.6 It consists of a rectangular
block, measuring externally about 55 ft. by 38 ft.,
at the south end of which is a portion of a wing.
The main block is faced externally with soft
limestone, or clunch, and, judging from the
characteristic features of the doorways and win-
dows, a great part of the main walls must have
been erected towards the close of the 15 th
century. The south wing appe.irs to belong to
the 1 6th century.
Beside the principal doorway is a small two-
light window with arched and cusped heads,
and square hood moulding over. This window
is recessed from the face of the wall, and the sill
is carried down so as to form a seat outside.
The details of this window are almost identical
witk those of the low-side window in the south nave
wall of the parish church. The principal entrance
opens directly into the old hall, a room measuring
about 2 1 ft. by 20 ft., now used as a kitchen. To
the south of this is a smaller apartment used as a
dining room, off which a passage has been cut to give
access to the south wing from the kitchen. Between
the kitchen and the dining room are two wide fire-
places placed back to back. Sixty years ago there
were no partitions between the kitchen and the
dining room, so that they formed practically one
large room with the fireplaces in the centre. Each
room is lighted by a large four-light early 17th-
century window, with moulded stone transoms and
mullions and a small cornice over. In the kitchen is
a long narrow Jacobean oak table with heavy moulded
legs. Extending the whole length of the main build-
ing on the west side is a low one-story building, the
HINXWORTH
north end of which is a later addition built of old
material. It is covered by the roof of the main
building, which is continued down so as to form a
lean-to roof. There are three doorways in the
separating wall, all having splayed jambs and four-
centred arches. There is a similar external doorway
on the west side, and another now built up at the
north end. There are two three-light windows,
one four-light and one single-light window, with
stone-moulded mullions and cusped-pointed arch-
heads, similar to the window on the east front,
and all late 15th-century work. This part of the
house has been divided into scullery, larder and
stores. The modern passage by the dining room
leads to the south wing, the lower part of which
is of brick, the upper story being of timber, over-
hanging 1 8 in. on the south and west fronts. It was
originally one large room, with a four-centred stone
doorway at the east end, similar to that from the
dining room, but now there is a small lobby between
the outer door and the old parlour. There is a
built-up external doorway in the south wall, and a
large five-light window, with moulded stone mullions
Hinxworth Pla.ce
15SCENTURX. g^ 16XCENTUKY«X7KrER.Q>\o:a
and transoms, in the west wall. In this window are
three interesting shields with the arms of former
owners, one bearing the date 1570. The colour is
on the surface of the glass only, or as it is called
' flashed,' such as was usual at that period, the older
glass being stained right through. There is a good
stone fireplace in the parlour, the details of which
have a more classic feeling than the I 7th-century work
in the main building. The fireplace has moulded
jambs and straight lintel, the mouldings being late
Gothic in character. On either side is a short three-
quarter-round column with rude Ionic volutes, above
which is a long rectangular fluted and panelled pilaster,
supporting a moulded stone cornice or mantel shelf.
Over the fireplace and under the cornice is a frieze
with four plain sunk panels. There is a large
room over the parlour, open to the roof, which is
plastered internally, the only timber showing being
2 Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and IVales,
vii, 176 ; Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 339 ;
Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough, 1789), i,
342-
*a Lewis, Tofog. Diet, of Engl, ii,
520.
• Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 316.
3 In the 1 6th century there were many
fine trees in the churchyard which the
farmer of the parsonage was charged with
having cut down (Star Chamb. Proc.
Edw. VI, bdle. 5, no. 81).
* Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 53.
5 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
233
10, states that the house was probably on
the site of a cell of the Cistercian Convent
of Pipewell, Northants, but there seems
to be no evidence of such a cell having
existed. Hinxworth Place is said to be
identical with the manor-house of Pulter3
Manor (ex inform. Mrs. Sale).
30
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
a massive oak moulded tie beam, with a considerable
camber, a tree with a natural bend having evidently
been utilized for the purpose. The upper floor in
the main building contains some four-centred door-
ways of stone, in several of which the original iron
studded door remains, and in the north bedroom is a
stone fireplace of the usual early 17th-century type,
with moulded four-centred arch inclosed by a square
moulding above, and with the usual ornamental stops
to the mouldings.
There is no trace of any main stair having existed,
access to the upper floor being by two narrow
wooden ones. All the chimneys are of brick, and
are plain modern rebuildings. The roofs are tiled.
Preserved in the house are two large iron spring
man-traps, and the original notice to beware of
them may still be seen on one of the barns.
Bury End, which is situated nearly opposite the
church, at the point where the Ridgeway joins the
village street, is of interest, as it is partly surrounded
by a fragment of a homestead moat.6
Hinxworth Place : Principal Entrance Doorway
There is a Wesleyan chapel in Hinxworth, which
lies on the south side of the village. Its site was
purchased in 1 83 1 for £j by public subscription
among the Methodists.7 The village school was
built in 1876. It stands on the north side of the
village street west of the church.
Among those who have held the living of Hinx-
worth may be noted the Rev. Percival Stockdale
(1736-181 1), who in 1756 accepted a commission
in the army and was attached to the expedition sent
by Admiral Byng to relieve the garrison of Minorca.
He was ordained deacon in 1759, and coming to
London became intimate with Johnson, Garrick,
Goldsmith and other literary men. In 1779 he
made a complaint, probably groundless, that the
agreement to bring out the lives of the English
poets had been originally entrusted to him. In
1780 he was presented by Sir Adam Gordon to
the rectory of Hinxworth.8
In the time of Edward the Confessor 9
MANORS HINXWORTH was divided between
Ethelmer of Benington and his tenants,
the sokemen of the king, the archbishop and others.
After the Conquest it was held by three tenants in
chief, William de Ow,10 Hardwin de Scales,11 and
Peter de Valognes.12 Peter de Valognes's holding
was a berewick of his holding at Ashwell, and the
overlordship descended with his manor there (q.v.)
until the death without issue of Christine de Mande-
ville Countess of Essex in 1233. Her lands in
Ashwell seem to have reverted to Robert Fitz Walter,
her brother, but the overlordship of her lands in
Hinxworth appears to have remained with Maud,
her husband's sister and heir, whose son Humphrey
de Bohun was created Earl of
Essex,13 for in 1 345 Hum-
phrey de Bohun appears as
overlord of a manor of Hinx-
worth which was held of him
by Henry Gernet and Joan
<^b»k- his wife.14 These were the
P ul2^5jlill tenants also of Ashwell, with
which manor Hinxworth had
descended in sub-tenancy until
this date, after which there is
no further trace of it as a
separate property.
Hardwin de Scales's lands
were divided between his sons
Richard and Hugh. Their
descendants were still holding
part of a knight's fee in
Hinxworth in 1207—8 when
William grandson of Richard
de Scales claimed possession
of the holding against Hugh
grandson of Hugh. The^suit
was decided in favour of
Hugh.15 No further record
of the Scales in Hinxworth
appears. Theobald was
tenant of this fee in 1086, and his descendants the
Fitz Ralphs appear subsequently as holding a third
of a fee. In 1303 this was held of William Fitz
Ralph by Henry de Aula.16 It descended to
William de Aula, from whom it passed to William
Zerde, who was holding it in 1428.17 After this
date the fee can be no further traced.
The land of William de Ow in Hinxworth (held
under him in 1086 by two knights) was apparently
granted with other estates by Henry I to Walter son
of Richard de Clare,18 on whose death they passed to
his nephew Gilbert de Clare,19 who was created Earl
of Pembroke in 1138.20 He was succeeded by his
6 Hist. Monum. Com. Rep. Herts, l 1 6.
7 Close, 2 Will. IV, pt. lxxv, no. g.
8 Diet. Nat. Biog.
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 276, 328a, 338a,
339a.
10 Ibid. 328a.
" Ibid. 339*
12 Ibid. 338a.
13 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Essex.
14 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill, no. 36.
The Gernets held land in Hinxworth as
early as 1323 {Cat. Close, 1327-30,
P- 57+)-
15 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 99.
234
16 Feud. Aids, ii, 432. For descent of
Fitz Ralphs see manor of Broadfield.
17 Feud. Aids, ii, 474.
18 Gen. (new ser.), xviii, 167.
19 Ibid.
20 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Pem-
broke.
ODSEY HUNDRED
son Richard de Clare,21 who died in 1 176, when his
estates passed to his daughter Isabel.32 She married
Sir William Marshal, created Earl of Pembroke,23
and with her husband was holding land in Hinxworth
in 1196.24 William Marshal died in 1219,25 and
his estates passed in rapid succession through the
hands of his five sons, all of whom died without
issue.26 On the death of the youngest, Anselm
Marshal,27 in 1245, their lands were divided among
his five sisters and co-heirs.28 The eldest of these,
W
Valence. Burelly
argent and azure an orle
of martlets gules.
Marshal. Party
nd vert a lion gules.
Bigod.
pules.
Maud, married Hugh le Bigod Earl of Norfolk,29 and
her grandson Roger 30 claimed view of frankpledge
and assize of bread and ale in Hinxworth in 12 77-8. 31
He died in 1 306 32 holding a quarter of a fee in
Hinxworth.33 In consequence of his having rebelled
against the king his estates reverted to the Crown.34
His land in Hinxworth was amongst the estates
which the king granted in dower to his widow
Alice.35 In 1312 Thomas Plantagenet, fifth son of
Edward I, was created Earl of Norfolk, and he
received all the lands of the late earl.36 He died in
1338 and his lands were divided between his two
daughters and co-heirs.37 The elder of these,
Margaret, married Lord Segrave.38 The younger,
Alice, married Edward de Montague, and, with the
consent of her sister Margaret and her husband,
certain estates, including the
fifth part of a fee which her
father had held in Hinx-
worth, were assigned to her.39
Her daughter Joan married
William Ufford Earl of Suf-
folk.40 She had no children
and died in 1 375-41 Her
husband died in 1382 seised
of a fifth of a knight's fee in
Hinxworth.42 The second
sister and co-heir of Anselm
Marshal, Isabel, married
Gilbert de Clare Earl of
Gloucester and Hertford,43 who was assessed for half manor passed to his grandson Thomas Bowles,62 who
HINXWORTH
a fee in Hinxworth in 1303,44 and who died seised
of it in 13 14.45 A third sister and co-heir of
Anselm Marshal46 who had
rights in Hinxworth was Joan
wifeofWarin de Munchensy.
Her title passed to her
daughter Joan wife of William
de Valence, created Earl of
Pembroke.47 Their son Aymer
de Valence inherited a quarter
of a knight's fee in Hinxworth,
which he had alienated in
1303.48 After this date the
different holdings cannot be
distinguished except by their
under-tenants, who are numer-
ous and not easy to trace, for
the land seems to have been much divided up as it
was before the Conquest.
Under William Marshal a hide of land was held in
1 1 96 by Eustace son of Airic Longi of Weston, and
was in that year granted by him to Richard de
Milkley.49 In 1278 Robert de Milkley was sum-
moned to show by what warrant he held view of
frankpledge in Hinxworth,50 but he withdrew his
claim in favour of the overlord Roger Bigod. In
1287, however, he was said to hold this and other
liberties in Hinxworth of the said Roger.51 This fee
is returned in 1 306 (on the death of Roger Bigod) as
held by Walter le Baud,52 and Thomas le Baud was
holding it in 1428. 53
Another holding was that which in the 1 3th
century was in the tenure of a family named
Stopham. Ralph de Stopham and Milisent his wife
claimed view of frankpledge and assize of bread and
ale in Hinxworth in 1 286-7. 54 This holding,
described as a quarter of a knight's fee, was in the
hands of Isabel de Stopham in 1 303.55 In 1428 it
had become the property of Thomas Bryd, then a
minor.56 A Roger Brian also held lands and rents in
Hinxworth in 1292,57 in which year he granted 2
acres of land and 100/. rent to a chaplain in the
chapel of St. John the Baptist at Buntingford, re-
taining other land there. This land, described as a
quarter of a knight's fee, he was still holding in I 303.68
At the end of the 15th century these different
holdings seem to have been amalgamated in the manor
of HINXWORTH or WATTONBURT, which was
then owned by Richard Waferer, who leased it in
1471-2 to John Ward, alderman of London.59 It
descended to Thomas Waferer of Sundridge, co. Kent,
who in I 521 sold it to John Bowles of Wallington,
co. Herts.60 John Bowles died in 1543,61 and the
11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Pem-
broke.
11 Ibid. 23 Ibid.
24 Feet of F. Herts, file I, no. 2
(7 Ric. I) ; see also Pipe R. 22 Hen. II
(Pipe R. Soc), 6.
25 G.E.C. loc. cit.
86 Ibid. 2' Ibid. ss Ibid. 29 Ibid.
80 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Norfolk.
31 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
82 G.E.C. loc. cit.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 46.
34 G.E.C. loc. cit.
85 Cat. Close, 1302-7, p. 511.
36 G.E.C. loc. cit.
87 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Cal. Close, 1339-41, p. 39.
40 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Suffolk.
41 Ibid.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Ric. II, no. 57.
43 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Pem-
broke.
44 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 68.
46 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Pem-
broke.
47 Feud. Aids, ii, 432 ; G.E.C. Complete
Peerage.
48 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
49 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Ric. I, file 100,
no. 2.
235
50 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
290. 51 Assize R. 325.
52 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 46.
53 Feud. Aids, ii, 447. See Milkley in
Standon. hi Assize R. 325.
55 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
56 Ibid. 447.
87 Inq. a.q.d. file 1 8, no. 1 3 (20 Edw. I) ;
Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 486.
58 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
59 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 233, no. 80.
«• Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 13
Hen. VIII ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
13 Hen. VIII.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), beviii, 14.
62 Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in 1556 sold it to William Hyde.'3 It was sold by
William Hyde before 1 571 to Jasper Smyth and
Elizabeth his wife, for in that year they conveyed it
to Thomas Norwood.64 Thomas Norwood died in
February 1587-8 and left the manor to Thomas
Norwood, third son of his son John Norwood." He
in 1613-14. sold it to Thomas Draner of Hoxton, co.
Middlesex.66 Thomas Draner held the manor till his
death in 1632. Having no children he left it by
will to his cousin William Boteler for life with
remainder in tail-male to his great-nephew Francis
Halton (a younger son of Sir Roger Halton, son of
Joan, Thomas Draner's sister) w with contingent
remainder successively to his great-nephews Draner
and Henry Massingberd,68 the sons of Frances
daughter of Joan, who had married Thomas
Massingberd of Bratoft, co. Lines.69 Thomas Draner's
nearest heir was his great-great-niece Elizabeth
Halton,'0 then aged nine, who in 1665 with her
second husband James Moseley " quitclaimed all
right in the manor of Hinxworth.72 William Boteler
and Francis Halton, the first and second devisees,
seem to have died without children, for the manor came
to Sir Draner Massingberd, knighted in 1660-1,73
and was held after his death by his widow." On
her death it descended to her son 75 Burrell Massing-
berd, who was holding the manor in 1705.76 In
1709 he sold it to Sussex Sell of Hinxworth,77 who
with his wife Sarah sold it in 1 71 1 to John Izard78
of Baldock, draper.79 By the will of John Izard
dated 25 April 1 71 3 and proved in August 1 714,
Hinxworth was left to his wife Ellen for life with
remainder to his son Robert.80 Robert Izard married
Grace Cox in 1 7 1 9 and had a daughter Grace who
was seised of the manor on his death. In 1744 she
married Thomas Daniel of Devizes, co. Wilts., but
died childless a year later, when she left the manor to
her husband.81 John Izard (elder brother of Robert)
quitclaimed all right in the manor to Thomas
Daniel in 1754,82 and the latter continued to hold it
until 1766, when he sold it to Robert Thurgood of
Baldock.83 Sarah, daughter of the latter, married
Thomas Clutterbuck,84 and by her father's will dated
26 March 177485 inherited the manor of Hinxworth.
On her death in 1788,86 by the terms of the will,87 it
descended to her son Robert Clutterbuck, the
historian. He died in 1831 and was succeeded by
his son Robert,88 who died in 1879.89 The manor
was bought of his trustees by Mr. John Sale in 1 88 1.
He died in 1 894, and the manor is now held by his
trustees.
The manor of CJNTLOfTBURr (Cantilbury,
Cantlebury, Cantlobury, xvi cent.) is not mentioned
byname before 1521-2.90 It probably took its name
from the family of Cantlow or Cantelupe, who had
land in Hinxworth as early as I 176, when Walter de
Cantelupe held property there.91 It seems probable
that their lands in Hinxworth were not inconsider-
able, for they owned the advowson of Hinxworth
Church,92 which continued with their descendants
until I 346." In spite of this no further record can
be found of what land they held. The manor of
Cantlowbury was held in I 522 by Thomas Waferer,94
who also held the manor of Hinxworthbury alias
Wattonbury (q.v.). From this date the two manors
descend together.95 The manor-house of Cant-
lowbury was for some time held by a family of
the name of Harvey, but was pulled down about
1865.95*
The priory of Newnham in Bedfordshire held
lands in Hinxworth in the I 3th century, and in 1278
the prior was summoned to show by what warrant he
held view of frankpledge and assize of bread and ale
there. The prior, however, withdrew all claim to
these liberties.96 His lands and rents in Hinxworth
were valued in 1 291 at £1 ios.,S7 and described as a
quarter of a knight's fee in 1303.98 These lands
remained with the priory until the 1 6th century,99 and
it is probable that on its dissolution by Henry VIII 100
they became absorbed in the manor of Hinxworth.
The reputed manor of PULTERS (Polters, xviii
cent. ; Potters, xix cent.) seems to be first mentioned
by name in the year 1782. Chauncy says that it
was held in the reign of Edward IV by a family of
the name of Pulter, who held it of the king for a
yearly rent of 10s. Sd.1 From them he says it was
sold to John Ward, son of Richard Ward of Holden,
co. York., who was Lord Mayor of London for one
month in 1 484.' The Wards appear to have been
connected with Hinxworth as early as 1453, for
Simon Ward, who died in that year, was buried in
Hinxworth Church.3 John Ward, who placed a
window in Hinxworth Church, certainly held land in
Hinxworth, for Chauncy says he gave cow commons
to maintain the church in repair, the people of
Hinxworth being taxed according to the number of
cows they had on the common.* But there seems
to be no direct proof that his lands were the
manor of Pulters. Chauncy says that after the death
of John Ward in 1487 his lands in Hinxworth were
conveyed to John Lambard, master of the Mercers'
Company and alderman of London.* John Lambert
.(Ser. 2), ccccbcxiii, 34.
J (Harl. Soc), ii, 657,
63 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 3*4
Phil, and Mary.
04 Feet of F. Herts. East. 13 Eliz.
6i Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxvii, 117.
66 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 11 Jas. I.
67 Lines. Pedigrees (Harl. Soc), ii, 657,
446.
68 Chan. Inq. p.i
69 Lines. Pedigr,
446.
70 Ibid.
71 Ibid. 446.
72 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 Chas. II.
73 Lines. Pedigrees (Harl. Soc), ii, 657.
74 Chauncy, op. cit. 31.
'« Lines. Pedigrees (Harl. Soc), ii, 660.
76 Recov. R. HiL 4 Anne, rot. 86.
77 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 526.
78 Feet of F. Herts. Hit 9 Anne.
79 P.C.C. 161 Aston.
80 Ibid.
81 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 524.
82 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 27 & 28
Geo. II.
83 Clutterbuck, loc cit. 84 Ibid.
85 Ibid. ; P.C.C. 74 Alexander.
86 Clutterbuck, loc cit.
87 P.C.C. 74 Alexander.
88 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 9.
Ibid. 140.
D. Enr. Hil.
90 Com. Pleas
Hen. VIII.
^PipeR. 22 Hen. //(Pipe R. Soc), 6 ;
23 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 150 ; Pipe R.
7 Ric I, m. 6.
92 Cussans, 1
93 Vide a.
94 Com.
len. VIII.
Pie
K Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 3*4
Phil, and Mary ; Herts. Mich. 3 & 4
Phil, and Mary ; Div. Co. Trin. 27 & 28
Geo. II ; Recov. R. East. 9 Geo. IV,
rot. 12.
9sa Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 10 et
Kq.
96 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
290.
97 Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec Com.), 51*.
98 Feud. Aids, ii, 432.
99 Ibid. 447 ; Valor Eeel. (Rec. Com.),
iv, 187.
10J Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 372.
1 Chauncy, op. cit. 32.
2 Ibid. ; Kingsford, Chron. of London,
3 Chauncy, loc cit.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
236
Hinxworth Place from the North-east
Hinxworth Place from the South-west
ODSEY HUNDRED
or Lambard was holding lands in Hinxworth of the
manor of Hinxworth at the end of the 15th century,6
but there is nothing to show that they represent the
manor of Pulters. In the 16th century this holding
had descended to Thomas Lambert, and included a
capital messuage.' Chauncy says Thomas Lambert
was charged in Exchequer for this manor by the
name of Pulters with a yearly rent of 10/. 8J.S
According to some proceedings in the court of
Chancery Thomas Lambert fell into financial diffi-
culties. It appears that Andrew Gray of the Inner
Temple promised to give him introductions which
would lead to an advantageous marriage,9 and in
return Thomas Lambert granted him a lease of his
lands in Hinxworth on very favourable terms.10 He
eventually mortgaged his property to Gray.11 As a
natural consequence he brought a suit against Gray "
in which he said he had never received the introduc-
HINXWORTH
latter was divided between the daughters of the first
Viscount Bayning. Pulters was then sold to Edw.trd
Pecke,17 from whom it descended to his son William
Pecke,18 whose son Edward Pecke was holding the
manor in 1700." It passed finally with the
advowson to Richard Holden.20 On his death it
descended to his son Robert Holden," and in 1782
was held by the latter's two daughters, Elizabeth wife
of Richard Webb and Charlotte wife of Sir Adam
Gordon.28 It finally became the exclusive property
of Elizabeth,23 and she with her husband Richard
Webb, her son Richard Holden Webb, and his
wife Frances '* sold it in 1 801 to Henricus Octavus
Roe,25 apparently in trust for Robert Clutterbuck,26
who held the manor of Hinxworth. In 1828
Robert Clutterbuck suffered a recovery of Pulters,27
after which date it became merged in the manor of
Hinxworth.
^m^rs^h-x--
^u<ni«*nu»/'C7iSS7^3
Hinxworth Place : Part of South-west Front
tions nor been enabled to make a good marriage."
The lands, however, were probably retained by Gray,"
who died in 16 14 and whose monument is in the
parish church. From him they appear to have passed
to Andrew Bayning,15 who held, besides the advowson
of Hinxworth, four messuages, two dove-houses, four
gardens and four orchards, 489 acres of land and
10/. rent in Hinxworth, Caldecote and Ashwell.16
These descended with the advowson (q.v.) until the
The church of ST. NICHOLAS con-
CHURCH sists of chancel 20 ft. by 16 ft., nave
42 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft., west tower
10 ft. 6 in. square, and south porch 12 ft. by 10 ft.,
all dimensions taken internally. The walls are of
flint with stone dressings and the low-pitched roofs
are covered with lead.
The general walling of nave and west tower, the
north and south doorways and the windows adjoining
6 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 233, no. 80.
7 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. no,
no. 54.
8 Chauncy, loc. cit. He gives as refer-
ence Cur. Augment., but it is insufficient
for the document to be traced.
9 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. no,
no. 54.
■° Ibid.
11 Ibid, j see also bdle. 114, no. 57.
11 Ibid. bdle. no, no. 54.
" Ibid.
14 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 526.
15 Ibid.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxx
127.
17 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 526; sei
Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 16 Chas. II.
18 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
19 Chauncy, op. cit. 31.
237
80 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
=» Ibid.
88 See Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 22
Geo. III.
33 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
34 Ibid.
25 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 41 Geo. Ill
8G Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
87 Recov. R. East. 9 Geo. IV, rot.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
them on the west, belong to the middle of the 14th
century ; the west window of the tower and the
north, south and west belfry openings were inserted
later in the century !8'9 ; the east belfry opening may be
original. About 1440 the chancel arch was pulled
down and built about 2 ft. further east, and the two
large nave windows with their niches and the low-side
window were inserted, and the upper passage to the
rood-loft roughly formed eastward towards the new
chancel arch. The clearstory was raised about the
close of the 15 th century and the south porch was
erected, and the chancel arch recut to fit it under the
new low-pitched roof, the former roof having been
high-pitched, as shown by the marks on the cast face
of the tower. The chancel was rebuilt of brick about
the beginning of the 1 8th century. In 1887 the
the north and south walls of the nave shows the old
position of the chancel arch. In the north wall of
the nave is a large 15th-century three-light window
with tracery in the head under a four-centred arch ;
in the east jamb is a canopied niche with carved
crockets and finials and cusped pedestal. In the south
wall is a similar window, and to the east of it is a
low-side window of two cinquefoiled lights under a
square head, of the same date as the larger windows ;
in the south-east angle of the nave is a canopied
niche very similar to that on the north side ; both
niches have traces of colour. The north door is of
14th-century date, of two hollow-chamfered orders,
but the label has been cut off. The south doorway
is similar to the north. Both doorways retain their
original oak doors, with plain iron hinges ; the south
Hinxworth Church from the South-east
church was restored, a new roof put over the nave,
and stone windows inserted in the chancel. The
nave and tower walls are embattled.
At the north-east angle of the nave externally the
14th-century external angle of the nave wall may be
seen ; the recess adjoining it, which is corbelled over
above, shows the 15th-century extension of the nave
eastward. At the north-east part of the nave
internally is the entrance doorway to the rood-loft
stair, which projects on the outer face of the wall ;
it is of 14th-century work, but the original upper
doorway is blocked, and a rough passage tunnelled
through the wall eastward to reach the 15th-century
chancel arch; some 14th-century moulded stones
have been used in its construction ; the rough state of
re-9 In 1364-5 Nicholas de Hyngestworth (Hinxworth) left
101. for the repair of the belfry (Court of Husting Will).
doorway has deep sockets in the jambs for the oak bar.
The floor of the nave is about 2 ft. lower than the
ground outside. To the west of the north doorway
is a 14th-century two-light window, cusped and under
a square head. The label has the wave moulding.
The opposite window in the south wall of the nave
was a similar two-light window, but one light has
been blocked by the south porch, and the remaining
light widened by the insertion of a keystone in the
apex of the arch. The nave roof is modern, but
contains four figures of monks holding shields, from
the old roof; three of the shields are plain, the
fourth is barred.
The south porch is of late I 5th-century work ; on
the west side is a three-light window, with trefoiled
cusps, under a four-centred head : a similar window
on the east side has been blocked. The entrance
238
ODSEY HUNDRED
doorway has a moulded four-centred arch under a
square head.
The tower arch, c. 1 3 50, is of two splayed orders,
with semi-octagonal jambs and moulded capitals and
bases ; the west window is an insertion of the latter
part of the century, and is of two cusped lights with
a large cusped opening in the head ; it has been
repaired with cement. Underneath the window a
rough doorway has been cut in comparatively recent
times. The tower, which has no stairway, is of two
stages, with embattled top, with moulded string-
course under, at the angles of which are carvings,
that at the south-west representing a soldier's head
armed with basinet and camail of the 14th century.
In the north, south and west faces of the belfry stage
are two-light cusped openings, similar in character to
the west window and of late 14th-century work.
On the east face is a small trefoil-headed opening,
above the apex of the old steep roof, which is pro-
bably original.
The font is modern, but the remains of the old one,
consisting of a circular basin with a plain square top,
lie in the garden of the Glebe Farm. It appears to
be of the late 1 2th century. The communion table
is of Italian workmanship, with claw feet on balls
and a marble top. The pulpit is of plain panelled
oak of the 1 8th century.
In the porch is a portion of a stone coffin lid, with
the lower part of a cross, and the ends of scrolls,
probably of late 13th or early 14th-century work.
On the north wall of the chancel is a brass of a
man and his wife ; the inscription has gone, but is
given by Chauncy as being the figures of Simon
Ward, 1453, and his wife, 1 48 I ; the slab from which
this brass was taken lies at the north doorway. On
the chancel floor is a brass of a man with his wife
and children, one of whom is a priest. According
to Chauncy this brass represents John Lambert,
citizen and mercer of London, who died in 1487.
There are some shields ; one bears the arms of the
Mercers' Company, another a merchant's mark ;
these are of brass, but there are three of lead, one of
which bears a saltire ; the other two bear a fesse
between three deftced animals, probably lambs, as a
punning coat of Lambert. There is a brass inscrip-
tion to ' Andrewe Grey,' who died in 1 61 4.
There are six bells : the treble by Mears &
Stainbank, 190S ; second by J. Briant, 1820 ; third
and fourth by Miles Graye, 165 I ; fifth and tenor
by J. Briant, 1825 and 1820 respectively.
The communion plate consists of cup and paten,
1762, and two pewter plates.
The registers are in two books : (i) baptisms and
burials 1739 to 1812; (ii) marriages 1754 to
1812.
HINXWORTH
The advowson of the church was
4DVOIVSON held in the 13th century by the
Cantlowes. William de Cantlowe
presented in 1218 and 123630; he died in 1238-931
and was succeeded by his son William, who died in
1 250-1. 32 He was succeeded by his son, also named
William, who died in I253-4.33 During the
minority of the latter's heir George 34 the right of
presentation was exercised by the king in 1273.35
George was still living in May 1273,36 DUt died
some time before February 1 2 74," and his lands were
divided between his two sisters, Millicent, who
married first John de Montalt and secondly Eudo la
Zouch of Harringworth, and Joan, who married
John de Hastings.38 The advowson of Hinxworth
was inherited by the elder sister Millicent, who as
Millicent de Montalt presented in 1293 and 1295.39
It descended to her son by her second marriage,
William la Zouch,40 who presented in 1303.41 He
in 1 344 alienated the advowson to the Abbot and
convent of Pipewell, co. Northants,42 perhaps on
account of their poverty, for in 1322 the monks had
been so poor that they had been obliged to leave
their abbey for a time.43 The advowson was held
by the Abbot and convent of Pipewell (who do not
seem to have appropriated the church) until their
dissolution in 1538-9,44 after which in 1545 the
advowson of the rectory was granted to Anthony
Forster.45 From Forster it passed to John Brockett,
who in February 1561-2 granted the next presenta-
tion to John Adams, but on his presenting refused to
admit his nominee.46 Brockett probably conveyed to
Andrew Bayning 47 of Mark Lane, London, who died
seised in 1610 and left it to his brother Paul
Bayning for life with remainder to his son Paul
Bayning the younger.48 Paul Bayning died in
1616,49 and the advowson passed to his son Paul,50
who married Anne daughter of Sir Henry Glenham
(afterwards Viscountess Dorchester),51 and who in
March 1627-8 was created Viscount Bayning of
Sudbury.52 He died in 1629 and his son Paul being
a minor53 the king presented in 1636.54 The
Viscountess Dorchester, however, opposed the king's
right to present,55 and in consequence the Bishop
of Lincoln refused to admit the king's nominee,
Dr. Andrew Clare.56 A three years' lawsuit followed,57
during the course of which Paul Viscount Bayning
died in 1 63 s,58 and the king as guardian of his two
daughters and co-heirs Anne and Penelope, who were
minors, appointed Robert Cheslen on the resignation
of Dr. Clare.59 The Viscountess Dorchester died in
February 1638-9 60 before the close of the suit, but in
1639 judgement was given in her favour,61 and the
Bishop of Lincoln being suspended at that date, a
writ was addressed to Archbishop Laud to admit her
30 Cussans, op. cit. Odiey Hund. 14.
31 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 732.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Cussans, loc. cit.; Cal. Pat. 1272-
81, p. 5 (styled son of Nicholas instead
of son of William).
36 Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 9.
8' Ibid. p. 43.
88 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 732.
39 Cussans, loc. cit.
40 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Zouch
of Haryngworth.
41 Cussans, loc. cit*
42 Cal. Pat. 1343-5, pp. 198, 243 ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 20 Edw. Ill,
no. 317.
43 Dugdale, Man. Angl. v, 433.
44 Ibid.
45 Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. iv, m. 9.
46 Ct. of Req. bdle. 30, no. 14.
47 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxx,
127.
43 Ibid.
49 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclviii,
158.
40 Ibid.
51 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Bayning
and Dorchester.
239
52 Ibid. s.v. Bayning ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. z), cccclviii, 158.
53 Ibid.
64 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1635-6, p. 430.
65 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. ii,
120 ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1640-1, p. 459.
56 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. ii,
120.
57 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 640- 1, p. 459.
58 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Bayning;
Had. MS. 760, fol. i62i.
59 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1638-9, p. 163.
60 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Bayn-
ing.
61 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1640-1, p. 459.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
nominee, Daniel Falkner.03 The archbishop at
first refused to admit Falkner on the ground that he
must take care of the king's title,'" but admitted him
finally. This reluctance was one of the matters
brought against him in his trial in February 1 640-1. M
Anne and Penelope Bayning both died without issue,
Penelope in 1657, Anne in 1659.65 Anne's husband,
the Earl of Oxford,66 presented in 1660.67 The
advowson then reverted to the heirs of Paul first
Viscount Bayning, and was divided among the
descendants of his four daughters, Cecily, Anne.
Mary and Elizabeth.68 Cecily married Henry
Pierrepont Marquess of Dorchester,69 and their
daughter Anne married in 1658 John Manners,
styled Lord Roos, from whom she was divorced in
1666,70 and married secondly John Tildesley. In
1674 she was holding an eighth part of the
advowson. 70a William Pierrepont, evidently her heir,
suffered a recovery of it in 1703.71 The second
daughter Anne married Henry Murray,72 whilst the
third daughter Mary seems to be represented in
1 661 by Arthur Gorges and Mary his wife.73
They sold all right in the advowson to Edward
Pecke in 1664.74 Mary the daughter and co-heir
of Anne and Henry Murray married Sir Roger
Bradshaigh, bart.,75 and her son Sir Roger Bradshaigh
in 1697 conveyed to his father-in-law Sir John
Guise "6 his mother's share in the advowson of Hinx-
worth.77 The fourth and youngest daughter of
Paul Viscount Bayning, Elizabeth, married Francis
Lennard Lord Dacre,78 and her son Thomas Lennard,
who was created Earl of Sussex in 1674,'9 suffered a
recovery of it in 1704.80 The whole of the advowson
seems to have been acquired by Richard Holden (see
Pullers), who presented in 1727.81 On his death it
descended to his son Robert, who presented in 1739
and 1777.82 Robert Holden left two daughters and
co-heirs, Charlotte and Elizabeth ; Charlotte married
the Rev. Sir Adam Gordon and sold her share in the
advowson to the Rev. Thomas Whitehurst in 1785.83
Elizabeth married Richard Webb H and sold her
share in the advowson also to the Rev. Thomas
Whitehurst in 1787.85 Thomas Whitehurst held the
whole of the advowson till 179 1, when he sold it to
William Parkins,86 possibly in trust for Richard
Parkins, who presented in 1795.87 In 1797 Robert
Albion Cox presented.88 By 1822 the advowson
had come into the hands of John Lafont,89 the rector
of Hinxworth, who held it till his death, which took
place between 1840 and 1844. It was held by his
trustees until 1892, when it came into the possession
of the Bishop of St. Albans, in whom it is still
vested.
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in Hinx-
worth were registered in 1763 and 1823. 90
In 1 797 Jane Brooks, by her will
CHJR1T1ES proved in the Archdeaconry Court of
Huntingdon 24 January, gave .£160,
the interest to be distributed equally among the poor
of Hinxworth, Baldock, Biggleswade, and Stotfold.
The property now consists of 7 a. 3 r. 1 8 p. of land
at Stocking Pelham, in the county of Hertford, and
the churchwardens receive one-quarter of the rent,
amounting to £1 2/., which is distributed in bread on
Good Friday and at Christmas.
The Wesleyan Methodist chapel comprised in
deed of 1 83 1 is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 1882.
KELSHALL
Chelesele (x, xi cent.) ; Kelshulle, Kelshille
(xiii cent.).
The parish of Kelshall, containing about 4,703
acres, lies on the chalk hills. On its eastern side
the land rises as high as 519 ft. above the ordnance
datum, but falls to 300 ft. in the west. The Icknield
Way forms the parish and county boundary on the
north-west, and near to it on Gallows Hill is a
tumulus. The soil is chiefly clay or chalk and
gravel. The parish is mainly agricultural, the chief
crops being wheat, oats and roots, and only a small
proportion of the land is laid down to pasture.
There are only a few acres of woodland, and these
are principally in the south of the parish where
Philpotts Wood marks the site of the manor of
Woodhall alias Philpotts (q.v.). The common lands
were inclosed by Act of Parliament passed in 1795,
the award being dated 1 797- L
The village lies about 2 miles to the south of the
Icknield Way, with which it is connected by roads
leading north, joining in the village and thence going
to Therfield and the Ermine Street at Buckland.
The main part of the village lies along the road
to Buckland and the church occupies a commanding
position in the highest part of it. Several small
ponds lie on the east of the church, and from the
formation of the ground it appears probable that
there was once a moat here.2 On the small green in
the middle of the village is the stone base of a village
cross, which was found in 1906, and set up here on
a brick base. It has been very much worn by the
weather, but enough remains to show that it probably
62 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 640-1, p. 459.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
63 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Bayning.
66 Ibid.
07 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
68 Chan. Incj. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclviii,
158.
69 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Dor-
chester.
70 Ibid. 8.v. Rutland.
7°a Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 26 Chas. II.
71 Recov. R. East. 2 Anne, rot. 39.
72 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Bayning.
73 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 & 1 +
Chas. II.
7< Ibid. Mich. 16 Chas. II.
75 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iv,
no.
76 Ibid.
77 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 9 Will. III.
78 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Dacre ;
see Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 4 Will,
and Mary.
79 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Dacre.
80 Recov. R. Trin. 3 Anne, rot. 36.
24O
81 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
82 Ibid.
83 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 25 Ge
m. 3.
61 Ibid.
85 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 27 Geo
56 Ibid. East. 31 Geo. III.
87 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
88 Ibid.
89 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 527.
90 Urwick, op. cit. 794.
1 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards.
2 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii.
Hinxworth Place : Heraldic Glass Window in Drawing-
Kelshall CiiURCH : The Nave looking West
ODSEY HUNDRED
belongs to the 14th century. The lower half is
square, and supports an octagonal shaft, with ogee
stops, which has a socket for a cross. It is surrounded
by iron railings, and is under the charge of the Hert-
fordshire County Council.
Kelshall has always been off the lines of com-
munication and therefore dependent upon Royston.
When James I had a hunting lodge at Royston the
inhabitants of the surrounding villages, including
Kelshall, were compelled to cultivate their lands to
suit the king's pleasure. They were forbidden to
plough their fields in narrow ridges, their swine
had to be ringed that they should not root holes
to the danger of the king or prince when hunting
or hawking, and they had to take down any high
boundaries between their lands, that the king
might always have an easy passage whenever he
wished.3
In 1768 Richard Hassell, lord of the manor of
Kelshall, complained that his letters even from the
neighbourhood were sent him via London, so that
they took two days and cost 6d., whereas they might
have come direct to Royston for a penny.4 The
nearest railway station is at Ashwell, 3 miles to the
north, though Royston is the nearest town.
Several notable men have been incumbents of
Kelshall. Among them may be mentioned the Rev.
John Watson, who, with a success that suggests the
policy of the Vicar of Bray, was known and rewarded
as a Reformer under Edward VI, received preferment
from Mary and was made Bishop of Winchester by
Elizabeth. He was appointed rector of Kelshall in
1554 and held it as a pluralist.8 The Rev. Joseph
Beaumont, D.D., Master of Peterhouse and a poet,
held the rectory from 1643 but was non-resident.6
The Rev. George Henry Law, D.D., who became
successively Bishop of Chester and of Bath and
Wells, was rector of Kelshall for eleven years.7
His son Henry Law was born there in 1797.
He also entered the Church and was one of the
leaders of the Evangelical party.8
The manor of KELSHALL was held
MANORS before the Conquest by the Abbot and
monks of Ely,9 and is said to have been
given them in the year 1000 by Ethelflaeda wife of
Duke Ethelstan.10 They were confirmed in their
possession by a charter of Edward the Confessor,
which confirmed the grants of his father and grand-
father.11 The Abbots of Ely retained possession of
the manor after the Conquest,12 and when a bishopric
was erected at Ely in I 108-9 13 Kelshall became
part of the possessions of that see.11 In 125 1
Hugh Bishop of Ely received a grant of free warren
in his lands in Kelshall.15 Return of writs, pleas de
KELSHALL
namio vetito, gallows and assize of bread and ale were
also claimed by the bishops.16 In 1285-6 there was
a mill attached to the manor.17
Kelshall remained with the
bishopric till 1600,18 when
Martin Heaton, then Bishop
of Ely, alienated it with
several other manors to the
queen.19 It was then held
by the Crown for nine years.20
In 1609 James I granted it
to George Salter 21 in trust
for Ralph Freeman, and the
latter sold it in 1628 to James See or Ely. Gules
Willymot.22 He held the *""""'■
manor till his death in 1662,23
when it passed to his son James Willymot, who was
Sheriff" of Herts in 1683. 24 He sold it to John
Poynter in 1695,25 at whose death in 171826 the
manor descended to his son Samuel,27 who held it
till his death in 1747.28 It then passed to his sister
Sarah,29 who married Richard Hassall in 1754.30
When Richard Hassall died the manor was sold to
John Kenrick of Blechingley, Surrey.31 On his
death in 1799 it passed to his brother the Rev.
Matthew Kenrick, rector of Blechingley,32 who died
in 1803,33 when his property went by will to his
brother the Rev. Jarvis Kenrick, rector of Chilham,
Kent.34 From him it descended to his son William
Kenrick.35 After his death Kelshall was held by
Mrs. Kenrick until about 1899, when it passed to
Colonel Byrne. Mr. John Inns, the present lord of
the manor, purchased the property from Colonel
Byrne a few years ago.
The manor of If'OODHJLL alias PHILPOTTS
was held of the Bishops of Ely as of their manor of
Kelshall.36
The earliest reference to the manor seems to be in
1430-1, when it was held by
John Philpott and Matilda
his wife.37 It received its
second name from this family,
with whom it remained until
the beginning of the 1 7th
century. John Philpott died
in 1436,38 and the manor
passed to his son John, at
that date aged five.39 This
John was knighted and died
in 1502, when his son Peter
succeeded him.40 Peter also
received the honour of knight-
hood, and died in 1540.41 In 1543 his son Thomas
was seised of the manor, and was declared to have
Philpott. Sable
bend ermine.
3 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 488.
* Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rcc), ii, in.
5 Diet. Nat. Eiog.
« Ibid. 7 Ibid.
s Ibid.
9 I'.C.H. Herts, i, 312a.
10 Bentham, Hist, of Conventual Church
of Ely ; Cussans, op. cit. 131 ; Liber
Eliensis (ed. D. T. Stewart), ii, cap. 64, 83.
11 Kemble, Codex D:pl. iv, 24.6.
12 V.C.H. Herts, i, 312a.
13 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. i, 462.
» Ibid.
15 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 367 ;
Cart, Antiq. II, 51.
16 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188.
17 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1132, no. 9.
18 Ibid. no. 9, 10, 11, 13 ; Assize R.
325 ; Add. MS. 6165, pp. 232, 506 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 446.
19 Close, 42 Eliz. pt. exxx ; Add. MS.
5847, p.i 37 ; Dugdale, Mon. Angl.'i, 466.
20 Ld. Rev. Ct. R. bdle. 30, no. I.
21 Pat. 7 Jas. I. pt. xxxvii.
22 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Chas. I.
23 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 533.
2J Ibid. ; Berry, Herts. Geneal.
25 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 7
Will. Ill, m. 7.
26 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 536.
27 See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 3 & 14
Geo. II.
241
58 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 131
et seq.
29 Ibid.
30 Clutterbuck, op. cit. 533 ; Cussans,
foe. cit.
31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.
31 P.C.C. 712 Marriott.
35 Clutterbuck, op. cit. 533 ; Cussans,
Ioc. cit.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 5 Hen. VI, no. 1 1 ;
(Ser. 2), xvii, 44-
37 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 9 Hen. VI.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Hen. VI,no. 1 1.
39 Ibid.
<° Ib.d. (Ser. 2), xvii, 44.
»' Ibid, lxiv, 152.
31
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
been a lunatic since 1534.43 In 1607 Sir George
Philpott, kt., made a settlement of the manor.43 He
died in 1622 and was succeeded by his son Sir John
Philpott.44
The Philpotts had remained adherents of the old re-
ligion, and in consequence of heavy fines for recusancy
found themselves involved in money difficulties.40 In
1625 Sir John Philpott, in order to pay the legacies
left in his father's will and also his own deb'.s, demised
the manor of Woodhall with various other estates for
the term of sixteen years to three of his creditors,
John Lord St. John, Sir Thomas Stukely and Sir
Richard Tichbome.46 John Lord St. John released
all his estate in these manors to his co-feoffees, and in
1627 the king confirmed the grant to Sir Thomas
Stukely and Sir Richard Tichborne for the term of
sixteen years.47 The feoffees appear to have conveyed
their right in Woodhall to James Willymot, who held
a court there in 1635.48 Henry Philpott was holding
in 1650,49 but apparently he also released his right to
the Willymots, and the manor was given by James
Willymot to his younger son Thomas.50 He married
Rachel the daughter of Dr. Pindar, and the manor
was settled on her.51 Afterwards it was bought
from the Willymot family by Hale Wortham, who
died in 1778 and was succeeded by his son Hale
Wortham.52 He died without any direct heir and
the manor passed to his brother James.53 From him
it descended to his eldest son Biscoe Hill Wortham,
who sold it to John Phillips of Royston.54 John
Phillips died in 1 87 155 and was succeeded by his son
Mr. John Phillips, the present lord.56
The manor of HORUELLBURT (Ordwelle,
xi cent. ; Orewell, xii cent. ; Horewell, xiii cent.)
was held before the Conquest by three men of
Archbishop Stigand.57 In 1086 half a hide was
held of the Bishop of Bayeux by Osbern,58 while a
larger holding of nearly one and a half hides had
been acquired by Hardwin de Scales, under whom a
certain Wisgar held.59 No further record exists of
the holding of the Bishop of Bayeux, but the lands
of Hardwin de Scales were divided between his two
sons Richard and Hugh and were held by their
descendants until the beginning of the 13th century.60
In 1 195-6 William, grandson of Richard, claimed
{inter alia) three knights' fees in Horwellbury and
other places against Hugh grandson of Hugh.
Judgement was given for Hugh.61 The Scales do
not appear again in Horwellbury, but possibly before
this date they had subinfeudated it to the Fitz
Ralphs, who were holding of them elsewhere, for in
1303 Horwellbury was said to be held of William
Fitz Ralph.62 In the 1 6th century, when the
overlordships given in inquisitions are unreliable,
Horwellbury was said to be held of the king 63
except a small portion called Kymberleyn's, which
was held of the queen as of her manor of Popshall.64
In 1229 John de Bassingburn, who was holding
half a knight's fee in Kelshall of the Bishop of
Ely,65 claimed customs and services there from a
certain Ra'ph Marshal.66 In 1282 a grant of the
manor in subinfeudation was made by William le
Moine of Raveley to another Ralph Marshal, clerk,
and Nichola his wife.67 On Ralph's death it passed
to his brother Robert.68 An attempt was made in
I 29 1 by a certain John Deynill to gain possession of
the manor. He disseised Robert and affirmed that
Ralph Marshal had been his villein.63 But Robert
successfully maintained that Ralph had been a free
man and held the manor of William le Moine, and
he recovered seisin of the manor.70
In 1303 Hugh Barry was holding the manor
of William Fitz Ralph.71 Soon after this the manor
passed to Edmund Barry, who granted it to John
Barry, probably his son, and Elizabeth his wife.
From them it descended to their son Edmund
Barry.7-' He had two daughters, Agnes and Alice,73
and on the marriage of the
elder of these, Agnes, with
William Paston in 1420 the
manor of Horwellbury was
settled on them and their
heirs.74 Her sister Alice and
her husband Thomas Bardolf "5
renounced all right to the
manor in 1436. 76
William Paston in 1444
left the manor by will to his
wife Agnes with remainder to
their heirs.77 At the same
time he directed that all lands
not mentioned in his will
(except Sweynthorpe) should go to his two younger
sons William and Clement.7*1 John Paston, how-
ever, his eldest son and heir, did not carry out
these directions, but took possession of all the lands.79
Agnes Paston held Horwellbury during her life,80
but on her death she left it by will dated 1466 to
her two younger sons in recompense for the lands
their brother had withheld from them.81 Her son
Paston. Argent s
fleurs de lit azure and
chief indented or.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxv, 84.
43 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 4. Jas. I.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccii, 129.
43 Pat. 3 Chas. I, pt. iv, no. I.
46 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1
Chas. I.
47 Pat. 3 Chas. I, pt. iv, no. I.
45 Add. R. 33006.
49 Recov. R. Mich. 1650, rot. 44.
50 Clutterbuck, op. cit. 534 ; Cubans,
op. cit. 132; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
I Anne.
51 Chauncy, op. cit. 84 ; Clutterbuck,
op. cit 534; Cussans, op. cit. Odsey
Hun J. 132.
62 Clutterbuck and Cussans, loc. cit
H Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. I II.
" Ibid.
55 Ibid.
66 Information given by Mr. John
Thillips of Royston, co. Herts.
57 V.C.H. Hem. i, 310,7, 339a.
5S Ibid. 310a.
59 Ibid. 339a.
60 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 99.
61 Ibid.
" Feud. Aids, ii, 433. See manor of
Broadfield for descent of Fitz Ralphs.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, 96 ;
lxviii, ,+.
64 This portion took its name from
the family of Kimberley, one of whom,
William Kimberlev, and afterwards his
heir Thomas Kimberley, held the manor
for a short time on lease or in mortgage
at the end of the 14th century (De
Banco R. 572, m. no).
65 Red Bk. ofExch. ii, 526.
66 Cal. Close, 1227-31^. 226. Albreda
Bassingburn in 1240 granted a carucate
of land in Kelshall to Alexander de
Bassingburn to be held of herself and,
242
her heirs; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin.
24 Hen. Ill, no. 161.
67 Feet of F.Herts. 10 Edw. I, no. 145 ;
see Assize R. 1291, m. 4 d.
m Assize R. 1291, m. 4 d.
69 Ibid.
70 Ibid.
71 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
n De Banco R. 572, m. no.
75 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R.
366.
74 Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), i, II.
75 Wrottesley, Fed. from the Plea R. 366.
76 FeetofF.Div. Co. East. 14 Hen. VI;
William Paston's name is wrongly given
in Feud. Aids, ii, 447, as John.
" Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), iii,459.
78 Ibid, ii, 287.
79 Ibid.
8° Ibid, i, 87, 247-8, 255,
6' Ibid, ii, 287.
ODSEY HUNDRED
John Paston died the same year and was succeeded
by his son Sir John Paston.S2 In spite of his grand-
mother's will, Sir John endeavoured on the death of
Agnes to take possession of Honvellbury,83 and on
his death in 1479 his brother and heir John Paston
renewed the attempt to enter on the manor.84 But
his uncle William Paston had leased the manor to
John King, who refused to recognize the right of the
elder branch of the family.85 John Paston never
acknowledged his uncle's claim to the manor and
drew up long lists of complaints against him.86 But
he had no supporters among the tenants of Horwell-
bury,87 and finally William Paston sold the manor to
Thomas Bradbury, Mayor of London in 1507.88
Before his death in January 1509-10 Thomas
Bradbury left it to his widow Joan Bradbury with
remainder to his nephew and heir William Bradbury.89
Joan at once bought the reversion of the manor from
her nephew,90 but must soon after have sold it, for in
KELSHALL
The house called Orwellbury lies north of the
church and to the north-east of the road from
Kelshall to Sandon. In 1 797, when the Kelshall
allotment award was made, there were three fields
in this district which were called Great Horwell,
Mead Horwell and Horwell Pightle, which adjoined
a piece of common land called Horwell Green. 9S
The church of ST. FAITH consists
CHURCH of a chancel 29 ft. by 18 ft., nave 42 ft.
by 18 ft., north and south aisles 43 ft.
by 9 ft., south porch 12 ft. by 10 ft., and west
tower I 2 ft. square ; all dimensions taken internally.
The walls are of flint with stone dressings. The
whole of the church belongs to the 15th century,
but was thoroughly repaired, all but the tower, in
1870, most of the external stonework being replaced
and the church re-roofed. The tower was restored
in 191 1 and a lych-gate was added in the previous
year.
Kelshall Church from the South-west
1536 it was held by John Bowles,91 who died in
1543 92 and left it to his grandson and heir Thomas
Bowles, then aged thirteen.93 The manor again
changed hands within a short time and in 1577 was
held bv Edward Hammond, who died in February
1579-80. He settled Horwellbury on his son
Alexander Hammond,94 who held the manor 95 till
his death in 1604,96 when it passed to his son
John Hammond. No further trace is found of the
Hammonds in Horwellbury, and in 1695 the manor
was held by James Willymot,97 owner of the manor
of Kelshall (q.v.), and from this date the two manors
descend together.
In the chancel is an east window of three lights,
and in each side wall are two windows, and a door-
way in the south wall, all modern. There is a carved
bracket for an image on either side of the east window,
a good deal damaged. The chancel arch is of two
moulded orders, with moulded responds, of the 15th
century. The nave has north and south arcades of
four bays with moulded arches and piers with engaged
shafts, which have moulded capitals and bases. The
two-light windows in the clearstory are modern, as is
also the roof. In the north-east angle is the stair to
the rood-loft ; the lower doorway is blocked, but the
upper one remains.
88 Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), ii, 290.
83 Ibid, iii, 267, 275.
84 Ibid. 263. 6* Ibid. 27;.
66 Ibid. 267, 311. w Ibid. 315.
88 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 22 Hen. VII;
Add. Chart. 27442.
89 Add. Chart. 27442 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
ier. 2), xxv, 96.
9,1 Add. Chart. 27442.
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14.
92 Ibid.
93 Ibid.
243
94 Ibid, clxxxix, 88.
95 See Recov. R. East. 1583, rot. 61.
96 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxxxiv, 96.
97 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 7 Will. Ill,
1. 7.
98 Home Cos. Mag. x, 317.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the east wall of the north aisle is a three-light
window with a traceried head ; there are two windows
in the north wall and one in the west wall, each of
two lights with tracery above, all of late 15th-
century work, with repaired stonework. The north
doorway has a double ogee moulding with label and
defaced stops. At the east end are two damaged
carved stone brackets. There are some fragments of
1 5th-century glass in one of the windows in the north
wall. In the north-west angle of the aisle is a tall
locker, circular on plan internally, with a diameter of
2 ft. 5 in. ; the recess has a pointed arched head, and
is about I 2 ft. in height ; it has a rebate for door,
and the iron hooks for the hinges remain ; it was
probably used to hold the processional cross and
staves. The roof of the aisle is modern, but a few old
timbers remain.
There is a three-light window in the east wall of
the south aisle, and two of two lights in the south
wall, all of modern stonework. A 15th-century
piscina, somewhat mutilated, remains at the east end
of the aisle. The south doorway, of 15th-century
date, has a moulded arch under a square head, with
traceried spandrels. The door is the original one of
oak, but has been restored. The west window of the
aisle is of two lights with a traceried head ; it is of
15th-century work repaired.
The entrance doorway to the south porch and the
side windows are modern ; it has a parvise over it,
approached by a turret stair in the north-west angle
outside, the door being in the south aisle.
The west tower is of three stages, finished with an
embattled parapet. The tower arch is of three
moulded orders, with moulded capitals and bases to
the jambs. The west window is of two cinquefoiled
lights, with a six-foiled opening in its head. The
second stage is pierced by single lights in the west
and south ; the bell-chamber has, on each side, a
two-light opening with traceried head, much broken
and decayed.
The lower part of the rood screen remains in situ ;
the panels are cusped, with carved spandrels, and
retain their original paintings ; two of them have
kings, with their names, Edmund and Edward, on
scrolls, the other two being bishops, unnamed. All
the other fittings are modern.
In the churchyard, south of the church, is the
base of an octagonal stone cross of the 1 5th century.
Mr. F. J. Fordham gave a small piece of land for an
addition to the churchyard on the west side.
There are five bells : the treble by R. Cailin,
1748 (recast in i860) ; the second by Miles Grave,
1642 ; the third by John Briant, 1790 (recast in
1 860) ; the fourth and tenor by Miles Graye,
1642.
The communion plate consists of paten, 1685, and
modern chalice and paten.
The registers are in three books : (i) and (ii)
baptisms and burials 1538 to 181 2, marriages 15 38
to 1687, 1691 to 1753; (iii) marriages 1754 to
1812.
The patronage of the church was
JDl'OH'SON originally attached to the manor of
Kelshall," and remained so until
1600, when the Bishop of Ely surrendered the manor
to the queen, lu0 but retained the advowson in his own
hands.1"1 It continued to be part of the possessions
of the see of Ely until 1852,11'2 when it was trans-
ferred to the Bishop of Oxford,103 who in 1855
conveyed it to the Crown,104 in whom it is at pre-
sent vested.
In 1779 a meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters
was certified in Kelshall.105
The Poor's Land consists of a field
CHARITIES called Town Closes of about 8 acres,
and 8 a. I r. of land let in allotments,
together producing £12 5/. yearly. In 1908 Is. 6d.
per head was distributed to each labourer and his
wife and all in family under sixteen years of age,
and is. (yd. a head to five aged and infirm widows.
There is also a close of 2 a. I r. 5 p., called the
Clerk's Close, the rent of which is payable to the
parish clerk, he paying land tax rates and tithe-
charge.
RAD WELL
Radewelle (xi cent.) ; Redewell (xv cent.) ; Radi-
well (xvi cent.).
The parish of Radwell lies in the extreme north-
west of the county on the borders of Bedfordshire.
It is very small, containing only about 743 acres, of
which the greater part is arable land and about one-
ninth permanent grass. There are only \\ acres of
woodland.1 The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans
and turnips. The parish is on the chalk hills, but
lies comparatively low, rising nowhere more than
263 ft. above the ordnance datum. The River Ivel
flows through the south-west of the parish and forms
part of its western boundary, dividing it from
Norton. Radwell lies 2 miles north-west of Baldock,
at which town is its nearest railway station. The road
to Biggleswade, after passing through Baldock, runs
northward through Radwell and forms part of the
western boundary of the parish, which here coincides
with the boundary between Hertfordshire and Bed-
fordshire. On the east the Cat Ditch forms part of
the boundary.
The village lies in the south-west of the parish
between the road to Biggleswade and the River Ivel,
and along a lane which runs westward from the main
road to the river. On the north side of this lane
are the church and rectory ; a little to the west are
the corn mill and mill pond, probably occupying the
site of the mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey.
Radwell House, the manor-house, and Bury Farm
are on the south side of the lane. These buildings
form the greater part of the village, which has always
been very small, the population in 1428 being only
seven inhabitants.1''1 In 1656 the people of Radwell
petitioned that they might be assisted in the repairing
of the Great North Road, which was then in great
decay, as the soii was so poor that the winter devoured
99 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 235.
100 Close, 42 Eliz. pt. oxx.
101 Add. MS. 5S47, p. 137.
102 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
103 Cussans, op. cit. OJiey Hund. 138.
104 Ind. to Land. Gas. 915.
244
>oi Urwick, op. cit. 798.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
'a Feud. Aids, ii, 454, 458.
Kelshall Church : Locker in North-west angle of North Aisle
ODSEY HUNDRED
whatever they were able to lay on in the summer,
and the parish was so small that it had only two
teams.2
The Ridgway is a 16th-century place-name.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor
MANORS and in the early days after the Conquest
there were two manors in Radwell.3
The larger of these was assessed at 4 hides and had
a mill attached worth 8r.4 It was held before the
Conquest by Alncda, a man of Archbishop Stigand.5
In 1086 it had become part of the extensive lands of
the Bishop of Bayeux and was held of him by Adam
son of Hubert de Rye.6 On Adam's death his lands
passed to his brother Eudo Dapifer.7 He died in
1120,8 when Radwell apparently passed to his sister
Albreda, the wife of Peter de Valognes,9 and then be-
came amalgamated with the other manor of Radivell.
The smaller manor in Radwell was assessed in 1086
at only 2 hides lu and had a mill worth 6s. 8</.u In
the reign of Edward the Confessor it was held by
Ethelmacr of Benington.12 Ethelmaer's brother held
ha'f a hide of it under him.13 By 1086 Radwell had
passed with Ethelmaer's other estates to Peter de
Valognes and was held of him by Roger.14
Peter de Valognes having acquired the other manor
(see above) the two became the manor of RADWELL.
On the death of Peter de Valognes his lands descended
to his son Roger de Valognes.1'' He had a son Peter,
who appears to have died without issue and to have
been succeeded by his brother Robert."5 This Robert
left an only daughter Gunnora, who married Robert
Fitz Walter.1' In the struggle between King John and
the barons Robert Fitz Walter was one of the leaders
of the latter party,18 and when Louis of France arrived
in England he joined with William de Mandeville
Earl of Essex in subjugating Essex and Suffolk.19 He
had by Gunnora 20 a daughter Christine, who married
William de Mandeville Earl of Essex,21 and as Christine
Countess of Mandeville held of the gift of her father
of the honour of Valognes four fees, including Rad-
well.22 She died without issue, and Radwell seems to
have passed to her step-brother Walter Fitz Walter,
who died in I257.83 He was succeeded by his son
Robert,24 who on his death in 1325 was succeeded by
his son also named Robert. 2j This Robert died in
1328 holding fees in Raduell and elsewhere,26 which
descended to his son John. John held till his death
in 1 36 1,2' when his lands passed to his son Walter
Fitz Walter. In 1386 Walter Fitz Walter died seised
RADWELL
with his wife Philippa of the fee in Radwell.28 He
left a son and heir Walter.29 Before this date the
Fitz Walters had enfeoffed a sub-tenant in Radwell,30
and this is the last of the family whose rights of
overlordship are recorded. Walter, grandson of the
younger Walter Fitz Walter, died in 143 I, leaving a
daughter Elizabeth, aged only eighteen months.31 It
is possible that during her minority the claim of the
Fitz Walters to the overlordship of Radw:ell Manor
was allowed to lapse, for in 1438 it was said to be
held of John Barre, who held land in Radwell,32 as
of his manor of Ayot,33 and in 1543 it was said to be
held of the king in chief,34 but by this date tenures
had become uncertain.
The earliest known sub-tenant in the manor of
Radwell is Simon Fitz Adam de Hatfield, to whom
Henry III granted free warren in his demesne lands
of Radwell and elsewhere in 1254.30 John Fitz Simon,
his grandson,36 presented to the church of Radwell in
1304.37 He died in that year, and his son Edward
was his heir.38 Edward died without issue before
1328, when these lands had passed to his brother
Hugh Fitz Simon,39 who was still holding in 1346, at
which date the fee was held under him by John
Mallore and Margaret his wife.4" He settled the
manor of Radwell on his son Edward Fitz Simon, kt.,
his wife Nichola and their heirs.41 Edward died
without children,4' and the manor was inherited
by his brother Nicholas,43 subject to the life interest
of his brother's widow Nichola.44 In 1398 he with
Elizabeth his wife granted it to John and Ida Cokayn
for life with remainder to Edward Fitz Simon, their
son, and Cecilia his wife, daughter of John and Ida.45
Edward died before 1400,46 and Radwell appears
finally to have come to Christine, one of his two
daughters and co-heiresses,47 for in 1428 it was held
by her husband John Muslee.48 Shortly afterwards
in 1433 the manor was conveyed by trustees to John
Fray, chief baron of the Exchequer, and Agnes his
wife, on whom it was settled for life and a year beyond,
with remainder to trustees.49 In 1438 John Fray
obtained licence to alienate Radwell in mortmain to
the Abbot and convent of St. Albans, receiving from
it for life an annual rent of 20 marks.50
The manor remained with the abbey until its disso-
lution in 1538,51 and was granted in 1540 to Ralph
Rowlett. ss He held it till his death in March I 543-4,
when it passed to his son Ralph Rowlett.53 In I 548-9
Ralph Rowlett the younger settled Radwell on himself
8 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 118.
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 310a, 338a.
4 Ibid. 3 ioa.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid. ; V.C.H. Northants, i, 363.
7 V.C.H. Northants, i, 363.
8 Round, Studies in Peerage and Family
Hist. 163.
9 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 44.1; Dugdale,
Mon. Angl. iii, 34; ; iv, 608.
10 V.C.H. Herts, i, 3;8j.
11 Ibid. u Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid. 338a, 276.
15 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 441.
16 Ibid.
"Ibid. 218.
18 Ibid. ; G.E.C. Complete Peerage, 8.V.
Fitz Walter.
19 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 218.
20 His heir Walter was not the son of
Gunnora.
21 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 218.
82 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 271*.
83 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 21 8 ; G.E.C.
Complete Peerage, s.v. Fitz Walter.
" Ibid.
83 Ibid.
86 Cal. Inf. p.m. 1-9 Edtv. Ill, 129.
27 G.E.C. loc. cit.
83 Cal. Inj. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii, 82.
89 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, loc. cit.
»» See below.
81 G.E.C. loc. cit.
32 Cal. Ina.p.m. Hen. VII, i, 215.
33 Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 243 ; Arund.
MS. 34, fol. 15.
84 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixviii, 40.
85 Cal. Pat. 1247-5S, p. 388.
36 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I,
no. 56.
37 Cus-ans, op. cit. Odsey HunJ. 59.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 56.
39 Cal. Ina.p.m. 1-9 Edw. Ill, 129.
245
40 iW. Aids, ii, 436.
41 Add. MS. 2S789.
48 Ibid.
43 Ibid.
44 Close, 1 Ric. II, m. 10 d. ; Feet of
F. Herts. 13 Ric. II, no. 139.
u Feet of F. Herts. 21 Ric. II, no. 185.
« Ibid. 1 Hen. IV, no. 9 ; 2 Hen. IV,
no. 14.
47 See Feet of F. Herts. 1 1 Hen. IV,
no. 84.
48 Feud. Aids, ii, 448 ; Feet of F.
Herts. 11 Hen. IV, no. 84.
49 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 12 Hen. VI,
no. 66.
50 Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 243 ; Inq.
a.q.d. file 448, no. 22 (17 Hen. VI);
Arund. MS. 34, fol. 1 5 ; Dugdale, Mon.
Angl. ii, 244.
51 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. ii, 207.
33 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 733 (42).
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixviii, 40.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and his wife Dorothy, with remainder to his sister
Joan, who was the wife of Thomas Skipwith.54 Ralph
Rowlktt. Gulet a
cheveron between couple
closes argent with three
lions gules on the che-ve-
Skipwith. Argent
three bars gules and a
greyhound sable •with a
gulden collar running in
the chief.
Pym. Sable a Jesse
between three owls or
with three crosslets sable
on the f esse.
and Dorothy continued to hold the manor as late as
Radwell Church from the South-east
I 5 56," soon after which Dorothy must have died, for
in 1558 Sir Ralph Rowlett settled the manor on
himself and his wife Margaret, one of the daughters
of Sir Anthony Cooke, kt.56 In February 1562-3
Sir Ralph leased the manor to William Plomer for
seventy years." Sir Ralph died in 1571, and as he
left no children he bequeathed the manor to William
Skipwith, the son and heir of his sister Joan, to hold
with remainder to his brothers Ralph, Edward and
Henry Skipwith.58 In 1577 William Skipwith and
Edward and Henry Skipwith received licence to
alienate the manor, including one mill and view of
frankpledge,59 for settlement on William and his heirs,
William Skipwith promising
to settle lands of equal value
on his brothers if he should
die without children.™ This
bond, on the death of Ralph
Skipwith, came into the hands
of John Cheyney, who re-
fused to give it up.61 William
Skipwith brought a suit against
him, and declared that he had
settled lands on his brothers
according to the bond and to
the will of Sir Ralph Rowlett.62
In January 1577-8 William
Skipwith sold the manor to
Sir Rowland Hayward, kt.63 He sold it in 1580 to
John Parker and Katherine his wife, and their son
John Parker.6' John Parker
died in March I 595-6," and
his son John in March
1 604-5. 66 He was succeeded
by his uncle William Parker
(son of John Parker of Bal-
dock), brother to John Parker
the father,67 who sold Radwell
in 1607 to William Plomer,™
then lessee of the manor (see
above).
William Plomer died in
March 1625-6, and was suc-
ceeded by his son William,
then aged thirty.69 From him
the manor passed to Sir Robert
Berkeley of East Barnet, a
lawyer who was imprisoned
in the Tower for his loyalty
to the Stuarts.70 His brother
John Berkeley resided at
Radwell House.71 In 1650
Sir Robert sold the manor to
Thomas Cole, citizen and
merchant tailor, of London.72
The sale included a water
corn mill, all water-courses,
flood-gates and dams on the
manor, the liberty of a swan-
mark, or of keeping swans in
or near Radwell, court leet and court baron. Thomas
Cole continued to hold the manor until 1677, when
he sold it to Robert Bell.73 Radwell remained in this
family until I720-I,when Robert Bell and his son
Richard were empowered to sell it by a Private Act
of Parliament." It was purchased by William Pym
of Nortonbury.75
In 1723 a suit was brought against Pym by Robert
and Richard Bell, farmers of the tithes of Radwell,
and it was then stated that no courts had been held
in Radwell for many years, and that during the time
M Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 2 Edw. VI.
" Recov. R. Hil. 1554 ; Trin. 1556.
56 Pat. 4 & ; Phil, and Mary, pt. xv,
m. 2 ; Recov. R. East. 1558, rot. 619.
67 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxciii, 22 ;
see Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 17 Eliz.
68 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvi, 3.
59 Pat. 19 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 17 5 Feet of
F. Herts. Mich. 19 & 20 Eliz.
60 Ct. of Ren. bdle. 89, no. 47.
61 Ibid.
62 Ibid. ; see also Chan. Proc. (Ser.
bdle. 250, no. 21.
63 Pat. 20 Eliz. pt. iii, m. 30 ; Fee
F. Herts. East. 20 Eliz.
w Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxciii,
65 Ibid. « Ibid. " Ibid
08 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Jas. I.
246
69 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxxiv,
84.
2), '« Chauncy, op. cit. 43 ; Close, 1650,
pt. lxvii, no. 17.
: of ;i Close, 1650, pt. lxvii, no. 17.
72 Ibid.
22. 7» Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 29 Chas. II.
74 Priv. Act, 7 Geo. I, cap. 31.
76 Cussans, op. cit. Odsey Hund. 55.
ODSEY HUNDRED
when Thomas Cole was owner of the manor some
of the tenants had been summoned to a court at
Rushden.76 William Pym held Radwell until his
death in 1788, when his lands descended to his son
Francis Pym." Francis Pym died in 1 83 3 and was
succeeded by his son also Francis Pym.78 He died in
February 1 86 1, and his son Francis only lived to
enjoy his inheritance for a few months, as he was
killed in a railway accident in April of that same
year. His son Francis Pym, a minor, succeeded
him.'9 He was holding the manor in 1 87 1,80 and
afterwards sold it to Mr. J. Remington Mills, from
whom it descended to Mr. J. Truman Mills, and
later to Mr. John Layton Mills, the present lord of
the manor.
The church of ALL SJINTS consists
CHURCH of chancel 20 ft. by 1 3 ft. 6 in.,
north vestry 14 ft. by 7 ft., nave 35 ft.
by 16 ft. 6 in., and south porch 8 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft.
The walls are of flint rubble covered with cement,
the roofs are tiled.
The chancel arch is the only structural feature in
the church which shows detail of an earlier date than
the 15 th century, and it is mid- 14th-century work ;
the walling may belong to that or an earlier period,
but all early detail has been lost in the repairs of the
15th century. The vestry and south porch were
added in I 882, when the whole building was re-roofed
and thoroughly repaired.
The chancel has a three-light east window of
about 1500, a single modern light in the south wall,
and a modern vestry doorway in the north. The
chancel arch, of about 1340, is of two wave-moulded
orders on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and
bases.
There is a two-light window in each of the north,
south and west walls of the nave, all of modern stone-
work ; the western bay of the nave is divided off by
a wall containing an arch, coarsely moulded, and
probably of early 16th-century work. The arch is
surmounted on its eastern side by the royal arms
carved in stone. There is a small bell-cote over the
REED
west end, which appears to be chiefly modern work.
The south doorway belongs to the latter part of the
14th century.
The font is of stone, roughly worked ; on the sides
are shields of a late type. It is probably of I 5 th-century
date, although the form of the font itself belongs to
an earlier period.
The communion rails, with moulded balusters and
rail, a carved oak chest in the nave, and a pair of
high-backed chairs are early 17th-century work.
In the chancel is a brass of William Wheteaker,
his wife and son Thomas, a priest in eucharistic
vestments, who died in 1487 ; another of Elizabeth
wife of John Parker, who died in 1602. In the nave,
near the pulpit, is the brass of John Bele, who died
in I 5 16, with two wives and two children.
On the north wall of the chancel is a small monu-
ment to John Parker, who died in 1595, his wife
Mary, who died in 1574, and their son John, all
kneeling effigies. A large alabaster monument against
the south wall is to Mary Plomer, who died in 1605,
with effigies of a woman with six sons, four daughters
and a chrisom child. On the same wall is a small
mural monument to Ann Plomer, who died in 1625.
On the south nave wall is a small marble and alabaster
monument to Sir William Plomer, who died in 1625.
There are two bells, undated.
The communion plate includes an incised cup,
1574, paten, 1796, and two 18th-century plated
cups and patens.
The registers are contained in four books :
(i) parchment, all entries 1590 to 1699 ; (ii) and (iii)
baptisms and burials 1700 to 18 12, marriages 1700
to 1753 ; (iv) marriages 1 754 to 1812.
The church of All Saints, Rad-
ADVOWSO'N well, has always been in the gift of
the lord of the manor,81 the earliest
recorded presentation occurring in 1 304.6' When
Francis Pym sold the manor of Radwell (q.v.) he
retained the advowson in his own hands and still
holds it.
There are apparently no endowed charities.
REED
Rode (x cent.) ; Retth, Rete (xi cent.) ; Rede
(xii cent.) ; Rud, Roed, Ruth (xiii cent.) ; Estrede
(xiv cent ).
The parish of Reed is a long, narrow piece of land
containing about 1,477 acres. By far the greater
portion of the parish consists of arable land, but woods
exist, mostly in the south part, where Reed Wood,
the largest in the parish, is situated. Reed lies high,
the ground rising to as much as 500 ft. above the
ordnance datum. It is near the summit of the chalk
range, from which the waters on the north join with
the Cam and run into Lynn Deeps, while those on
the south run into the Lea and the Thames. The
chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and roots. The
commons of Reed were inclosed in 1808.1
The village of Reed lies almost midway between
Royston and Buntingford (at which two towns are its
nearest railway stations), and a little to the east of the
Roman road, known as Ermine Street, which connects
these towns and forms the western boundary of the
parish. There is a reference to this road as Arning
Street in 1 25 I.' A road runs east through Reed from
Ermine Street to Barkway. Running south from this
is a road which forms the main street of the village,
then turns sharply west and south and joins Ermine
Street. At the angle thus formed stands Reed Hall,
the manor-house, close to which is the church of
St. Mary. The manor-house of Queenbury stands
east of the road a little further north. There is a
Congregational chapel near Queenbury and brick-
works further north. On a road running parallel
with this road are situated the church mission-room
76 Exch. Dep. East. 9 Geo. I, no. 7.
77 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906) ; see
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
78 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906).
79 Ibid.
80 Cussans, loc. cit.
81 See references under
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
247
82 Cussans, op. cit. Odiey Hund. 59.
1 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 10 Geo. IV,
1. 23.
2 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 360.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and Wisbridge Farm, to the north-east of these are
North Farm and a smithy, whilst other scattered
parts of the village lie at Fiddler's Green and
Billingsgate.
The most distinctive feature of Reed i; the number
of homestead moats about it. Two of the more im-
portant of these lie near Reed Hall, one inclosing a
rectangular space of I J acres and the other a space
of half an acre. Both are nearly dry. At Queenbury
a moat runs round three sides of the house and
gardens, inclosing altogether a piece of land about
400 ft. square. There appear to have been two
inclosures here originally. At Fiddler's Green is a
dry fosse which forms a square. A moat at Gannock
Green incloses a piece of land 200 ft. by 300 ft., and
at Bushwood a moat incloses a rectangular piece of
land containing over half an acre. There were also
probably other moats whose position can now only
be traced by ponds. Such a pond lies west of Reed
Hall. It is large and irregularly shaped, and there
seem to be traces that it was once connected with the
two moats which adjoin the house and also with the
moats at Queenbury. Connecting fosses also appear
to have run from Queenbury to the moat at Fiddler's
Green. The two ponds which lie near Goodfellows,
a house standing south-east of Reed Green, also
probably mark the site of an old moat.3
There are several greens in the parish : Fiddler's
Green to the east of Queenbury, Gannock Green in
the south, and Reed Green, which lies north of
Queenbury.
Among those who have been rectors of Reed may
be mentioned Andrew Willet (1 562-1621), a theo-
logian and Biblical critic of some note. He was also
a famous preacher, and his learning was so great that
he was called a walking library. He held the living
of Reed from 161 3 to 1615.'
The manor of CHILLERS (Des-
MANORS chalers, xv cent.), known also as the
manor of REED or EAST REED, was
formed from several of a number of holdings which
existed in Reed in the reign of Edward the Confessor.
The most important of these holdings was that of Siret,
a man of Earl Harold, consisting of 4 hides a virgate
and a half.5 Two other holdings of I hide and I vir-
gate were in the hands of Sinod, a man of St. Mary
Charteris.6 One hide was held by Eddeva the
Maiden of Archbishop Stigand,7 and two of her men,
Leuing, a priest, and Turbern, each held a hide.8 Of
these in 1086 Hardwin de Scales had obtained all
the land of Siret and I hide of the land of Sinod,
which together made his manor.9 He also held of
Count Alan the land which had belonged to Leuing,
the priest.10 Eudo Fitz Hubert had obtained the
remaining virgate of Sinod," and the land of Eddeva
the Maiden was held by Osbern of the Bishop of
Bayeux,12 and that of her man Turbern was held by
Ahvard of Count Alan.'3 Of these smaller holdings
no further trace is to be found, and it is probable that
at an early date they became absorbed in the manor
held by Hardwin de Scales. But it is perhaps due to
the varied origin of this manor that, while it was always
held of the king in chief" by barony,15 certain portions
of it were held of other overlords. Thirty acres
called ' Gannok ' 16 were held of the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's in the 14th century.17 Other
land was held of the Earl of Hertford in 1 364,18 and
part was held of John de Lancaster as of his manor of
Barkway in 1342.19 Challers was probably the head
of the Scales' holding in Hertfordshire, for here they
had a little castle, consisting merely of a moated
mound, the remains of which still exist. This
accounts for the fact that the manor was held by
barony.
On the death of Hardwin de Scales his lands
were divided between his two sons Richard and
Hugh.20 Reed evidently fell to the share of
Hugh, and from him descended to his son Henry,21
for in the reign of Henry II the abbey of Cogge-
shall held land in Reed of the fee of Henry de
Scales.22 On the death of Henry, his son Hugh
succeeded to his lands in Reed, but in 1 195 William
de Scales, grandson of the above-mentioned Richard
de Scales, brought a suit against him claiming various
lands of his inheritance, including those in Reed.23
The case was adjourned in I 1 99 for so long as Henry
son of Hugh should be in the service of the king
beyond the sea.24 But later it was adjudged that
Richard was not seised of the lands which Hugh held
at the time of the death of Henry II, and judgement
was given in favour of Hugh.25 On Hugh's death
his lands descended to his son Henry, who made a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem and died there, leaving no
children.26 His brother Geoffrey was his heir, and did
homage for his lands in I 22 I.27
In 1258 Geoffrey de Scales found himself too old
and infirm to perform in person the services due to
the king for his lands, and at
the instance of Queen Eleanor
Henry III granted that his
son Geoffrey de Scales should
do service in his stead in the
king's armies and expeditions.
In consideration of this
Geoffrey de Scales granted
his son his lands in Reed and
Wyddial on condition that he
should perform these duties
and also attend the courts of
the justices in eyre and of the
sheriff.25 In 1260 Henry III
granted Geoffrey de Scales free warren in his lands in
Reed and elsewhere.29 Geoffrey de Scales, the father,
and his son Geoffrey both died before 1267, and the
scallops or.
3 East Hens. Arch. S
266-8.
4 Diet. Nat. Biog.
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 339a.
6 Ibid. 339a, 329a.
7 Ibid. 310a.
8 Ibid. 319.
9 Ibid. 339a.
10 Ibid. 319. See mane
bins.
" Ibid. 329a.
" Ibid. 310a.
of Chamber-
13 Ibid. 319.
" Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i,
25; Cat. Pat. 1340-3, p. 384; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 4;
38 Edw. Ill, no. 10 ; 11 Ric. II, no. 15.
15 Feud. Aids, ii, 433, 434.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 Edw. Ill,
no. 10.
" Ibid.
18 Ibid. 16 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 41;
Inq. a.q.d. file 317, no. 4 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 38 Edw. Ill, no. 10.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 41.
20 Abbre-v. Plae. (Rec. Com.), 99.
21 Dugdnle, Baronage, i, 6 1 6.
22 Cal.Pat. 1388-92, p. 79.
28 Ahbrev. riac. (Rec. Com.),
'* Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.),
25 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.),
26 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Col
*" Ibid.
23 Cat. Pat. 1247-58, p. 626.
23 Ibid. 1258-66, p. 117.
99.
i, 410.
99.
n.),i,69.
248
ODSEY HUNDRED
custody of Thomas, son of the younger Geoffrey and
a minor, was granted to his mother Eleanor, and the
tenants of his lands were allowed quittance of suit at
the hundred and county court during the minority of
the heir.30 In 1268 Thomas de Scales brought a
suit against Ralph de Chamberlain for deforcing him
of his lands in Reed while he adhered to the king
against Simon de Montfort.31 As Thomas was only
five years old at this date 32 the suit must have been
brought by his guardian, and the statement that he
adhered to the king must refer rather to his family
than to himself. Eleanor de Scales continued to hold
in custody for her son until I283.33 Thomas then
came of age and wished to assume possession of his
lands, but his mother and her second husband, Robert
Angot, opposed this on the ground that he was not
yet twenty-one and that as he had been born at
Boulogne he could not be admitted to proof of age.34
An inquisition was held by which it was determined
that he had reached his majority,35 and the following
year his mother and her husband acknowledged this
and restored him his lands.36 They obtained a grant
of Reed, however, for the term of their lives.37 It
had reverted to Thomas de Scales by 1303,38 and he
continued to hold it till his death in 1341.39 It
then comprised a capital messuage worth nothing
beyond repairs, 100 acres of land, of which 70 acres
were sown before his death, I acre of meadow and
4 of pasture. There were four customary tenants.
Thomas de Scales's heir was his son, also Thomas,
aged forty-two. He immediately granted the manor,
with the exception of 30 acres of wood, to John de
Scales for life.40 In 1356-7 Thomas de Scales settled
the reversion of the manor on himself and his wife
Amice with remainder to his son Thomas in tail and
contingent remainder to another son John.41 Thomas
de Scales died in 1364, and his son Thomas must
have died before him, as his heir then was his grandson
John the son of Thomas.43 John died in I 388, and
Reed descended to his son Thomas,43 who held it
until his death in February 1442— 3.44 His son John,
aged twenty, succeeded him,45 and was the last of this
name to hold the manor, which had been in the posses-
sion of his ancestors for 400 years and by this date was
called after them the manor of Deschallers or Challers.
He died in 1467, leaving three daughters, Alice the
wife of John More of More, co. Oxford, Margaret de
Scales, and Anne the wife of John Harecourt.46 The
manor of Challers became the possession of Anne.4'
On the death of her first husband she married Giles
Wellesborne, who also predeceased her.48 Both her
husbands suffered from financial embarrassment, as
appears from the marriage settlement she made on her
daughter and heir Margery with Humphrey Wellis-
REED
burne in January 1493-4.49 By this, in considera-
tion of this marriage and of the fact that Humphrey
had paid several of her debts and of the debts of her
two husbands, she granted him the yearly issues of
the manor, receiving only for the maintenance of
herself and her maid 20 marks a year if she made her
home with Humphrey or 40 marks if she lived else-
where.50 Margery seems to have had another suitor,
John Rushton, who alleged a contract between them
which Anne refused to acknowledge. In the event
of John Rushton taking any step to annul the marriage
of Humphrey and Margery, Challers was to go by
her settlement to Humphrey for life with reversion
to the heirs of Sir John de Scales, kt., other than the
said Margery.51 Anne died in March 1493-4, when
Margery, her heiress, was aged eighteen.52
Humphrey Wellisburne died in I 5 16, and by his
will left his wife all his lands in Great Wycombe for
life and £4.0, In return for this, and in accordance
with a promise she had made him, Margery Wellis-
burne in 1 5 1 6 conveyed the manors of Reed and
Wyddial to trustees to be settled to her use for life
with remainder to her son Arthur Wellisburne and his
heirs, or failing such heirs to her sons Ardewyn,
Jasper and Henry Wellisburne and their heirs in
succession.53 Margery married as her second husband
Thomas Cheyne, and in 1522 she sold the manor of
Reed to Robert Dormer,54 to whom Arthur Wellis-
burne also conveyed his rights in the manor.55 Robert
Dormer held the manor until 1 530, when he
received licence to alienate it to John Bowles.56 In
1543 John Bowles died and his grandson Thomas
inherited his estates.57 Thomas Bowles was only
thirteen, and his wardship and marriage with an
annuity of £20 out of his estates were granted to
John Sewester, attorney of the Court of Wards.58 In
1557 Thomas sold Challers to William Hyde of
Throcking,59 who held it till 1567-8, when he sold
it to Robert Bell of the Middle Temple and Dorothy
his wife.60 Sir Robert Bell, kt., chief baron of the
Exchequer, died in 1576 seised of the manors of
Chamberlains and Challers, with fisheries, free warren,
court leet and view of frankpledge.61 His eldest son
and heir Edmund Bell of Beaupre, aged fifteen, suc-
ceeded to the property in Norfolk 62 which Dorothy
Bell nee Beaupre had brought her husband in mar-
riage.63 The property in Reed had been settled in
1573 on the second son Robert Bell with remainder
to his father Sir Robert Bell and his heirs.64 Robert
Bell was captain of a company in the Netherlands and
died leaving no children.65 The manor of Challers
appears to have reverted to his mother, who took for
her second husband Sir John Peyton, Lieutenant of
the Tower of London, by whom she had a son
80 Close, 51 Hen. Ill, m. 6.
81 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 177.
32 See Coram Rege R. 88, m. 1 (Hil.
13 Edw. I).
33 Assize R. 323 ; see Fine R. 4 Edw. I,
m. 28 ; Cal. Inq. p.m. Ed-w. /, 45.
84 Coram Rege R. 88, m. 1 (Hil.
13 Edw. I). 33 Cal. Inq. p.m. Ediv. I, 309.
36 Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 206;
Coram Rege R. 88, m. 1 (Hil. 13 Edw. I).
37 Assize R. 325.
38 Feud. Aids, ii, 432, 433.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. Ill, file 64,
no. 20.
40 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 384; Inq.
a.q.d. file 261, no. 17.
41 Feet of F. Herts. 30 Edw. Ill,
no. 447 ; Inq. a.q.d. file 317, no. 4.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 Edw. Ill,
no. 10 ; 6 Ric. II, no. 31.
43 Ibid. 11 Ric. II, no. 15.
44 Ibid. 21 Hen. VI, no. 20.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid. Edw. IV, file 24, no. 28.
47 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. I'll, 426-7.
48 Ibid. 49 Ibid.
53 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
5» Ibid.
53 Close, 7 Hen. VIII, no. 41.
54 Ibid. 14 Hen. VIII, no 24 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Mich. 14 Hen. VIII.
249
55 Close, 14 Hen. VIII, no. 25.
68 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, g. 67; I (28).
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14.
53 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (2), g. 449
(6/)-
59 Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. iv,
m. 16 ; Recov. R. East. 3 & 4 Phil, and
Mary, rot. 560.
60 Pat. 10 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 6.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxii, 28.
82 Ibid.
63 Visit. o/Norf. (Harl. Soc. xxxii), 34.
84 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxii,
28.
85 Visit, of Norf. (Harl. Soc. xxxii),
32
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Caesar. Gules
chief argent with si
roses countercoloured.
John Peyton.66 In 1612 Sir John Peyton, sen., and
Sir John Peyton, jun., and his wife Alice sold the
manor of Challers to Sir Julius Adelmare alias
Caesar, let.07
Sir Julius was the son of an Italian named Caesar
Adelmare, who came to England in 1550 and was
court physician successively to
Queen Mary and Queen
Elizabeth.68 In 1596 Sir
Julius was made master of the
hospital of St. Katharine,69
and is said to have held a
lease of the manor of Queen-
bury.70 He was appointed
chancellor of the Exchequer
in 1606.71 He married t« ice,
and in 1625 he settled Reed
on John,72 the eldest son by his
second marriage.73 John
Caesar was knighted in I 61 7,
and married Anne the
daughter of William Hungate.74 In 1636 his father
died and he came into possession of his property in
Reed.75 This he continued to hold76 until 1668,
when with his wife Anne he sold it to William
Newland.77 On the death of William it descended
to Thomas Newland, who presented to the church
in 1718.78 In 1722 Thomas Newland and Mary
his wife sold their property in Reed, which at this
date appears for the first time as one manor styled
Challers Chamberlains alias Chamberlains Challers
(see below for Chamberlains), to John Manley and
Kendrick Edesbury for ninety-nine years during
their lives and the life of Isaac Manley of Dublin
and of their son George Newland.79
Reed soon after came into the hands of Sir John
Jennings, kt., commander-in-chief in the Mediter-
ranean in 1 71 1, who presented to the church in
1727.80 Sir John died in 1743,81 and the manor
descended to his son George Jennings,82 who
married Mary the daughter of Michael Bourke,
tenth Earl of Clanricarde.83 He had a daughter
Hester Elizabeth, who married John Peachey, the
only son and heir of Sir James Peachey, bart.84
In 1787 George Jennings settled the manor on
John Peachey and Hester Elizabeth,85 and on the
death of George Jennings in 1790 it descended to his
daughter and her husband.86 In 179+ Sir James
Peachey was created Lord Selsey, and on his death
in 1808 his son succeeded to the title.87 He held
Reed 88 till his death in 1 8 1 6,89 when it passed to his
son Henry John Peachey, third Lord Selsey, who
died in 1 838, leaving no children.1'0 His sister the
Hon. Caroline Mary Peachey inherited his estates.91
She married the Rev. Leveson Vernon-Harcourt, but
Jennings. Argent a
Jesse gules between three
plummets sable.
Peachey. Azure a
lion ermine -with a forked
tail and a quarter argent
'with a pierced molet gules
therein.
had no children.92 On her death in I 871, according
to the will of her mother Hester Elizabeth Jennings,
Reed passed to the Rt. Hon. Hugh Henry Rose, first
Lord Strathnairn of Strathnairn and Jhansi, who
was descended through his mother from Philip
Jennings of Dudleston Hall, co. Salop, the father of
Sir John Jennings before mentioned.93 He had
gained his titles for his services in India.94 He died
unmarried in Paris in I886,95 and Reed passed to his
brother Sir William Rose, who only survived him
one month. It then descended to Admiral the Hon.
George H. Douglas, the son of his sister the Countess
of Morton, who subsequently sold his lands in Reed
to Mr. Edward Pigg of Chipping, but all manorial
rights appear by this date to have lapsed.96
The manor of CHJMBERLJINS possibly repre-
sents that hide of land which before the Conquest
was held by Leuing, a priest, one of Eddeva's men.97
In 1086 this land had come into the possession of
Hardwin de Scales, but was held by him of Count
Alan of Britanny apart from his other and more
important lands in Reed.98 It remained with the
descendants of Hardwin de Scales until the reign of
Henry III.99 At that time, while they adhered to the
king in his struggle with Simon de Montfort, Ralph
le Chamberlain seized some of their land by force.100
A suit was brought against him in 1268 for its
recovery by Thomas de Scales,1 but it is probable that
Ralph kept possession, for in 1346 his descendant
Ralph le Chamberlain was holding land in Reed of
Thomas de Scales by service of half a knight's fee.2
It is from this family that the manor takes its name.
Ralph le Chamberlain died in 1346, and his lands
descended to his son Ralph, aged twenty.3 Nothing
further is heard of the Chamberlains in Reed, but
66 Visit, of Norf. (Harl. Soc. xxxii),
34-
67 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 10 Jas. I;
see Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 10 Jas. I.
68 Lodge, Life of Sir Julius Caesar,
69 Ibid.
70 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 556.
71 Lodge, op. cit. 22.
79 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. I Chas. I ;
Recov. R. East. 1 Chas. I, rot. 36.
73 Lodge, op. cit. 21.
U Ibid. 5, ,5+.
75 Chan. In<i. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiv,
159
76 Recov. R. East. 1649, rot. 46 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Trin. 16 Chas. II.
77 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 20 Chas. II ;
see Feet of F. Herts. East. 35 Chas. II.
78 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
79 Feet of F. Herts. East. 8 Geo. I.
80 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
81 Diet. Nat. Biog.
83 See Feet of" F. Herts. Trin. 27
Geo. Ill; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
83 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Selsey.
84 Ibid.
85 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 27 Geo. III.
86 See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Clutter-
buck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts, iii, 554.
s7 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Selsey.
68 See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
89 G.E.C. loc. cit. 90 Ibid.
91 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hand.
141.
250
99 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
94 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Strath-
nairn.
9i Ibid.
96 Inform, from Captain Geo. Sholto
Douglas.
97 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319.
98 Ibid.
m Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 177.
109 Ibid.
1 Ibid.
2 Cal. Close, 1346-9, pp. 109, no.
Henry le Chamberlain, who held the
manor of Nuthampstead for a short time
from 1 315, may have been of the same
family (see Cal. Pat. 1313-17, pp. 283-4).
8 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill, no. 3.
ODSEY HUNDRED
their lands may have come into the possession of Adam
Esmond or Edmond, who was imprisoned for debt
in 1373, at which date he held 3 acres of meadow,
34 acres of pasture and 3 acres of wood in Reed,4 for
in 1405 John Edmond was holding the manor of
Chamberlains 5 first mentioned by that name. He
conveyed it in that year to feoffees,6 apparently in
trust for John Walsingham,7 for the latter granted it
during the reign of Henry IV to John Grey and Joan
his wife,s and Margaret Walsingham, widow, released
all right in the manor in 1430.9 On the death of
John Grey Chamberlains descended to his son Ralph
Grey, kt.,'° who presented to the church in 1450."
He died in 1 464, when the manor passed to his son
Ralph, aged at that date twenty-four.12
Shortly after this Chamberlains came into the posses-
sion of John Home, who presented to the church in
1477." He must have died soon after, for John Shuk-
burgh, husband of his daughter Clemency, presented in
her right in 1479. John Shukburgh predeceased his
wife, and she took to live with her her son Thomas
with his wife and three children.1* Leaving them in
her house at Reed, she went to London, where she
married Thomas Staunton, ' contrarie to the will and
mynde ' of her son, who refused to allow Staunton to
enter the house at Reed and assaulted his servants.15
In consequence he was arrested, but escaped with the
help of his friends and tried to break into the house.16
Clemency and her husband brought a suit against her
son in 1493, " but in February 1494-5 she joined
with her husband and son in making a settlement of
the manor.18 By I 5 1 1 Chamberlains had descended
to John Shukburgh,19 who sold it in I 5 19 to Robert
Dormer.20 In 1522 Robert Dormer purchased the
manor of Challers (q.v.), and from this date the two
manors have descended together.
The manor of QUEEN BUR1" (Querenebury,
Quinbury, xvi cent.) was held in the time of Edward
the Confessor by Aelfward, a man of Earl Harold.
By 1086 it had become part of the possessions of
Count Eustace of Boulogne, and was held of him by
Robert Fitz Rozelin.21 Queenbury always remained
part of the honour of Boulogne.22 From Robert
Fitz Rozelin it passed, as did other fees held in this
county by Robert, to the Trikets, who were possibly
his descendants.23 It was held by Hugh Triket,2'
who was living in the reign of Henry II, and
descended to Simon Triket, who was holding it in
I 2 10." The Trikets do not again appear in Reed.
Apparently a sub-feoffment of the manor had already
St. Katharine's
Hospital. Party fesse-
tvise gules and a%ure ivith
a sword lying fessetvise in
the chief and a
Katharine "wheel 1
foot.
broken
4 Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 49.
5 Close, 10 Hen. IV, m. 32.
6 Ibid.
7 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. IV,
no. zjb.
» Ibid.
9 Close, 8 Hen. VI, m. 4.
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. IV, no. 27*.
11 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antia. of Herts.
»»> 55S-
12 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. IV, no. 27*.
13 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. ; see Star
Chamb. Proc. Hen. VII, no. 59.
14 Star Chamb. Proc. Hen. VII, no. 59.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid. ; see Star Chamb. Proc.
Hen. VIII, bdle. 20, no. 129.
18 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 10 Hen. VII.
19 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antia. of Herts.
'». 555-
20 Close, 11 Hen. VIII,
of F. Herts. Trin. II Hen. VIII.
" V.C.H. Herts, i, 321a, 282.
aa Liber Niger Scacc. (ed. T. Hearne),
i, 389, 390; Red. Bk. of Exeh. (Rolls
Ser.), ii, 501, 581 ; Testa de Nevill (Rec.
Com.), 270, 274 ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.),
i, 88.
23 See manors of Corney bury in Wyd-
dial and Barkesdon Green in Aspenden.
24 Liber Niger Scacc. loc. cit. ; Red Bk.
of Exch. loc. cit.
25 Red Bk. of Exch. loc. cit.
86 See Liber Niger Scacc. loc. cit. ;
Testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com.), 270.
27 See Red Bk. of Exch. ii, 581 ; Testa
de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 274.
28 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 88 seq.
29 Dugdale, Man. vii, 694.
"Ibid.; Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300,
p. 409.
si Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 88 seq.
251
REED
been made to John Fitz Bernard,26 and from him it
descended to Walter Fitz Bernard.27 In the reign
of Henry III he sold it to Queen Eleanor.28 In
1255 Eleanor had caused the
dissolution of the hospital of
St. Katharine outside the
Tower of London, which
had been founded by Queen
Matilda, wife of Stephen, and
the patronage of which was
vested in the Queens of Eng-
land.29 She refounded it in
1273, and bestowed on it,
among other estates, all her
lands in Reed to be held in
frankalmoign without power
of alienation,30 a grant which
was declared to be to the
king's loss.31 It is to this
circumstance that the manor
of Queenbury appears to owe
its name. In 127S the hospital claimed in Reed
view of frankpledge, gallows, and assize of bread and
ale.32 In 1287 it claimed these liberties and also
tumbril.33 At the time of the Dissolution the manor
was farmed out for £j 6s. ij.3t It is probable that
Henry VIII intended to dissolve the hospital, but
that it was saved by Anne Boleyn, to whom as Queen
of England it belonged.35 Queenbury remained with
the hospital of St. Katharine, which for many years
leased it for a term of three lives to the lords of the
manor of diallers.36 The Hon. Mrs. Vernon-Harcourt,
who died in I 87 1,37 left the remainder of her lease
to her god-daughter the Hon. Caroline Mary Frances
Jervis.38 About the year 1900 the hospital of St.
Katharine sold Queenbury,'"9 which pa;sed through
several hands before it was purchased about 1909 by
Mr. Thomas E. Brandt, the present owner.40
The tithes of the manor of Queenbury, together
with certain lands called the demesne lands of Mynchey
Porcyn, were held by the priory of St. Leonard of
Stratford-at-Bow." These lands were valued at £2
in 1535. 42 After the dissolution of the priory of
St. Leonard they were granted in 1539 to Ralph
Sadleir.43 He restored them to the Crown in ex-
change for other lands in 1 547-8," and they then
came into the possession of Richard Chambers, who
died in 1549, and left them to his son Robert,
aged eleven.45 Robert Chambers received a quit-
claim from a certain Robert Johnson and his wife
32 Assize R. 323.
33 Ibid. 325.
34 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 386.
85 Dugdale, Man. vii, 694.
36 Cussans, H:st. of Herts. Odsey Hund.
143 ; see Feet of F. Herts. East. 8 Geo. I ;
East. 47 Geo. III.
37 Cussans, loc. cit.
38 Ibid.
39 Inform, from the Rev. Seveme
Majendie of St. Katharine's Hospital.
40 Inform, from Mr. Thomas Brandt
of Queenbury.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxviii, 88 ;
Ct. of Req. bdle. 135, no. 15 Dugdale,
Mon. iv, 119.
42 Dugdale, loc. cit.
43 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (1), 403
C++)-
44 Dugdale, loc. cit.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxviii,
75-
Feet
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Audrey (possibly lessees) in 1 562." In 1 573 Francis
Ridall, rector of East Reed, claimed all tithes in
East Reed except those from certain freeholds and
demesne lands of the manor of Queenbury, and he
brought a suit against Robert Chambers and his
tenant John Cannon, who refused to pay tithes
from the copyhold land of that manor." Robert
Chambers claimed th.it these tithes never had belonged
to the rector of East Reed.48 Mynchey Porcyn and
the tithes of Queenbury came later into the possession
of Richard Turner, who in I 597 demised the close
called Mynchens to Thomas Turner for eighty years
with reversion to John Turner.*9 John Turner died
in 1602, and Thomas Turner, aged sixty, was his
brother and heir.50 Richard Turner died in 1604, at
which date he was seised of the tithes and the close.01
It appears, however, that in lieu of tithes the rectors
of Reed had the right to half an acre of wheat and
half an acre of barley in Queenbury. This, before
1722, had been commuted for a payment of 40J.
chargeable on an acre of land called Parson's Acre.51a
Certain lands in Reed, appendant to the manor
of Sandon, were held by the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's in the 10th century, and the latter were con-
firmed in their possession by King Athelstan in 939. 5a
Scale or Feet
MHI^CENtB^CENT
14*C£NT □ MODEBN
Plan of Reed Church
These lands are not recorded in the Domesday Survey
in 10S6, but they remained attached to the manor of
Sandon (q.v.), which was subsequently called Gannocks
Manor. In the 14th century the lands in Reed
were also called Gannocks," and were described as
30 acres of land held of the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's." No record of these lands occurs after this
time, but there still exist in the south of the parish a
grove and green which bear the name of Gannocks.
The church of ST. MART consists
CHURCH of chancel 21 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft., nave
34 ft. by 19 ft., south porch and west
tower I oft. 6 in. by iqft. ; all dimensions taken
internally. The walls are of flint with stone dress-
ings, the roofs are tiled.
The nave appears to belong to a pre-Conquest
period, probably about the middle of the 11th
century ; part of the chancel dates from about I 350 ;
the west tower is early 15th-century work ; the east
wall of the chancel, the chancel arch and the south
porch were rebuilt in the 19th century, when other
repairs were made.
The large five-light east window of the chancel is
modern, but parts of the reticulated tracery belonged
to the 14th-century window. In the north wall is
a window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in
the head, of about I 350 date ; the two-light window
in the south wall is modern ; the chancel arch also
is modern.
In the north wall of the nave are two windows, each
of two cinquefoiled lights under a square head, and
of I 5th-century date ; they have been much repaired ;
between them is a blocked north doorway, which has
a semicircular head, rudely moulded, and with a plain
tympanum ; the jambs have engaged shafts with
roughly voluted capitals under a heavy splayed abacus ;
the bases are much decayed. The doorway appears
to date from the beginning of the 1 2th century. The
doorway itself is of Barnack stone, but the inner arch is
of clunch. There are two modern two-light windows
in the south wall of the nave, but the doorway between
them is of late 14th-century work, with arch and
jambs of two orders continuously moulded ; the label
has foliated stops. In the east jamb of
the doorway outside are remains of a
stoup. In the north-east corner of the
nave are remains of the stair to the rood-
loft. Each of the four angles of the nave
externally is formed of long-and-short
work of Barnack stone. The western
angles have two splayed base-courses, one
2 ft. above the other ; the lower one has
the base-course on the angle quoin only,
all the rest, which presumably was carried
round the nave, has disappeared ; the
upper base-course has also disappeared
round the church, but is carried round
the west tower.55 The quoin stones are
flush with the flint walling.
The pointed tower arch is of two
splayed orders, and in the north jamb is
an ogee-headed shallow niche, about 3 ft. from the
ground. The west tower is of three stages, with an
embattled parapet, except on the east, which is plain.
The west window is of two trefoiled lights, with
much of the stonework restored. Under the window
there has been at one time a rough opening, now
blocked. The second stage is pierced on the south
side with a narrow single light ; the belfry has a
single pointed light on each face, much worn.
The font is modern, but the remains of the 15th-
century one formerly in the garden of Reed Hall,
are now in Barkway Church ; the bowl is octagonal, and
underneath are carved flowers and shields and some
emblems of the Passion ; some fragments of tracery
are also at Reed Hall.
The communion table is of early 17th-century
work and has turned and moulded legs.
There are no memorials in the church.
« Feet
*' Ct. c
18 Ibid.
19 Char
50 Ibid.
xtents a:
» Char
of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Eliz.
f Req. bdle. 135, no. 1.
. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxvii, ;;.
; Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks.
id Attachments, dexviii.
. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), ccccix, 103.
51a Note in parish register book com-
municated by Rev. W. T. Stubbs.
52 Birch, Cart. Sax. ii, 451.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 Edw. Ill, no. 10.
54 Ibid. 16 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 41;
29 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 4.
55 It is possible that the double base-
252
course of the quoins, the upper of which
is carried round the 15th-century tower,
together with its disappearance from the
nave walls, may be due to a later re-build-
ing of the nave walls, re-using the old
quoin stones. The clunch inner arch of
the north door may give colour to this.
Refd Church from the North-east
Rovston Church : 14th-century Effigy in Chancel
ODSEY HUNDRED
There are three bells : the treble and second are
unmarked, but the tenor, by Robert Oldfeild, is
inscribed ' God save the King,' and dated 1614.
The communion plate consists of paten, 1806, small
cup, 1804, and another paten, 1 863.
The registers are as follows : (i) baptisms and
burials from 1 539 to I 76S, marriages I 540 to I 752 ;
(iii) marriages 1755 to 1807. In 1830 there was
a book (ii) baptisms and burials 1768 to 1 81 2, but
this has since disappeared.
The living of the church of
j4DVOWSON Reed is a rectory. The advowson
was originally held by the Scales
family, who were lords of the manor of Challers.
Henry de Scales and Hugh his son granted it in the
reign of Henry II to the Cluniac convent of Lewes,
together with an annual pension.56 This pension
ROYSTON
was still chargeable on the church in 1428, 57 but it is
probable that at some time while the convent of
Lewes was in the king's hands during the wars with
France the advowson was acquired by the lord of
Chamberlains, or that the convent itself alienated it,
for in 1405 John Edmond, lord of the manor of
Chamberlains, held the advowson,58 and from this
date it descended until lately with that manor (q.v.).
When Admiral the Hon. George H. Douglas sold
his lands in Reed he retained the advowson, and it
is held at the present time by his son, Captain George
Sholto Douglas. The parish of Reed was united to
that of Barkway in 1800.
In 1602 Richard Turner by his
CHARITIES will gave 20s. a year to the poor.
This sum is paid out of the close
called ' Barton's ' and is distributed in bread.
ROYSTON
Crux Roys,1 Crux Roaesie, Rhosiae, Roais, Roeis,
Roheise or Roihes (xii cent.) ; Crux Roesia or Roys
(xiii cent.) 2 ; Crux Roesea 3 or Roesia and Roiston 4
(xiv cent.).
Royston lies upon the northern slopes of the Hert-
fordshire Chalk Downs, which almost surround the
town. Royston Heath (in Therfield parish) is noted
as the recreation ground of the town. The heath
has given its name to the ' Royston Crow.' 5 It was
a favourite hunting-place of James I,6 was the site of
the Royston races r and prize-fights,8 and may have
been the spot intended for tournaments at Royston
forbidden by the king in 1234 and 1331.9
The town itself, on the north-eastern edge of the
heath, is built about the intersection of Ermine Street,
which runs northward from London to York, with
the Icknield Way running almost due east and west.
The town is divided for Parliamentary purposes by
the Icknield Way, which here forms the boundary
between Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The
same division existed for administrative purposes
until September I 897, when the whole of Royston
was included in the administrative county of Hert-
ford.10
Royston was accounted a distinct ' vill ' for the
assessment of subsidies in 1 307,11 but it lay within
five ecclesiastical parishes, viz. Barkway, Reed and
Therfield, co. Herts., Melbourn and Kneesworth, co.
Cambs.,12 until 1540, when an Act of Parliament
constituted it a separate ecclesiastical parish.13 For
administrative purposes the Cambridgeshire and Hert-
fordshire portions of the town were united under one
vestry in 1781.14 Under the Local Government Act
of 1 894 15 there were set up within the township
separate councils for the two parts of Royston (ecclesi-
astical) parish and for the several parishes of Therfield,
Barkway, Bassingbourn, Kneesworth and Melbourn.10
Finally, in 1897, the whole township was converted
« Cott. MS. Vesp. F xv, fol. 310.
57 Feud. Aids, ii, 461.
58 Close, 10 Hen. IV, m. 32.
1 The earliest form of the name yet
found. It occurs in the charter of Ralph
of Rochester (1163— S4) and is applied to
a district and not a cross, for Ralph
mentions his men and tenants * in Cruce
Roys' (Harl. MS. 7041, fol. 7). The
nominative form is found in the bull of
Lucius III (see below) and in Lay Subs.
R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
2'Cruceroye* occurs once in 1269
(Hunter, Rot. Sekcti, 242).
8 'Villa de Cruce Roesia,' 'villa de
Cruce Roesea' (Cal. Pat. 1317-21^. 371;
'330-4, P- '38)-
4 The earliest instance of 'Roiston'
has been found in a plea of 1327 (Plac.
de Banco, East. 1 Edw. Ill, m. 22).
Camden says that the town is 'not
very ancient as having risen since the
Norman Conquest, for in those days
there was a famous lady named Roysia
(by some supposed to have been the
Countess of Norfolk) who erected a cross
upon the roadside in this place from
thence for many years called Royse's
cross . . . and by degrees it came to be
a town which instead of Royse's Cross
took the name of Royston ' (Britannia
[ed. Gough], i, 318). Following this
statement, which is apparently a mere
conjecture, antiquaries have put forward
many 'ladies candidates for giving the
name' (Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 355).
Among them are Rose wife of Richard
de Clare (Camden, loc. cit.) ; Rose wife
of Eudo Dapifer, within whose fee of
Newsells the priory of Royston was
founded later ; Rose widow of Geoffrey
de Mandeville and wife of Payn de
Beauchamp. Stukeley imagined the
last-named Rose going over the heath-
land from her manor of Newsells to
her oratory at Royston (Palaeographia
Britannica, no. T,Origines Roystonianae).
She, however, did not hold the manor of
Newsells, which belonged to the honour
of Boulogne and was held by the family
of Merk and Rochester. The suppo-
sition may have arisen from the fact that
the manor of Nuthamstead next New-
sells was parcel of the Mandeville fief.
For a summary of these suggestions see
Beldam, Origin and Uses of the Royston
Ca-ve, 6-IO. It is clear that the name
was originally ' Rose's Cross ' and that it
referred to a wayside cross erected by a
certain Rose, but her identity remains
uncertain. The most probable conjec-
ture is that she was Rose wife of Eudo
Dapifer.
5 V.C.H. Herts, i, 204.
6 Sec below.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 366 ; they existed in
1605 (Rutland MSS. [Hist. MSS. Com.],
'V, 454,455)-
253
8 V.C.H. Herts, i, 370.
9 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 70 ; 1330-4,
p. 139.
10 A. Kingston, Hist. of Royston,
192.
11 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
12 Stat. 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 44; cf.
Exch. Dep. Mich. 25 Geo. II, no. 3.
13 Stat. 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 44. The
following were reported to be the parish
bounds in 1607 : 'from Roiston Townes-
ende towards Walden to the place where
the gallowes did lately stande, from thence
over the heath to the nether end of the
Granges called the Priory Granges or
Roiston Granges to London Waie, from
thence overthwart the lands to Reede
Balke, from thence overthwart the loot-
path to the south end of the close late of
Mychaell Chambers gent, deceased, and
from thence along by the closes ends to
the lymekill, and from thence to the
utter parte of the Cardinall Hatt Closes
to London Highwaie goeing from thence
untill they come to Salter's Mare goeing
to the end of it and from thence Retourne
to the eight-acre close ende and soe to
Walden Waie ' (Exch. Dep. East. 5 Jas. I,
no. 16).
14 A. Kingston, Fragments of Tivo
Centuries, 34. There were, however,
separate overseers and churchwardens.
15 Stat. 56 & 57 Vict. cap. 73.
16 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 192.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
into a single urban district lying entirely within the
county of Hertford."
The intersection of the roads in the centre of the
town is still called ' the Cross.' In the garden of the
town hall in Melbourn Street is preserved a large
boulder of Red Millstone Grit, weighing approxi-
mately two tons, supposed to be the base of a cross
removed from the cross roads. It has a square
socket on its upper surf.ice, probably for a cross.18
Beside it are two fragments of a stone coffin-lid with
a cross on the face removed from 'Chapel Field' in
Kneesworth Street. Under the old butter market,
which stood in the middle of the Icknield Way, now
the west end of Melbourn Street, a little south-east
of the Cross, a cave hollowed out of the chalk was
discovered in 17+2.19 It was then partly filled
with earth. Dr. William Stukeley, Secretary of
the Society of Antiquaries, conjectured that the
cave was the oratory of the ' Lady Rose,' wife of
Geoffrey de Mandeville.20 His romance was rudely
destroyed by the Rev. Charles Parkin, who main-
tained that the excavation was of Saxon origin.21 A
heated argument followed,22 but the origin and use of
the cave remain uncertain. In mediaeval times it
was evidently used for religious purposes, and the fact
that a hermit lived at Royston about 1 506 has led to
the supposition that it became a hermitage.23 It
may be identical with the ' Hermitage ' in the parish
of Barkway acquired by Sir Robert Chester after its
suppression.233 The cave is a large dome-shaped
hole, about 28 ft. deep and 17 ft. in diameter at
the bottom, cut out of the solid chalk. It is venti-
lated by a small grating in the pavement above.
In 1790 the present passage was cut to the cave
through the chalk. The walls of the cave are
rudely sculptured with figures in low relief, among
which are figures of St. Christopher, St. Katherine,
the Cross of St. Helena, the Holy Family, Conver-
sion of St. Paul, and many others. There appears
to have been an upper story to the cave at one
period, the walls having been cut back to receive
the timbers. The figures were probably carved
in the 13th or 14th century. It seems probable
that the cave was filled in during the 1 6th century
when the lord of the manor ' buylded up in the
myddest of Icknell Streate ... a fayer House or
Crosse ... for a clockhowse and a Pryson Howse.' 24
It would seem probable that the market-place,
around which the early town would naturally be
formed, originally occupied the widened part of
Ermine Street to the north and south of the point
where the Icknield Way crosses it. As in other
towns, this market-place seems to have become at an
early date covered by permanent stalls and then by
shops till these buildings divided it into two streets
and became known as early as the 16th century as
Middle Row. The western street in its southern
part was called later Dead Street and afterwards Back
Street.25 The present market-place is on sloping
ground east of the High Street and south of the
church and site of the priory.
In 1 189 Richard I granted to the priory the right
to hold a market at Royston and to have a fair there
throughout Whitsun week and a market on the
fourth day of each week with court of pie-powder and
all the customs of the fair of Dunstable.26 Another
fair to be held on the eve and day of the translation
of St. Nicholas (May 8-9) was granted to the hospital
of St. Nicholas on 2 January 1212-13,27 and was
probably held in the Cambridgeshire portion of the
town, where the hospital was situated.28 In 1236 it
was converted into a three days' fair on the eve, day
and morrow of the same feast.29 It probably became
extinct with the hospital, which had ceased to exist
before 1359.30 In 1242 Henry III granted to the
Prior of Royston another fair to be held on the vigil
and feast of St. Thomas the Martyr (July 6-7), the
patron saint of his house.31
From the first the situation of the town on the cross-
roads in the midst of the barley-growing country must
have caused the markets and fairs to prosper. In I 291
they were valued at £9 13/. ^d?2 In 1223 and
1226 the maximum price of wine was fixed at a
higher rate in Royston than elsewhere, owing to
the distance of the town from the coast.33 The
prior made good his right to the market and to
the fairs at Whitsuntide and the feast of St. Thomas
in 1278.34 The prior had been involved in dis-
putes with the Abbot of Westminster and the
Master of the Knights Templars, who claimed
exemption from toll in all English markets. In
I 247-8 the abbot pleaded the charters of Edward the
Confessor and William I against the claims of the
prior.35 The dispute with the Templars, who owned
property in Royston,3'' began in I 199 and was still
continuing in 1200.37 In 1254 the Master of the
Templars impleaded the prior for imprisoning and
beating certain of his men who had come to the
market on the Templars' business.38 The markets
and fairs were frequently disturbed during the 13th
and 14th centuries.39 In May 1 5 37, shortly after
the dissolution of the priory, the market, fairs, court
of pie-powder with the stallage and piccage and the
profits of the windmill of the late priory were leased
to Richard Cromwell (afterwards knighted) for twenty-
one years.40 Much of the market-place was, however,
17 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 192.
18 Ibid. 203 ; cf. Beldam, The Origin
and Uses of Royston Came (ed. 1858), 7.
19 Dr. Stukeley describes its discovery
and the excavation of the loose earth
which filled it {Origines Roystonianac, pt. i,
5)-
20 Ibid.
21 C. Parkin, Answer to Dr. Stukeley' t
Origines Roystonianae (ed. 1744).
22 Origines Roystonianae, pt. ii. Mr. J. Y.
Akerman in 1834 noted its similarity to
a Roman sepulchral vault (Archaeologia,
xxxiv, 27 ; Beldam, Origin and Uses of
the Royston Cave, 17 et set].).
23 Beldam, op. cit. 48.
23a See under Barkway.
24 Survey in 1610 printed by Kingston,
Hist, of Royston, 117.
25 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
There were twenty-five shops in Bochery
Row and Smithry Row (Kingston, Hist,
of Royston, 116 et seq.).
26 Cart. Antiq. R. 6, printed by Dug-
dale, Mon. vi, 405 ; cf. Memo. R. (Exch.
L.T.R.), H.l. 12 Hen. VI, ' Recorda,'
m. 18.
27 Cat. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 189A,
X92A. 28 See below.
29 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 2l8-
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 44.
Sl Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 268.
32 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 14*.
254
88 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 568 ;
ii, 149.
3* Plac. deQuo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 283.
35 Assize R. 318, m. 5 d.
86 Attached to Shingay preceptory
(L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 613 [1]).
87 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i,
229; ii, 82, 143, 217, 218. This plea
concerned ' liberties,' probably the ex-
emption from toll claimed bv both parties.
Salmon (Hist, of Herts. 356) states that
the prior was obliged to restore 37*.
taken from the Templars as stallage.
38 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 137.
39 Misc. Chan. Inq. file 53, no. 4;
see below.
40 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (i), p. 584.
ODSEY HUNDRED
occupied by about fifty shops held on lease by various
owners." Sir Richard Cromwell transferred his
interest in the market to Edward Annesby." Never-
theless in 1540 a grant was made to Robert Chester
of all the possessions of the priory ' with two fairs, one
lasting throughout Whitsun week, the other on 7 July
and the two days following, and a market on every
Wednesday at Royston.'43 The claims of Annesby
and Chester were considered by the Court of Aug-
mentations between 1540 and 1544, and apparently
the decision was in favour of the lord of the manor.
The profits of the fair and market have since remained
with the successive lords.
The great corn market of Royston is frequently
noticed in the writings of 17th-century travellers, one
of whom describes Royston as a 'dry town good for
the utterance of cattell barley and malt.' " The Corn
Exchange was built by the lord of the manor in
1 829." The present market-house on the hill was
built about 1836. A ' tolbooth ' had existed in 1341
and contained the stocks16 It may have been at the
cross-ways near the site of the Clock House, where the
stocks stood until they were removed to the Market
Hill." Before 1792 fairs on Ash Wednesday,
Wednesday in Easter week and the first Wednesday
after 10 October had been added to those granted to
the priory,48 and these still existed in 1888,49 but the
Whitsun fair is now extinct, the July fair, sometimes
called Becket's fair, has almost disappeared, and the
October fair alone is of any importance.50
At the apex of the present triangular market is
Fish Hill, facing the county court erected in 1849.51
On this hill a schoolhouse was built by contributions
from gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood about
171 6.52 It was afterwards given to the use of the
parish.53 Henry Andrews, astronomer, calculator to
the Board of Longitude and to Moore's Almanack,
taught in this school in 1767.54 The infants' schools
date from 1827 ; Board and National schools were
established about 1840.55
In High Street are a few 17th-century cottages
built of timber and plaster with modern fronts, and
opposite the Bull Hotel is a 15th-century timber and
plaster house on brick foundations with a projecting
upper story supported on brackets and bow windows
on the ground floor. A way called John Street was
opened into the High Street from Fish Hill after a
ROYSTON
disastrous fire which occurred in 1841.6 At the
north-east corner of John Street the present Congre-
gational chapel was built soon after the fire57 to
replace the old Meeting House which had existed in
Middle Row, Kneesworth Street, since 1 706. 5S The
Congregationalists had met in the house of John
Wheeler in 1672,09 and their meetings possibly
originated in the lectures given on market days by
Nathaniel Ball, the ejected minister of Barley
(1660-2).60 The Baptist chapel near Barkway
Street was built in 1896.61
The High Street and Back Street contain numerous
inns, some of which date from posting days. The
' Red Lion ' on the east side of the High Street, now
no longer an inn, was the chief of these. In rooms
at the back of it was held the famous Royston Club,
partly political, partly convivial, which was in
existence before 16S9 and broke up about the middle
of the 1 8th century.62 The ' Bull ' at the top of the
High Street has existed since 1520.63 Petty sessions
were held there, and it was under protest that the
magistrates moved to the new county court in 1850.64
The end house of Middle Row on the west side of
the High Street near the Cross was the Tabard Inn,65
where in I 5 39 a servant of the Bishop of Durham
spoke openly against the dissolution of monasteries
before the ' good man ' of the inn.6G At least eleven
such inns in the town then gave accommodation to
the travellers who passed through on the way from
London to the north.67 For the spiritual ' relief of
poor people coming and going through the town '
Richard Argentine, Sheriff" of Cambridgeshire in 1224,
founded the chapel of St. John and St. James on the
south side of Baldock Street.63 It was evidently
identical with the hospital of St. James existing in
1 2 5 1 ,69 and there was added to it the chantry of
St. Nicholas, once a separate chapel in the Cam-
bridgeshire portion of the town.'0 The chapel of
St. John and St. James was suppressed in I 547," and
the site let in succession to Edward Chester in
January 1565-6, to John Hall and to John Moore."
Hall, acting in trust for Edward Chester, who was
serving in the Netherlands, obtained a confirmation
of title against Sir Giles Alington, kt., heir to the
patrons and founders, who asserted his right to the
'chapel lands.'73 In 1607 a grant in fee simple of
the late chapel or hospital and its possessions was
41 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
13 Ct. of Aug. Proc. i, 55.
48 L. and P. Hen. Till, xvi, 379 (60).
44 Ely Episcopal Record: (ed. Gibbon),
152 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. ii,
274 (Baskerville) ; Ogilby, Britannia, 10.
45 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 202.
46 Assize R. 337, m. 4.
17 They were afterwards set up on Fish
Hill for Hertfordshire, and in Kneesworth
Street for Cambridgeshire (Kingston,
Hist, of Royston, 200-1).
48 Rep. on Markets and Tolls (1888), i,
170.
« Ibid.
50 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 257.
51 Ibid. 202 ; Herts. Co. Ret. Sess. R.
ii, 461.
53 Salmon, Hist, of Herts, (ed. 1728),
358.
58 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 181.
54 Ibid. 212 ; Diet. Nat. Biog.
55 Ibid. ; cf. Close, 1840, pt. clxviii,
no. 12 ; pt. clxxv, no. 21 ; 4 Will. IV,
pt. 1, no. 4 ; 1861, pt. exxv, no. 1.
56 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 200.
"Ibid. 155; Close, 1841, pt. exci,
no. 10.
58 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 153-5;
the ' covenant ' of the members was made
in 1705, five years after the first organiza-
tion of the meeting.
59 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1672, p. 379.
60 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 8 11.
It has recently been proved that the
Puritan controversialist Cartwright was a
native of Royston (Kingston, Hist, of
Royston, 204).
61 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 157.
The Anabaptist, Edward Wightman,
prosecuted in consequence of a petition
which he presented to James I at Royston,
161 1, was the last person burnt for heresy
in England {Diet. Nat. Biog.).
62 Gent. Mag. 1, 474 ; liii, 813.
63 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 198.
64 Hardy, Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii,
461.
63 Beldam, ' Royston Court House
(Arch.*\, 1,7).
255
« L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), p. 2S1.
67 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
They were the 'Lamb,' 'Crane,' 'Swan,'
' Dolphin,' ' Sarsoneshedd,' ' Greyhound,'
' White Hart,' ' Bell,' ' George,' ' Crown,'
and the ' Tabard ' with its ' garden called
Babiarde.' For a further account of the
inns see Kingston, Hist, of Royston,
198-200.
63 Chant. Cert. Herts. 20, no. 62 ;
Beldam, ' Royston Court House ' [Arch.
«I» '37)-
^ Cal. Pat. I247-5S, p. 92; the
double invocation has been found first in
1363 after the transfer of the chantry of
St. Nicholas (Line. Epis. Reg. Inst. Bk.
Bokingham; cf. Cal. Pat. 1377-81,
p. 55)-
70 Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 587.
71 Chant. Cert. 20, no. 62.
78 Pat. 18 Eliz. pt. xiv, m. 29; 22
Eliz. pt. vii.
13 Ct. of Req. bdle. 78, no. 72 ; cf.
Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 & 3 Phil, and
Mary.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
made to Sir Roger Aston, kt., one of the gentlemen
of the Bedchamber, and to John Grymesditch.74 The
chapel was ' new made into a fair duelling house '
shortly before 1610, and was then in the occupation
of Francis Hall." On the opposite (north) side of
Baldock Street a house and yard formed part of the
endowment of the chapel.76 West of it the ' Gables '
represents the ' Cardynall's Hat ' of 1610, and east
of it was another inn, the ' Half Moon,' next the
corner house of Back Street."
For a short distance north of the Cross, Back Street
and Kneesworth Street are still divided by ' Middle
Row.' The whole of this neighbourhood is associated
with the house and lodgings occupied by James I and
Charles I and their court. A building in Knees-
worth Street is all that remains of the eastern part
remains of a 17th-century painted ornament ; in the
south wall is a wide niche with blocked hatchway
to the adjoining buttery, now demolished. Some
chamfered beams still remain in some of the rooms.
The south room on the upper story has an old brick
fireplace with four-centred arch with splayed edge
and stops, all cemented ; it is surrounded with 18th-
century wooden jambs and lintel, bolection moulded.
In the north room are remains of a coloured stencilled
pattern, about 6 in. wide, under the small plaster
cornice, and as vertical bands dividing the walls into
panels ; it is of 1 7th-century work. Externally the
street front has two large plain projecting chimneys,
mostly rebuilt, only the lower parts being of the old
thin bricks. The entrance doorway and windows
are modern. The east or garden front was entirely
Old Houses, Hich Street, Rovston
of the ' King's Lodgings,' the rest having been
demolished probably early in the 1 8th century. The
building is rectangular and measures, roughly, about
53 ft. by 19 ft. ; the front is on the east side facing
the garden, the back facing the street. It consists of
two stories with attics and a cellar under the south
part. At either end on each story is an apartment,
and between them is a square staircase with a newel
stair, the old octagonal oak post of which still
remains but without its finial at the top. The south
room on the ground story has an old fireplace with
a wooden lintel, partly built up, above which are
rebuilt early in the 18th century, and has moulded
brick cornice and plain flanking pilasters. The whole
building was repaired in 1 910 and a wing added on
the north. The roof is tiled. A timber-built
house with projecting upper story and tiled roof in
Kneesworth Street, to the south of the palace,
evidently formed part of the palace out-buildings.77"
It belongs to the 1 6th century, and retains its old
wooden door frame and open roof with moulded
trusses. The interior has been considerably altered.
To the north of the palace are some remains of the
brick walls of the old stables.
74 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xvii, m. 16.
76 Survey printed by Kingston, Hht. of
Royston, 116. Among its endowments
was the house called Copthall in Bassing-
bourn, which was let in 1547 to 'one
Dixe,' and granted after the suppression
of the hospital to Thomas Wendye (Aug.
Off. Misc. Bks. Ixvii, fol. 625 ; Pat.
2 Edw. VI, pt. ii).
76 Survey printed by Kingston, Hist, of
Royston, 1 1 6.
256
77 Ibid.
77a It is probably identical with the
' Greyhound,' converted into a guard-
chamber, or with the Prince's Buttery
(see below).
ODSEY HUNDRED
In 1652 the whole of the Lodgings, which then
projected westwards into the street, so commanding a
view of the road north and south, is described as ' all
of brick well-tiled double-built, in length 78 ft., breadth
43 ft., height from eaves to ground 24 ft., thickness of
walls 24 inches.' Below stairs were six lodging-
chambers well-floored and well-matted ; above stairs
six rooms, including the presence and privy chambers,
with wainscot shuttings to all windows.78 James I
passed through Royston on Friday, 29 April 1603,
on his way to London in the month following his
accession and was entertained by Robert Chester at
the Priory.79 Attracted by the opportunities afforded
by Royston for his favourite sport of hunting, James I
hired Chester's house for one year,80 probably the
first of his reign, and began in 1604 to convert the
' Cock ' and the ' Greyhound ' into a house for him-
self.81 Simon Basill was responsible for the ' finishing '
of the King's Lodgings in 1607. During this year
partitions were set up ' in the pages' chamber at
the presence door,' many new doors were put in and
the king's garden was made. Many repairs, including
the rebuilding of a fallen chimney, the replacing of a
timber chimney, setting up a stone mantel in the
chamber of the Duke of Lennox and the repair of
the wine-cellar door, ' being broken all to pieces,' are
evidence of the decayed state of the buildings pur-
chased by the king.82
Apparently the King's Lodgings described above
were on the site of the ' Cock.' 83 The tiled-timber
buildings called the ' Greyhound ' were not rebuilt,
but were converted as they stood into a guard-
chamber and other officers' lodgings.*4 Between
these and the King's House stood the Prince's
Buttery, an old building partly tiled, partly thatched.85
The ' Greyhound ' was a freehold tenement of Royston
Manor occupied by John Newport in I 5 39-bG In its
stables in I 537 Robert Dalyvell, saddler, prophesied
the death of Henry VIII and the extinction of
English nobles before Midsummer's Day, 1538.87
James purchased the inn from the Earl of Lincoln,88
who may have acted for him in acquiring it. South
of the 'Greyhound' was the house of ]udith Wilson
in 161089 with a malt-house attached.90 In 1628
Thomas Wilson let a part of this house to the king as
a privy kitchen.91 Beyond this were the pantry and
waiting offices of Prince Charles. The corner house
at the Cross was called the 'Howletts' and was held by
the occupier of the 'Greyhound' in 1539.92 Under
James I it was converted into the Prince's Lodgings,
ROYSTON
described in 1652 as a brick and timber building
1 1 7 ft. by 18 ft., three stories high with three rooms
below stairs and four above.93 At the rear of
the ' Greyhound ' or guard-house were the king's
butteries.94 The King's Privy Garden lay behind
his lodgings and to the north of it was the Great
Garden with the porter's lodge facing on Knees-
worth Street.95 This lodge was built on land
formerly demesne of the manor let to John Gott
and abutted on Gray's Close.96 In the course of
time the royal buildings were extended. Larders,
pantries, bake-houses, the wardrobe and the lodgings
for the keeper of the house were established in the
' Swan,' a double row of two-storied timber buildings
at the rear of the Prince's Lodgings,97 with a gateway
at each end, the southern one opening into Mel-
bourn Street.98 The grounds of the ' Swan,' at the
back of the king's buildings, contained his cock-pit,
' with substantial tile-covered roof,' and a large close
between the gardens and the lane formerly called
Field Lane, now Dog-Kennel Lane. Buildings were
added for visitors, partly in the gardens, partly in the
close, and a garden for them was inclosed from the
latter. At the north end of the king's property,
where Dog-Kennel Lane bends round into Knees-
worth Street, was the dog-house, and next it lodgings
for servants were built on a garden formerly belonging
to the 'Talbot.' Between these and the Great
Garden were the Duke of Hamilton's stables for
hunting-horses.91' The dog-house and the stables,
with ' Little Meadow Plotts,' had been known as
' John Almonde's Barnyard,' which James purchased
from Edward Smith, one of the yeomen of the cham-
ber.100 East of the royal buildings and beyond Dog-
Kennel Lane lay the old pasture paled in. A portion of
this is still called the Park.
The equerries were lodged in Middle Row, oppo-
site Wilson's house. The coach-houses formed a large
block on the west side of Kneesworth Street opposite
the King's Lodgings. North of them James had his
bowling-green or ' Paradise.' 1
James spent nearly £4,000 on his house at Royston
between 1603 and 1 6 1 I - ; and in 1610 the Hert-
fordshire magistrates complained of the inconvenience
of carting 500 loads of building material to Royston
in the harvest season.3 The king was frequently at
Royston. In 1617 he was so 'exceedingly well
pleased with the air of these parts ' that his courtiers
suspected he would ' have a more Royston life than
ever he had.' 4 He caused the game to be preserved
78 Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4..
79 Nichols, Progresses of las. I, i, 105 ;
Beldam, op. cit. 121,
80 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1628-9, p. 31.
61 The keeper of the house was ap-
pointed 12 Nov. 1604, and money had
been allotted to its repair 27 Sept. 1604
{Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, pp. 153, 174 ;
Survey of 1 610 quoted by Kingston,
Hist, of Royston, 1 1 6).
82 Declared Accts. Pipe Off. R. 3369.
83 According to the survey of 1610 the
king held ' one fayre Howse sometime
two several tenements namely ye Grey-
hound & ye Cock late in the Tenure of
Simon Swynbourn Gent.' James Palmer
gave a part at least of the site of the
king's house, and received in exchange
the manor of Spaldwick, Co. Hunts., and
part of Wingham Manor in Kent (Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. i, 184). Pos-
sibly liis property was that acquired by
Andrew Palmer in 1585 (Feet of F.
Herts. Trin. 27 Eliz.).
M Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
85 Ibid.
86 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
87 L. and P. Hen. fill, xii (2),
74. 80.
88 Exch. Dep. Trin. 1 8 Chas. II, no. 5 ;
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 532.
89 Survey quoted by Kingston, op. cit.
116.
90 Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
91 Cal. S. P. Dom. 162S-9, p. 406 ;
cf. Chan. Proc. Eliz. Ww. viii, 23 for
Wilson's house.
92 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
93 Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
9i Ibid.
»'• Beldam, loc. cit.
9C Survey quoted by Kingston, loc. cit.
257
9' From whicli they were separated by
the house of John Issard, now the Cave
estate.
93 Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
99 Ibid. ; cf. the plan printed in Arch.
xl, 136.
"*> Exch. Dep. Trin. 18 Chas. II, no. r.
1 A croft called ' Parrydyne ' with a
toft and a barn in Back Street was
held by Robert Bell in 1539 (Mins.
Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606). For the
account of the buildings see Pari. Surv.
Cambs. 4 ; Exch. Dep. Trin. 18 Chas. II,
no. 5 ; Survey of 1610 printed by King-
ston, Hist, of Royston, 1 1 5-1 S; plan
drawn up by Beldam, Arch, xl, 136.
2 Beldam, ' Royston Court House,'
Arch, xl, 123.
3 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 625.
* Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.),
i, 203.
33
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
within a radius of 1 6 miles,6 appointing numerous
keepers to guard against poachers and ' persons of base
condition ' ° and also against the scholars of Cam-
bridge." He appointed also a master of the harriers,
three principal huntsmen and four huntsmen in
liveries, issued proclamations against the ' audacious
and irregular persons ' who failed in ' forbearance of
their own delight for our desport,' 8 and even called
upon the farmers to take down the high bounds
between their lands 9 and upon neighbouring gentry
to diswarren their preserves.10 Regular posts were
organized from London.11 The postmaster, Thomas
Haggar, seems to have abused his office by taking
more horses than was necessary from poor country-
men.12 Another effect of the king's residence at
Royston was the extraordinary care bestowed upon
the roads, which were cut up by great malt-waggons
drawn by teams of horses.13 At a later date the roads
were endangered by highway robbers.14
Matters of state were occasionally forced upon the
king at Royston. The people of the neighbouring
parishes petitioned James, when in the hunting-field
on 6 November 1604, to encourage faithful pastors.15
Shortly before this the country people made use of the
king's special hound ' Jowler ' to bear a petition that
he would leave Royston, as their provision was spent
and they were unable to entertain him any longer.16
With a ' small train of forty persons ' James set out
in January 1612-13 f°r Royston, where he was
joined by Prince Charles and the Elector Palatine,
and there he signed the agreement for the dower of
the Princess Elizabeth.17 It was at Royston that the
king parted with his favourite, Somerset,18 in 161 5,
and while staying there in October 161 8 he caused
Raleigh to be executed under the sentence passed
against him in 1603.18 In March I 619 he lay there
dangerously ill -° and left the town in a ' Neapolitan
portative chair' 24 April.-1 In October 1623, after
the return of Prince Charles and Buckingham from
their fruitless journey to Spain, James received them
on the stairs at Royston, ' when they fell on their
knees and all wept together.'22 James dubbed his last
knight, Sir Richard Bettenson, at Royston 28 Febru-
ary 1624-5, a mon(h before his death.23
Charles I visited the Court House less frequently
than his father, but occasionally stayed there on the
way to or from Newmarket.21 On his journey to
York in 1642 he stayed at Royston from 5 to 7 March,
while continuing negotiations with Parliament respect-
ing the militia.25 In April 1646 M. Montreuil met
the Chancellor of Scotland and others here, and made
definite arrangements for the king's reception by the
Scottish army.2'5 Apparently the king himself passed
through Royston on his way to Newark a few weeks
later.27 He returned thither as a prisoner of the
Parliamentary army in June 1 647. 28 The main body
of the army, under the command of Fairfax, Ireton
and Cromwell, had preceded the king and was at
Royston 10 June, advancing thence to St. Albans.29
The townspeople do not appear to have been enthu-
siastic supporters of the royal cause,30 but the ' mur-
thering of their king ' roused them to assault a
recruiting party from General Ireton's foot which
visited Royston fair in 1649,31 and in 1651 Thomas
Coke confessed that he employed one Major Hall
there to urge the people to join with the king if there
were occasion. He was aided by Charles Baxton, an
innkeeper, and Thomas Turner, both of Royston.32
In 1649 lne Court House was seized by the Par-
liament with the other possessions of the Crown,
but Philip (Herbert) Earl of Pembroke put in a
claim to the lands and buildings formerly belonging
to the ' Swan,' with the east part of the new lodgings
for visitors, the cock-pit and the dog-house, and also
' that part of the king's lodgings that jutteth out on
the east part thereof, being three bays of brick build-
ing 50 ft. by 22 ft., containing the king's bedchamber,
drawing-room,' &c, with the king's privy garden.33
The earl had purchased the 'Swan 'in 1 62 I 34 from
Sir William Russell, kt., treasurer of the Royal Navy,
and John Bedell, a merchant of London.
At the death of Charles the buildings, except only
the king's and prince's lodgings, were much out of
repair, but the commissioners who surveyed them
recommended that they should be turned into tene-
ments rather than demolished, and their suggestion
seems to have been carried out.35 The whole of the
Court House seems to have come into the possession
of Lewis and William Awdley during the Protec-
torate.36 After the Restoration Edward Chester, lord
of the manor, and others laid claim to some part of
the buildings.37 The King's House, however, was
5 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 460.
6 Ibid. 1623-5, p. 105.
7 Ibid. 107.
8 Beldam, ' Royston Court House,'
Arch, xl, 12S-9.
9 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 4SS.
10 Ibid. 1619-23, p. 500.
11 A horseman was ordered to be ready
to carry letters in 1536 (Hist. MSS. Com.
Rep. xiv, App. viii, 35).
18 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1637-8, pp. 269,
390 ; cf. Hist. MSS. Com. Ri
180. As
lany
horses
1pp.
commandeered in two da
11 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, pp. 3S3,
495 ; 1 63 1-3, pp. 66, 404, 409 ; 1633-4,
pp. 232, 477, 478. The cuttings through
the hills on the London and Newmarket
roads were made about 1835 (Kingston,
Hiil. of Royston, 179).
14 The mail was robbed Oct. 1669 half
a mile out of the town (Cal. S. P. Dom.
1668-9, P- 525 i cf- Kingston, Fragments
ofTtvo Centuries, 14).
15 The petition is printed by Kingston,
Hist, of Royston, 106; cf. Cal. S. P. Dent.
1580-1625, p. 449. It was one among
many 'millenary' petitions (Fuller, Church
Hist, v, 311), and is to be distinguished
from the famous Millenary Petition
presented 4 Apr. 1604 (ibid. 305-9).
16 Nichols, Progresses of Jas. I, i, 464-;.
17 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, pp. 162,
171-2 ; cf. Beldam, op. cit. 131.
" Nichols, op. cit. iii, 105.
19 Ibid. 493 ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18,
p. 586.
21 Ibid. 1619-23, pp. 28, 35.
" Ibid. 39.
32 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1625-5, P- 95- The
marriage treaty with Henrietta Maria
was ratified not at Royston as stated by
Beldam (op. cit. 132), but at Cambridge
12 Dec. 1624 (Cal. S. P. Dom. 1623-5,
pp.405, 411).
23 Nichols, Progresses of Jas. I, iv,
1028.
24 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1633-4, pp. 259,
504 ; 1625-49, P- S'O i '636-7, p. 66.
35 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii,
35, 200; xii, App. ii, 30S ; Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1641-3, pp. 293, 463 ; he was
accompanied by Prince Charles, and also
by the Elector Palatine, who deserted him
at York (ibid. 289 ; Clarendon, Hist, of
the Rebellion, vii, 413).
36 Cal. of Clarendon S. P. i, 31 1-1 2.
27 Kingston, Herts, during the Civil
War, 62.
m Cal. S. P. Dom. 1645-7, pp. 564,
592 ; cf. V.C.H. Herts, ii, 33.
29 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. 182*,
184A.
80 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 14?.
31 'A llaody fight in Hertfordshire;
King's Pamphlets, E 565 (73) ; ' The
man in the moon discovering a world of
knavery under the sunne,' King's Pamphlets,
quoted by Kingston, Hist, of Royston,
140—2.
88 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. i,
581. A regiment of Parliamentary
troops passed through the town on its
way to take part in the Worcester cam-
paign 23 Aug. 1651 (Cal. S. P. Dom.
■651, P- 359)-
33 Pari. Surv. Cambs. no. 4, 5.
31 Close, 19 Jas. I, pt. i, no. I.
35 Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
30 Exch. Dcp. Trin. 18 Chas. II, no. 5.
3; Ibid.
258
Royston Cave : Sculptured Figures on Wall below Cornice
Rovston Cave : Sculptured Figures on Wall below Cornice
ODSEY HUNDRED
occupied by lessees of the Crown for about a century
and a-half. In 1 73 I it was occupied by John Buxton,
attorney. The lessee in 1753 was John Minchin.
In 1 8 1 2 it was purchased by John Stamford, carpenter,
whose son John bequeathed it in succession to his
nephews John Whyatt and Samuel Luke of New
Zealand.38 The Crown rights had all been sold by
i866.39
Just north of the site of the king's Dog House
is Chapel Field,40 recently proved to be the site of an
ancient burial-ground.41 Here apparently stood the
hospital and chantry chapel of St. Nicholas, which
was founded for lepers early in the 13th century42 on
land held of Wendy Manor, co. Cambs., by the
service of maintaining a lamp in Wendy Church. It
consisted of a chapel and lodgings for the lepers.43
Its founder, Ralph son of Ralph son of Fulk,44 gave
the advowson of the hospital to Giles Argentine, lord
of Melbourn Manor,45 in which parish the chapel
was apparently situated.
The Congregational chapel in Kneesworth Street
originated in the secession of the ' New Meeting '
from the 'Old Meeting' in 1791.46 The building,
erected in 1 792, has since been altered and enlarged.47
There was a considerable Quaker community in
Royston from 1655 onwards.48 Tombstones still
mark the site of their meeting-place at the back of
the houses on the east side of Kneesworth Street.49
The town has spread northwards in the direction
of the station on the Cambridge branch of the Great
Northern railway, opened in 1850.50 In this neigh-
bourhood is the Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1887.51
Here are also the nurseries of Mr. J. C. Pigg, a corn
mill and large makings. Eastwards at some distance
from the Cross along Melbourn Street is the town
hall built in 1855 as a Mechanics' Institute.62
Westwards the town extends to the union work-
house, built in 1835. The poorhouse for Royston
formerly stood near the Warren, south of the market-
place.
The position of the town on the borders of two
counties made it the scene of much crime and dis-
order, which the Prior of Royston, who had consider-
ROYSTON
able jurisdiction within the town, failed to check.
Robert of Bures and others carried off the goods of
the prior himself in 1314.53 Cases of assault at
Royston were frequent during the 13th and 14th
centuries.64 Breaches of the Statute of Northampton
were daily committed, and the offenders escaped
arrest by the king's officers by fleeing from one county
to another, while their number and confederacy made
them too strong for the bailiffs of the prior,55 whose
liberty extended into both counties.56 The ring-
leaders of the ' Murdrisours de Croysroys ' 57 were
Richard ' Howessone ' the Marshal, of Royston, and
John his son.68 In 1337 a separate commission of
the peace was formed for the town of Royston.59
Three years later Warin of Bassingbourn, the Sheriff
of Cambridgeshire, entering the town armed, seized
and carried off Simon Bakoun 'sitting in the stocks in
the Tolbothe.' An affray followed in which the
sheriff's bailiff wounded ' Simon le Irenmonger ' of
Royston. The prior seems to have tried to preserve
his liberties by buying off the sheriff,00 who was,
nevertheless, included in a new commission of the
peace for Royston in 1341,61 and appointed to attach
Richard the Marshal in 1342.62 The commission
was renewed from time to time.03 In 1437 the
Crown released to the priory the goods of felons and
fugitives in Royston and the prior at the same
time received the royal pardon for the escape of
prisoners.64
The town has suffered much by fire. It is said to
have been burnt in 1324.65 A great fire broke out
in 1405 on the feast of the Translation of St. Martin.00
Another serious fire occurred 22 March 1734.07
Royston appears to have been visited by Henry III,68
Edward I,69 Edward III 70 and Richard II.71 Richard
Duke of York and the Earls of Warwick and Salis-
bury sent from here, 20 May 1455, their manifesto
demanding the dismissal of Somerset.72
In the summer of 1553 John Cooke, carpenter,
and other Royston men made ' commocion at Royston '
and were bidden as well ' to leave of their assemblies
as having just occasion against any man to come up
and give information to the Council.'73
88 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
103 ; cf. Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, iii, 563.
39 Beldam, 'Royston Court House,'
Arch, xl, 134. 4° Pari. Surv. Cambs. 4.
41 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 46-7 ;
the remains of a stone slab discovered
here are preserved in the town hall
gardens. Some Saxon relics are said to
have been found.
48 Before Jan. 1212-13, when a fair
was granted, see above.
43 Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 587.
44 For an account of this family see the
history of Broadfield.
45 Cal. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, 275.
46 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 814.
The first minister was the Rev. Thomas
Towne, whose son Joseph distinguished
himself as an anatomical modeller (Diet.
Nat. BiogX
11 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 155.
48 Ibid. 1 51-3.
49 Kingston, Fragments of Two Centuries,
126; Urwick gives a list of six places
certified for Protestant Dissenters 1691-
■ 833 (op. cit. 813).
M Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 182. It
was possibly in this part of the town that
lay the tenements which formed part of
the endowment of the Savoy Hospital
(Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. xiii, m. 1 1).
51 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 157.
52 Ibid. 182.
53 Cal. Pat. 1 313-17, p. 229.
64 Cal. Close, 1272-9, pp. 171, 189;
1296-1302, p. 4.515 Cur. Reg. R. 189,
m. 6 ; Cal. Pat. 1272-9, p. 339 ; 1317-
21, PP. 37>» 540, 545 > Chan. Criminal
Inq. Edw. I, file 9, no. 10 ; Agarde's Cal.
to Coram Rege R. 21 Edw. Ill, m. 173 d.
65 Cal. Pal. 1334-8, p. 576.
66 Feud. Aids, i, 156 ; the demesnes of
the manor extend into Cambridgeshire, see
the description of the king's palace above.
57 Druce MSS. quoted by Kingston,
Hist, of Roys 01, 30.
53 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 555 ; 1354-6,
pp. 341, 647; cf. Cal. Close, 1343-6,
p. 362; 1346-9. PP- 4>3. 596- John
' le Mareschal ' was a chaplain and was
aided by 'William le Chircheclerk ' of
Royston (Plac. de Banco 269, m. 22).
On several occasions the plaintiff is Hugh
1 le Mareschal,' possibly Richard's own
father (Plac. de Banco, 169, m. 18 d. ;
270, m. 53 ; Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 282).
59 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 576.
60 Assize R. 337, m. 4, 9 d.
61 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 217.
259
62 Ibid. p. 555. The prior fined with
the Crown in 1364 to have the goods of
'John son of Richard Mareschall the
elder ' an outlaw for felony (Abbrcv. Rot.
Orig. [Rec. Com.], ii, 283).
63 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, pp. 205, 361, 575.
64 Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Hil.
12 Hen. VI, 'Recorda,' m. 17. The
prior had a 'gaol' in Royston in 1233
(Cal. Close, 123 1-4, p. 539).
65 Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 37.
66 Thomas of Walsingham, Vpodigma
Neustriae (Rolls Ser.), 417.
67 Hardy, Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec),
ii, 71.
68 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, pp. 139, 224,
279 ; 1247-58, pp. 91, 666 ; CjI. Close,
1234-7, p. 250.
69 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 161 ; 1288-
96, p. 228 ; 1302-7, pp. 21, 22, 78, 80 ;
Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 486; 1272-81.
p. 468 ; 1292-1301, pp. 175, 182, 215.
n Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 129 ; Cal. Close,
•333-7. P- 345 ; »34i-3, P- 9-
71 Cal. Pat. 1381-;, p. 310.
72 Pari. R. v, 280 ; cf. V.C.H. Herts.
ii, 18.
78 Acts of P.C. 1552-4, pp. 310, 313.
These assemblies may have been political
or religious (cf. V.C.H. Herts, ii, 23).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The priory to the south of Melbourn Street was
founded within the manor of Newsells in Barkway
parish.74 Eustace de Merle, kt., lord of Newsells,
built a chapel for three chaplains on the site of the
present priory.7''' His nephew Ralph of Rochester
established a house of Austin canons on the same
spot.70 It was dedicated in honour of St. John
the Baptist and St. Thomas the Martyr. Ralph
of Rochester erected the buildings and gave the
land on which they stood, the soil of the inclosed
precinct, the green space (probably heathland) ex-
tending from the priory gate to ' Holewey ' and
'Cawden,' 140 acres of arable land in ' Eldefeld,'
rights of pasture over all the rest of Eldefeld and
the homage and service of his men and tenants there
and in Royston.77 The endowment took place
within the lifetime of Eustace, between I 163 and
1 1 84.. 78 William of Rochester, the founder's son,
added 4.0 acres more in ' Eldefield,' extending from
the path from Barley to Royston, next the canons'
mill.79 The Popes Lucius III and Celestine III con-
firmed their possessions to the canons.80 Richard I
granted them extensive liberties within their lands.81
Successive priors obtained confirmatory charters from
Henry III,8- Edward III,83 Richard II,81 Henry IV,85
Henry V,86 Henry VI87 and Edward IV.88 The
house now known as the Priory was possibly part
of the house erected on the site of the priory after
the Dissolution. There is some 17th-century brick-
work on the south-west side.
The charter of Ralph of Rochester
MANOR proves that the greater part of Royston
originally lay within the manor of
Newsells in Barkway. The latter was held in 1086
by Eudo Fitz Hubert. S9 It was attached later to the
honour of Boulogne,3'1 of which it was held by Eustace
de Merk and subsequently by his nephew Ralph of
Rochester.91 Ralph endowed the Priors of Royston
with manorial rights over the lands which he granted
to them.92
The manor of ROYSTON thus formed was re-
tained by the priors until the dissolution of their
house,93 which took place in 1536.94 The priory
buildings, the demesne lands an A the scattered lands
in 'Elfeld Clepitsholte Redfeld Tharfeld Milbourne-
feld and Newsells ' were leased to Robert Chester
Chester. Ermive a
chief sable •with a griffon
passant argent therein.
before Michaelmas 1 537. The market rights were
let fortwenty-oneyears to Richard Cromwell, who acted
also as steward of the manor,90 and was probably the
person by whose 'importunate
labours' Dr. Wendy, physician
to the Earl of Northumber-
land, was prevented from
obtaining a lease of the de-
mesnes and market rights.96
Robert Chester had a new
lease of the priory 20 May
1539,97 and in 1540 he re-
ceived a grant in fee of the
house and site of the priory,
the lordship and manor of
Royston and all the lands of
the late prior in the counties
of Hertfordshire and Cam-
bridgeshire.98 He was gentleman usher of the cham-
ber to Henry VIII and in July 1544 left Royston
with twenty-five archers, who formed the king's body-
guard when he left Calais for the siege of Boulogne.99
In 1 551 Chester (who was knighted about this
date) 10u entertained Mary of Guise at Royston on
her return to Scotland from France.1 In 1565 he
served as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire.2 In
November I 564 there took place at Royston a double
marriage between Sir Robert Chester, then a widower,
and Lady Magdalene, widow of Sir Jaques Granada,
kt., and between Sir Robert's son and heir Edward
and Katherine daughter of the Lady Magdalene by
her former husband.3 At the same time Royston was
settled upon Edward and Katherine in tail-male.4
S'r Robert Chester died 25 November 1574.5 Shortly
afterwards Edward Chester, ' getting greate credytt in
respect of his good service ' in the Low Countries,
received an annuity from the Estates of 400 marks to
himself and his eldest son for life. He died
25 November 1577 beyond the seas, having trans-
ported a band of volunteers to the Netherlands at his
own cost.6 His son and heir Robert was then aged
twelve.7 He had livery of Royston Manor about
1 5 86,8 and was engaged in continual litigation in
respect of the annuity due to his grandmother Lady
Magdalene, the extent of the possessions of the late
priory and the market rights of Royston.9 He was
74 Harl. MS. 7041, fol. 7 ; Assize R.
323, m. 45.
" Baker (Harl. MS. 7041, fol. 7)
transcribes the charter of R.ilph of
Rochester from the original. The word
'Senseles' is evidently a clerical error for
'Neuseles' (cf. Assize R. 323, m. 45).
76 Harl. MS. 7041, fol. 7.
77 Ibid. The exact wording is of inte-
rest, since it shows the extent of the
manor which Ralph carved out of his
fee of Newsells for the canons. It is as
follows :— 'dedi . . . et . . . confirmavi
locum ipsum in quo prefatam ecclesiam
construxi cum toto solo existente in pre-
cinctu quern dictis Canonicis meis feci
ibidem sub murali clausura totam etiam
viridem placeam que est de feodo meo de
[NJeuseles ante januam et frontem muri
ibidem usque in Holewey et Cawden
centum similiter ct quadraginta acras
terre arabilis in le Eldefelde a predicto
precinctu et viridi placea continue jacentes
juxta Hikenild usque Salteresdoune et
pasturam ad centum oves per sexies viginti
numerataj pascendas extra evident terram
viz. in le Eldefeld per totam terram
mean) cum omnibus homagiis et servitiis
omnium hominum et tenendum meorum
ibidem et in Cruce Roys "...
74 The charter is witnessed by Gilbert
Bishop of London (1163-87). The
confirmatory bull of Lucius III is dated
8 Kal. May 1184. In all probability the
foundation took place before 1 1 79 (see
the account of the church).
79 Harl. MS. 7041, fol. yb.
8,1 Cott. MS. Aug. ii, 124, 130.
81 Cart. Antiq. R. 6 ; Dugdale, Man.
vi, 405 (see below).
v- Cal. Chart, R. 1226-57, P* 3^° 5
Chart. R. 56 Hen. Ill, no. 5.
83 Chart. R. iS Edw. Ill, no. 2.
M Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 1S1.
8' Ibid. 1399-1401, p. 198.
80 Ibid. 1413-16, p. 136.
S/ Ibid. 1422-9, p. 427.
88 I°id- H67-77» P- 423-
89 I'.C.H. Herts, i, 329.
*' Cart. Man. S. Jo/unnis de Colecestria
(Roxburghe Club), i, 47; cf. Red Bk. of
Exch. (Rolls Scr.), 502.
26o
5"'
91 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 502 ;
lad. MS. 7041, fol. 7.
98 Harl. MS. 7041, fol. 7.
98 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
•" L. and P. lien. Fill, xii (i),
VIII, no.
Mins. Accts. Hen.
1606-15, ^32, 1633.
98 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xii (1), 1057,
IZII.
;'r Ibid, xiv (1), p. 606.
9' Ibid, xvi, 379 (60).
99 Ibid, xix (2), 424, 524 (8).
11,0 Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 65.
1 Acts of P.C. 1 5 50-2, p. 406.
a List of Sheriffs (P.R.O.), 45.
:i Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxx,
* Ibid.
'- Ibid.
6 Ct. of Req. bdle. 60, no. 51 ;
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxvi, 8.
' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxx
8 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bk. dexviii
9 Ct. of Rcq. bdle. 60, no. 51 ;
Dcp. East. 5 Jas. I, no. 16; Auj
Proc. i, 55.
5'-
Chan.
Exch.
. Otf.
ODSEY HUNDRED
knighted in 1603 by James I,10 whom he had en-
tertained upon his first journey to London from
Edinburgh."
Sir Robert Chester resided at Cockenhatch in
Barkway,13 and died in 1640, having settled Royston
Manor upon his son Edward, who married Katherine
daughter of John Stone of London.13 The manor
evidently passed to their second son John." His son
Edward was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1675 and died
in his year of office.15 He was succeeded by his son
Robert,16 whose son Edward Chester17 sold the manor
in 1759 to Thomas Plumer Byde of Ware Park.18
Royston was purchased in 1770 by Thomas Brand
and bequeathed by him to his grandson Thomas
(Brand) Lord Dacre.19 His heir was his brother
Henry Otway (Trevor) Lord Dacre, whose second
son Sir Henry-Bouverie-William Brand was created
Viscount Hampden. His grandson Thomas Walter,
Brand, Viscount Hampden
Viscount Hampden, is the present lord of the
manor.20
The Priors of Royston claimed by prescription view
of frankpledge, gallows, tumbril and amendment of
the assize of bread and ale.21 Under the charter of
Richard I they had within their manor of Royston
ROYSTON
soc, sac, tol, tem, infangthef, utfhngthef, hamsac,
grithbriche, bloodwite, murder, forestall, flemanis-
wite, ordeal and orest.22 They and their men were
quit of scot, geld and aids, shires, hundreds, &c."
Their jurisdiction was therefore very extensive ; but
their failure to enforce order in the 13 th and
14th centuries has been seen. Confirmation of their
liberties was made in February 127 1-2, 2i and in
1278 their claims were again acknowledged."
A court leet for certain of the tenants of the honour
of Clare in Cambridgeshire was held at Royston,26 but
Richard de Clare Earl of Gloucester and patron of
Royston Priory had only one tenant in the town at
his death in I 262." The courts were held throughout
the 15th century28 and descended to Edward IV as
grandson of Anne wife of the Earl of Cambridge and
direct descendant of Elizabeth de Burgh, one of the
three sisters and co-heirs of Gilbert de Clare Earl of
Gloucester, slain at Bannockburn in 131 4..S9 Edward
assigned the court at Royston to his mother Cicely in
dower.30 It was apparently extinct by the beginning
of the 17th century.31
The church of ST. JOHN THE
CHURCH BAPTIST32 consists of chancel 34ft. 6 in.
by 22 ft., north vestry and organ
chamber, nave 70 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft., north aisle
58 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in., south aisle 86 ft. by I 3 ft. 6 in.,
west tower 20 ft. 6 in. from north to south and 14 ft.
from east to west ; all internal dimensions. The
walls are of clunch and rubble, with modern flint
facing and stone dressings. The present church
consists mainly of the chancel and quire of the
monastic church, with later additions. In 1600 the
justices of the peace certified that the church was
' utterly ruinated and fallen downe to the ground,'
whereupon the Privy Council gave licence for collec-
tions to be made for its rebuilding.33
The history of the church is a little difficult to
trace owing to the alterations and re-ure of old
materials after the dissolution of the monastery, but the
original church appears to have consisted of a chancel
which was lighted by the triple lancets, parts of which
remain in the north and south walls, the chancel arch
being at the second pier west of the modern chancel
arch,33a and a quire of probably two bays, of which
those on the south side still remain. The quire
screen may have stood at the west of these two
bays, the remains of a turret stair 33b having been
discovered in the south wall opposite that point.
Another bay, perhaps similar to the others, or of
10 Shaw, Knight! of Engl, ii, 123.
11 Nichols, Progresses of Jas. I, i, 105.
18 Herts. Visit. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 40.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxciv,
65 ; cf. Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich.
13 Jas. I.
14 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 91.
The elder son Robert mentioned in the
visitation of 1634 probably died before
his grandfather (cf. Chan. Inq. p.m.
[Ser. 2], ccccxciv, 65).
15 List of Sheriffs (P.R.O.), 64.
16 Chauncv, loc. cit. ; cf. Feet of F.
Div. Co. Mich. 12 Will. Ill ; Recov. R.
Mich. 9 Anne, m. 171.
17 For the pedigree see Exch. Dep.
Mich. 25 Geo. II, no. 3 ; cf. Feet of F.
Div. Co. Mich. 4 Geo. II.
18 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 32-3
Geo. II ; Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq.
of Herts, ill, 561.
19 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. ; cf. Recov. R.
Trin. 25 Geo. Ill, m. 354.
80 Cf. the account of Hoo.
21 Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 100.
22 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 405 ; some of the
readings have been corrected by Inq.
a.q.d. file 3, no. 31, and Plac. de Quo
IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 283.
83 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 100.
21 Inq. a.q.d. file 3, no. 3 1 ; Cat. Chart.
R. 1257-1300, p. 180.
25 Plac.deQuo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 2S3.
86 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, 160 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. I, no. 47 ; Mins. Accts.
(Gen. Ser.), bdles. 1 1 1 o, no. 2, 24 ; 1 1 1 1,
no. 2, 16,24; 11 12, no. 1 ; Ct. R. (G n.
Ser.), portf. 155, no. 2, 73 ; 213, no. 57.
21 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, 160.
88 Ct. R. quoted above.
29 G.E.C. Peerage, viii, 214-15.
30 Cal. Pat. 146 1-7, p. 131; it it
26l
here called a court of the 'honour of
Gloucester ' ; cf. Feet of F. Mixed Co.
Mich. 3 Hen. VIII.
31 It is omitted from the Survey of the
honour in Cambridgeshire in 1650 (Duchv
of Lane. Pari. Surv. 1), and was evidently
extinct when Gibbons described the town
in the reign of James I [Ely Epis. Rec.
[ed. Gibbons], 152).
38 The monastery was dedicated to
St. John the Baptist and St. Thomns
of Canterbury ; by the Act (32 Hen.VIII,
cap. 44) constituting the vicarage the
name of St. Thomas was omitted.
33 Acts of P.C. 1 599-1600, p. 304;
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv, 484.
33a Tbe bases of the chancel piers were
discovered there.
33b It is not certain that the stair led
to the gallery, it may have been connected
with the monastic buildings.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
solid walling, was interposed between the quire screen
and the central tower. There is evidence that a
central tower, with at least a south transept, existed,
the present tower being in almost the same position
as the old one.
The lower part of the old clunch wall of the south
nave able still exists, and is continued eastwards with
only one break as far as the west wall of the present
south aisle in a line with the east face of the present
tower. The break is a projecting impost which
probably carried the arch between the south aisle and
the transept, and if so it marks the western face of
the old tower, and the dimensions show that it was
square, not oblong as at present. In the rebuilding
of the tower the west face appears to have been built
arches beneath them. The windows have moulded
arches enriched with the dog-tooth ornament ; the
jambs have clustered shafts and moulded capitals and
bases. The north arcade consists of four plain
pointed arches, the wall above being only I ft. 6 in.
thick. The imposts and two of the supporting piers
are octagonal with moulded capitals, probably modern;
the central pier, which is of 14th-century character
and is of greater diameter than the others, is com-
posed of four large half-round shafts separated by-
smaller ones ; it has a moulded capital similar to the
others, which is probably modern. The north arcade
appears to have been rebuilt during the 1 7th cen-
tury, the middle pier being all that remained of the
old arcade. The south arcade is of five arches. The
_ ni*> ilMiiiuP
nun-riu iwi' ■iui»ii|,»iisiiiiriii
,l|MWJMMfW m ««•»■-
Royston : House in thh Churchv«rd
about 7 ft. east of the old one, the other sides
remaining as before.
The chancel, vestry and organ chamber were built
in 1 89 1, and at the same time the south aisle was
lengthened eastwards about 27 ft. In the chancel
wall has been reset the sill of a 1 3th-century piscina
with octofoil basin.
The nave, which consists of the chancel and quire
of the old church, was built c. 1250. At the east end
are the remains of the triple lancet windows in the
north and south walls. In the north wall the
eastern window alone remains, the bases and capitals
of which have been restored. In the south wall are
portions of three arches with some of the capitals ;
these are partly built up and the lower portions have
been cut away to allow of the insertion of arcade
eastern arch and central pier are modern ; the second
arch is of three hollow-chamfered orders with moulded
labels of 14th-century character; the next two arches
apparently formed the original quire and retain their
old responds with a little plain walling at either end.
The arches consist of three hollow chamfers with
moulded labels, the jambs of large clustered shafts
separated by acutely pointed rolls ; the capitals and
bases are moulded. The date of this arcade is
c. 1250-60. There is a piece of wall about 6 ft. in
length, including the imposts, between this arcade of
two arches and the westernmost arch of the nave, and
the western end of the wall has been roughly thinned
down to make it fit the imposts and arch of the
westernmost opening, which is only 8 ft. wide. The
imposts are of the same section as the old central
l$o
263
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
pier in the north arcade and look as if they had been
detached piers before they were inserted in their
present position.34 The moulded capitals of these
imposts are of the same section as those of the
adjoining two bays, but the arch moulding is of an
earlier period, probably about 1240. There can be
little doubt but that this arch was inserted when the
tower was rebuilt about 1600 of old materials. The
clearstory window above the arch was probably also
inserted at that period or later. There are two small
clearstory lights on the north side.
The roof of the nave has moulded trusses and
carved bosses and is probably of early 1 6th-century
work.35
The stonework of the three-light window in the
east wall of the north aisle and of the four two-light
windows in the north wall is modern ; the second
window from the east is inserted in a partially
blocked archway which opened into a former chapel ;
the arch is of two orders, the inner one a hollow
chamfer, the outer one moulded with undercut rolls ;
the jambs have clustered shafts with rolls between,
like the central pier in the north arcade, and the
capitals are moulded. It appears to be of 14th-
century work, but has been restored. There is a
break back of 8 in. in the north wall adjoining this
arch. The west doorway is modern. Parts of the
aisle roof are of I 5th-century timbers re-used. In one
of the windows are some fragments of 15th-century
painted glass. All the windows in the south aisle are
of modern stonework, and the west door is modern ;
a doorway in the south wall is blocked. The roof
is a plain one of 15th-century date.
The tower is in three stages with crocketed
pinnacles at the angles. It has been refaced with
flint, and all the stonework of the west door, belfrv
windows and battlements is modern. The wide
tower arch has been rebuilt with 14th-century
materials, the section of the mouldings corresponding
with that of the second arch from the east in the
south arcade ; the responds, which are semi-octagonal,
and the moulded capitals are of 16th-century date ;
the arch has been roughly built. It is clear that the
whole tower was rebuilt in the 1 6th century,36 old
materials being re-used in parts. It is probable, as
before suggested, that the tower was square originally
and rested on large piers, but no trace of them is now
visible. At the eastern end of the old south nave
wall the upper part of an arched recess appears above
the ground : it was probably a tomb. Adjoining it
on the east is the head of another recess about 3 ft.
wide, possibly a piscina.
The old font has recently been placed in the
churchyard, after being for many years in private
hands; it has a plain octagonal bowl of the 13th
century and a 15th-century stem with a plain arched
recess in each face.
A fine 15th-century oak panelled and carved door,
until lately in the west doorway, is now in the
belfry ; it appears to have been the original door of
the church, but has been considerably damaged.
The tower walls on the ground floor have been
lined with 1 7th-century oak panelling taken from old
pews.
The pulpit has a stone base composed of parts of
an old panelled tomb, the pulpit itself, as well as
two reading desks, being made up from a fine 15th-
century oak screen which was discovered during the
19th century ; it is said to have fitted the second
arch from the east in the south nave arcade.
Two badly damaged images of alabaster were found
during restoration and are now in the chancel ; one
is of the Virgin and Child : the figure of the Virgin
is headless and in the left hand of the Child is a
bird ; the other is the figure of a bishop with head
and pastoral staff broken away. They are of the
I 5th century.37
Under a modern recess in the south wall of the
chancel is the recumbent effigy of a knight, in
alabaster, of the 14th century, clad in plate armour
with a surcoat.
On a stone slab now beneath the communion
table is a long brass cross on stepped base ; it is incised
with a Bleeding Heart and the other four Wounds of
the Passion, and is probably of 15th-century date.
In the nave is a brass with figures of a man and his
wife, with indent of a second wife ; there is no
inscription, but it dates from about 1500 ; another
brass has a half figure of a priest in hood and tippet,
under a cusped and crocketed canopy, to William
Tabram, rector of Therfield, 1462. On the east
wall of the north aisle are three brass inscriptions : to
William Chamber, who died in 1546; to Robert
White, Prior of Royston, who died 1534 ; the third
bears a verse in English, but neither name nor date ;
it probably dates from about 1500.
There are six bells : four by Thomas Lester,
1739, and two recast by John Taylor, 1901.
The communion plate consists of a cup of 1621,
an elaborately chased paten of 1629, another paten
of 1718, a modern flagon and a plated chalice.
The registers are in three books : (i) baptisms from
1662 to 1812, burials 1662 to 1678, marriages
1662 to 1754; ('') burials 1678 to 1812; (iii)
marriages I 754 to I 81 2.
The canons at Royston built a
ADI'OIl'SON chapel with a burial-place attached
possibly between 1 1 64 and 1 1 79. 38
The lack of a separate parish church for so considerable
a town was thus ' little prejudicial ' to the inhabitants
while the priory existed. Soon after its dissolution
they bought the priory church ' to their great charges.'
By Act of Parliament the town, which had formerly
been in five different parishes, was in 1540 consti-
tuted a distinct parish within the diocese of London.39
The vicar was to have tithes, offerings and oblations
34 The western pier of the 1 3th-century
arcade of two arches has the same look
of having been a detached pier, and it
seems possible that a third arch com-
pleted the arcade to the central tower,
the space left just allowing for it,
3"' In 1524 William Lee of Radwell
left £10 towards finishing the chancel
roof (P.C.C. Wills 24 Porch).
36 In 15 1 1 Thomas Chamber nf
Royston left 20 marks to the work upun
condition that the ' slepull ' be built in
two years (P.C.C. Wills I Fetiplace).
s! There were in the priory church
altars of Our Lady of Pity, referred to in
the will of William Marshall nf Royston
in 1507 (P.C.C. Wills 29 Adeane), and
an image of the Trinity, mentioned in the
will of Henry Degg'on in 1508 (ibid.
4 Bennett), and of Henry Bedale in 151;
(ibid. 33 AylofT), and an image of the
Virgin under a tabernacle, mentioned in
the will of John Crespede in 1500 (ibid.
13 Moone). There was in the priory,
whether in the church is not stated, a
chapel of the Rood (ibid.) and Mordon
chapel (ibid. 16 Bennett).
38 Cart. S. hhannh de Colectttria (Rox-
burghe Club), ii, ; 1 3. The date is limited
by the approximate dates of the rule of
Abbot Walter of Colchester.
3D Stat. 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 4;.
264
ODSEY HUNDRED
except tithe of corn, hay, wool, Limbs and calves,
which were reserved to the incumbents of the five
original parishes.40 The king was patron, the advowson
being attached to the priory manor, then in his hands.
The advowson is not specifically mentioned in the
grant of the manor to Robert Chester,41 but it
evidently passed under it. It continued in the pos-
session of the successive lords until I 891, when it was
transferred to the bishop of the diocese.42
There were several devotional gilds in Royston.
We have reference to the brotherhood of Jesus,43 the
gild of St. Laurence 44 and the Rood gild.45
A chantry for the soul of Richard de Stamford,
clerk of the Exchequer, was founded about 1290 and
endowed by him with certain houses in Fleet Street,
London.46
In the Parliamentary Returns of
CHARITIES 1786 it is stated that — Chester
gave a rent-charge of £5 \s. per
annum for bread to the poor. This sum is paid out
of the manor of Royston and is distributed in bread
by the vicar and churchwardens.
In 1609 Robert Warden left a yearly sum of
£2 12/. out of a tenement in St. Peter Cornhill,
London, to be distributed in bread every Sunday to
the poor. The property charged with this payment
now belongs to the Merchant Taylors' Company, and
the annuity is regularly received from them and
distributed in bread.
In 1687 Sir Thomas Foot, by his will proved
17 November, gave an assignment of £4.2 of
Exchequer annuities for the benefit of the poor of
certain parishes, including the parish of Royston.
The endowment of the charity for Royston has come
to be represented by £56 4/. 6 J. £2 10/. per cent,
annuities, producing £1 8/. yearly, which is dis-
tributed in bread to the poor every week.
The charity of William Lee, founded by will dated
8 October 1527, is regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commission dated 30 June 1S93. The
property consists of two shops and dwelling-houses in
Royston, producing £55 yearly ; a barn and yard
in Royston producing £8 yearly ; and a sum of
£598 4/. India 3 per cent, stock with the official
trustees, representing accumulations of income and
producing £lj 18/. 8d. yearly. The net income is
applied in accordance with the scheme in subscrip-
RUSHDEN
tions to Herts. Convalescent Home, Royston Nursing
Association, Addenbrooke's Hospital and Royston
Cottage Hospital ; in assistance to invalids in hos-
pitals, and in exhibitions to children from public
elementary schools.
In 1689 Joseph Wortham by his will gave 30/.
yearly out of his messuage in Royston to the poor,
20/. thereof to be distributed in bread at Candlemas
to poor widowers and widows of Royston, and 10/.
to widowers and widows of Barley. The sum of
26s. out of the Falcon Inn, Royston, is received yearly
in respect of this gift and distributed in bread.
In 1 85 1 Lester Brand by his will gave a sum of
money now represented by £434 15/. gd. consols
with the official trustees, producing £10 17/. s^d.
yearly, which is applied in the purchase of coal and
blankets for the poor.
In 1834 Mrs. Mary Barfield, by her will proved
in the P.C.C. on 26 November, bequeathed part of
her residuary personal estate for the maintenance and
support of the almshouses situate at Bassingbourn and
founded by her in 1833 for poor widows of sixty
years and upwards inhabitants of Royston. The
endowment consists of £4,022 4/. 4^. India 3 per
cent, stock in the name of the official trustees, and
producing £120 13/. \d. yearly. The almshouses
are now eight in number, and each inmate receives
5/. weekly and one ton of coal yearly.
The charity of Mrs. Sarah Ellen Pyne, for the
general purposes of Royston Cottage Hospital, founded
by will proved at London 13 June 1 899, is regu-
lated by a scheme of the Court of Chancery dated
24 March 1903. The endowment consists of a sum
of £5,420 is. 2d. consols with the official trustees,
producing £1 35 10/. yearly.
The same testatrix by her will also founded a
charity for the benefit of Royston Nursing Associa-
tion. This charity is regulated by the scheme above
mentioned. The endowment consists of a sum of
£542 consols with the official trustees, producing
£13 11/. yearly, which is applied towards the salary
of a district nurse.
The same scheme also directed that a sum of
consols equivalent at the price of the day to £1,000
sterling should out of the residuary estate of Mrs.
Sarah Ellen Pyne be applied in providing a site for,
and building, a mission room for the parish of Royston.
RUSHDEN
Risendene (xi cent.) ; Ressenden, Ryshenden,
Russenden (xiii and xiv cent.) ; Rissheden, Rus-
shenden (xiv cent.) ; Risden (xvii cent.).
Rushden is a small parish with an area of only
1,508 acres, of which about two-thirds are arable
land, a quarter permanent grass and a fifteenth wood-
land.1 Friars Wood, of some considerable size, is in
the north-east of the parish and Bachelors Wood to
the north of Southend Green. The parish lies on
the chalk downs, which here reach a height of 500 ft.
in the north-east, sloping down to about 350 ft. in
the south.
Evidence of early settlement on the chalk lands of
this district is furnished by the discovery of about
forty implements of the Bronze Age at Cumberlow
Green, which is the most important find of this period
in Hertfordshire.13
The village of Rushden is very small. It is situated
a little off the road connecting Baldock and Bunting-
ford, and lies about midway between these two towns,
in which are its nearest railway stations. An old
road, called in Rushden (of which it forms the western
boundary) Shaw Green Lane, intersects this road
near Cumberlow Green, and after passing through
40 Stat. 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 44.
41 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 379 (60).
" Kingston, Hist, of Royston, 190.
43 P.C.C. Will 1 Fetiplace; cf. 1 3 Moone.
3
44 P.C.C. Will 1 Fctiplace.
45 Ibid. 5 Maynwaring.
* Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Mich.
18 & 19 Edw. I ' Communia,' m. 6 d.
265
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190;).
■a Rep. of Royal Com. on Hist. Monum
of Herts.
34
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Rushden and Wellington joins the road known as
the Icknield Way. Another road which branches
oft' from this at Cumberlow Green and joins it again
near Redhill passes through the Mill End. The
church of St. Mary stands a little to the east of it,
with the school close by. The vicarage is half a mile
to the east at Southend Green. To the south of the
church in the main part of the village called Church
End is a plastered timber building of the 1 6th or I ;th
century, formerly used as a post office. It has a tiled
roof and one overhanging gable. It bears the date
1730, but this probably only refers to the plaster.
Near it stands the old Rose and Crown Inn, which
dates from the end of the 1 6th century. It also has
a tiled roof and is built of plastered timber which is
decorated with combed work. In addition to these
there are some 1 7th-century thatched cottages and
farm buildings. The village smithy is at Mill End.
The parish of Rushden includes several small
hamlets. Shaw Green, on Shaw Green Lane, is a
mile to the north-west of the village, Mill End is
half a mile to the west, Southend Green half a mile
to the east, connected with the village by a road,
Offley Green a mile to the north-east between
Julians and Friar's Wood, whilst Cumberlow Green
is situated on the main road at the point where it
enters the parish one mile to the south-west of the
village.
The manor of RUSHDEN was held
MANORS before the Conquest by two sokemen,
' men ' of Archbishop Stigand.2 In 1086
it was assessed at 5 hides and was held by Sigar de
Cioches.3 The lands of the Cioches family lay for the
most part in Northamptonshire and were known as
the honour of Chokes.4 These lands descended to
Anselm de Cioches, who forfeited under Henry I,
and in 1130-1 paid 170 marks of silver, five war-
horses and three palfreys for the restoration of his
lands.5 He was succeeded by his son Robert de
Cioches or Chokes.6 Robert was the last in the direct
line to hold this honour, which on his death passed
to William of Bethune, advocate of Arras, brother of
Baldwin de Bethune Earl of Aumale, who in 1 200
paid XIO° t0 have seisin of the lands in England7
which had belonged to Robert de Cioches and which
he claimed as great-nephew of Anselm father of
Robert.8 In 1203 Baldwin was granted the lands
and possessions of his brother William in England.9
Baldwin died in I 2 1 2,10 and William de Bethune must
have died shortly after, as in I 2 14 his son Robert was
allowed full seisin of his lands.11 Robert was succeeded
by his brother Daniel in I 2 I 7,12 and the latter before
1223 by Robert de Bethune, advocate of Arras,13
presumably his son. Robert granted the honour
of Chokes to Robert Count of Gisnes, who became
the advocate of Bethune.14 He was holding 3 hides of
land in Rushden when he died.15 After this the
overlordship of Rushden appears to have lapsed. In
1 46 1 the manor was said to be held of George Hyde
in socage,10 but this was possibly an error, as seventeen
years later it was said to be held of the king in
chief.17
The first sub-tenant in the manor of Rushden of
whom there is any trace is William Basset, who held
it at the beginning of the 13th century.18 In 1239
a William Basset, probably his son (see advowson),
was holding a carucate of land in Rushden of Thomas
de Breaute.19 This William paid £6 yearly for the
lands which he held in Rushden of the honour of
Chokes.20 In 1272 Peter Basset was evidently lord
of the manor,21 but before 13 10 he had been
succeeded by Robert Basset,213 of whom there is
mention in 1313, 1353, and 1384.22
With La More in Sandon (q.v.) Rushden came soon
after to the Bealknaps and in I 390 was in the king's
hands by the forfeiture of Sir Robert Bealknap. It
was granted with other lands to Juliane, wife of Robert,
for the support of Robert, then in exile in Ireland, and
of Juliane and her children.23 Hamon son of Robert
was holding the manor in 1 4. 1 9 and sold it in that
year to John Fray and Agnes his wife.24 John Fray
held it until his death in 1 46 1,25 when by his will
it remained with his widow Agnes for life, with
reversion to their daughter Agnes and her heirs, with
contingent remainder to their youngest daughter
Katherine and their other daughters in succession.26
Agnes Fray died in 1478, 27 their daughter Agnes died
without issue,28 and Rushden passed to Katherine,
then wife of Humphrey Stafford.29 In 1482
Katherine died,30 her husband only surviving her for
four years,31 and Rushden descended to her young son
Humphrey, aged eight.32 He was knighted before
I 53 I,33 and died in 1545, his son Humphrey, aged
forty, being his heir.34 This Humphrey (of Kirby
Hall, co. Northants) was knighted in February I 546-7
at the coronation of Edward VI.35 He held the
manor36 until I 574, when he sold it with a wood
called Westhay to Robert Newport of Sandon (co.
Herts.).37 Robert Newport died in 1583,38 and
Rushden passed to Edward Newport,39 apparently his
son.40 He with his wife Anne sold it in 1604 to
John and William Rowley.41 By 1 61 5 it had come
2 r.C.H. Herts, i, 3+2J.
3 Ibid.
4 Baker, Hist, of Northants, ii, 272.
4 Ibid.
6 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 334.
7 Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rcc. Com.), 59;
Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 7.
6 See Baker, Hist, of Northants, ii, 2-2.
» Literate R. (Rec. Com.), 41.
10 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 63.
11 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rcc. Com.), i, 20S*,
324. "Ibid. 328, 329.
13 Ibid. ;744.
14 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 31 Hen. Ill,
no. 44 ; Testa de Nei/ill (Rec. Com.),
270, 26, 30.
18 Misc. Chan. Inq. file 18, no. 10
(incert. annis Hen. III).
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV, no. 28
(file 2).
17 Ibid. 18 Edw. IV, no. 45 (file 546).
18 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 270.
19 Feet of F. Hots. Mich. 24 Hen. Ill,
no. 290.
90 Misc. Chan. Inq. p.m. file 18, no. 10;
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 270.
31 See De Banco R. 55, m. 101 (an
action concerning suit of court owed to
him at Rushden).
2la Confirmation of the advowson to
the priory of Dunstable by Robert Basset,
MS. in Lincoln Cath. Muniment Room
D, ii, 86, i.
22 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 62 ; 1350-4,
p. 386; Feet of F. Herts. 7 Ric. II,
23 Cal. Pat. 1388 92, p. 231.
24 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Hen. V, r
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. IV,
(file 2) ; see Inq. a.q.d. hie 448, no.
o. 40.
lo. 28
8,22.
36 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 71, no. 40.
27 Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iv, 390.
28 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 71, no. 40.
29 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 8 Edw. IV,
no. 45 (file 67).
3,1 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, 102.
81 Ibid. 100.
82 Ibid.
38 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 2 3 Hen. VIII.
34 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxii,
86 (1).
3> Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 60.
38 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Edw. VI ;
Div. Co. East. 5 Eliz.
87 Close, 16 Eliz. pt. xii.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cc, 52.
39 Pat. 28 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 17.
40 The name of the heir is illegible in
the inquisition.
11 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2 Jas. I.
266
ODSEY HUNDRED
into the possession of John Goodman (whose family
had held land in Rushden for some time previously),42
who with John Goodman, junior, and Grace his wife
then conveyed it to Sir William Smyth.43
From Goodman the manor seems to have passed
to Sir Thomas Stanley, kt., of Leytonstone (co.
Essex).44 His wife was Mary Hammond, sister to
William Hammond and cousin to Richard Lovelace
the poet. Stanley held in 1648, when he settled
the manor on his son Thomas Stanley,45 who is
known as a poet and as the author of the Lives of
the Philosophers,^ on the occasion of his marriage
with Dorothy daughter of Sir James Enyon, bart.,
of Floore (co. Northants).47 Thomas Stanley died
in 167 8,47a and his widow Dorothy Stanley and
his son Thomas sold the manor the following year to
Joseph Edmonds 48 of Cumberlow Green, son of
Simon Edmonds, alderman of London.40 On the
death of Joseph Edmonds Rushden descended to his
daughter and heiress Anne, who married Sir Cleave
More, bart., in or before 1689.50 She died in 1720,51
and Rushden was inherited by her son Sir Joseph
Edmonds More,5-' who continued to hold it with his
wife until 1729, when it was bought by John
Spence 53 in trust with other lands under the terms
of the will of Luke Hodges, merchant of London,
who had married John's daughter Mary Spence in
1692. 54 This was proved in 1 7 1 5 by his widow,55
who subsequently married Benjamin Avery, LL.D.56
On her death in 1737 57 these lands passed by settle-
ment to the sons of Dorothy Mole, cousin of Luke
Hodges. The two eldest sons must have died without
children, for in 1779 Rushden had descended to
Christopher Hodges, formerly Mole, late of the Inner
Temple, only son and heir of Christopher Mole, late
of the East India House, deceased,58 third son of
Dorothy Mole.59 In this year Christopher Hodges
sold it to Adolphus Meetkerke the younger of
Julians.60 He died in 1784,61 and his son Adolphus
Meetkerke died in 1S41.62 He was succeeded by a
son of the same name, who on his death in 1879 left
two daughters.03 The elder of these, Mary Florence,
married in 1878 Frederick Morehouse Metcalfe of
Inglethorpe Hall (co. Norfolk), who died in 1893.64
Mrs. Metcalfe inherited her father's estates in
Rushden, and is the present owner of the manor,
residing at Julians.05
BRJDFIELD GRANGE aTias FRYERS
GRANGE 66 originally formed part of the manor of
Broadfield, but there seems no doubt that it lay in
Rushden.67 In the days of Edward the Confessor
Broadfield was divided between the men of the Arch-
Warden Abbey.
Azure a crazier between
three "Warden pears or.
RUSHDEN
bishop of Canterbury and Queen Edith.68 In 1086
one of these holdings, a hide and a quarter of a
virgate, had passed into the possession of Hardwin de
Scales and was held of him by Theobald.69 In 1 1 50
Theobald, probably grandson
of the former Theobald, with
consent of his brother William,
granted 30 acres of land in
Broadfield (i.e. in the manor
of Broadfield) to Warden
Abbey (co. Beds.).70 This
estate, according to a later
confirmation of the grant, in-
cluded the grange of Bradfield
and a wood named Filden-
wode.71 In 1291 the abbot
was assessed at J~i lgs. 8^d.
for his lands in Rushden.72
These remained with the
abbey until its dissolution.73 In 1 543 they were
granted as ' Bradfield Grange in the parish of Rushden '
to Richard Andrewes of Hailes (co. Gloucester),74
who in the same year alienated the Grange to John
Newport, who for many years had held a lease of it
under the abbey of Warden.75
John Newport died in 1552 and his lands passed
to his son and heir Robert, aged thirty.76 Robert
acquired the manor of Rushden (q.v.), and on his
death in 1583 Edward Newport inherited his lands.77
In 1603 Edward Newport alienated Bradfield Grange
to John and William Rowley,78 who sold it to
John Stone of co. Hunts.,79 son of William Stone of
Segenhoe (co. Beds.). After this there seems no trace
of it as a separate property. The situation of Brad-
field or Fryers Grange is marked by a large wood
called Friars Wood in the north-east of the parish,
which has Friars Farm on its north side.
JULIANS was a capital messuage or farm which
Richard and William, sons of John Stone, bought in
1603 from Edward Newport, who had acquired it in
1586 by purchase from William Wilson of Walkern.80
Richard Stone was knighted, and in 165 1, with
Elizabeth his wife and John Stone, was holding land
in Rushden.81 On his death his heir was his son
Thomas Stone, who died in 1696.82 He left no
son, and his elder daughter and co-heir Penelope
inherited Julians.83 She married in 1699 Adolphus
Meetkerke, who was descended from Sir Adolphus
Meetkerke, President of the High Court of Flanders
in the latter half of the 1 6th century.84 He was
an adherent of the Reformed religion and took part
in an endeavour to surrender Leyden to the Earl of
42 See manor of Cumberlow Green.
« Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 13 Jas. I.
« Notes of Fines Div. Co. East. 24
Chas. I ; Visit, of Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii),
+93-
45 Notes of Fines Div. Co. East. 24
Chas. I.
46 Diet. Nat. Biog.
47 Baker, Hist, of Northants, i, 153.
47a Diet. Nat. Biog.
48 Recov. R. Trin. 3 1 Chas. II, rot. 131.
49 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iv, 71;
see Visit, of Land. (Harl. Soc. xv), 246.
M G.E.C. loc. cit.
51 Ibid.
52 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 8 Geo. I.
53 Recov. R. Trin. 3 Geo. II, rot. 1 26.
54 P.C.C. 90 Fagg; see Close, 19
Geo. Ill, pt. xx, no. 3.
« Ibid. 56 P.C.C. 27 BrodiefT.
O Ibid.
58 Close, 19 Geo. Ill, pt. xx, no. 3.
59 P.C.C. 90 Fagg.
60 Close, 19 Geo. Ill, pt. xx, no. 3.
61 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906).
62 Ibid.
68 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
65 Ibid.
60 Harl. MS. 758, fol. 28 ; Pat.
I Jas. I, pt. xi.
67 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (1), 98 1
(56)-
6B V.C.H. Herts, i, 339, 342, 322, 311.
69 Ibid. 339.
70 Dugdale, Mon. v, 372. For the
family of Theobald see manor of Broad-
field.
267
71 Ibid.
72 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 51*.
78 See Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv,
193.
74 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (1 ), g. 9S 1
(56).
" Ibid. (2), g. 107 (;6, ix).
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c, 48.
77 Ibid, cc, 52. (The date is uncertain,
as the inquisition is very much decayed.)
79 Pat. 1 Jas. I, pt. xi.
79 Chauncv, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 74.
80 Com. Pieas D. Enr. East. 1 Jas. I,
m. 22.
81 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1651.
82 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
164 seq.
os Ibid.
84 Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Meetkerke. Gules
two swords or crossed
saltirewise with the hilts
upwards.
Essex.85 The plot failed and he was obliged to
take refuge in England. Later he was appointed
ambassador to England by the
United States of Holland, and
he died in London in I 59 1.86
His two eldest sons were
killed fighting in the Nether-
lands, but his fourth son
Edward, who was only a year
old at the time of his father's
death, settled in England, and,
taking holy orders, was for
many years Professor of
Hebrew at Christ Church,
Oxford.87 His grandson, who
married the heiress to Julians,
died in 1732,88 and Penelope
died in 1746,89 when Julians
descended to their son Adolphus Meetkerke,90 who
purchased the manor of Rushden in 1779, ant^ from
this date Julians has descended with that manor
(q.v.).
The mansion-house of Julians is situated about half
a mile north of the church. It was erected by
William Stone about 1610. The house was entirely
recased about the beginning of the I 8th century, but
the old walls appear to have been left standing, so
that the general arrangement of the house is very
little changed. The present front is cemented and is
very plain. The doorway is in the middle, entering
into the hall. The staircase opens directly off the
hall, and probably at one time formed a back projec-
tion, but considerable additions have been made to
the house. The stair is a very good example of the
Queen Anne period, with delicately twisted and
fluted balusters and carved ends to the steps. The
details are very similar to the stair at the Great
House, Cheshunt, which belongs to the same period,
though the arrangement of the returned ends of the
steps is somewhat different. There are wide folding
doors at the foot of the stair, to shut it off from the
hall when desired. To the right of the hall on
entering is the drawing-room — no doubt the old
parlour, and to the left is the kitchen wing, which
still contains a little 17th-century panelling and an
oak chimneypiece. The site of the old Bury can be
traced in the park, immediately to the north of the
church.
The descent of the manor of CUMBERLOW
GREEN (Comerlowe Green, Cumbarlo Green, xvi
cent.) is very difficult to trace. It appears to have
been called the manor of Broadfield in 1346, when
it was held by Walter de Mauny,91 and from him it
afterwards took the name of Maunseys.92 He does
not appear to have held it long, and it may prob-
ably be identified with the manor of Broadfield
which in February 1 361-2 was in the hands of
John dz Ellerton, King's Serjeant-at-Arms, to whom
Edward III granted free warren.93 In 1376
Sir Walter Lee, kt., quitclaimed all right in the
manor of Cumberlow to Richard de Ravensere and
others,91 probably in trust for the lord of the manor
of Broadfield, for in 1428 Walter de Mauny's holding
had come to John Clerk, to whom the manor of
Broadfield belonged.95 It descended with that manor
(q.v.) until i486, when, on the death of Margaret
Dunstable, they became separated and Maunseys in
Cumberlow descended to her son and heir Thomas
Hatfield,96 who sold it in 1492, as the manor of
Broadfield in Cumberlow Green, to Thomas Oxen-
brigge.97 He must have sold it to John Fortescue,
who died seised of the manor of Cumberlow Green in
1517, when it descended to his son Henry.98 Henry
Fortescue was holding lands in Cumberlow in
153 7 — 8,9Sa but he conveyed the manor to William
Goodman,99 who was holding it in 1574.100 On his
death it descended to his son John, to whom Francis
Fortescue quitclaimed all right in the manor in I 5 77.1
John Goodman, who built a house at Cumberlow
Green,2 was holding the manor in 1 60 1.3 He
shortly afterwards acquired the manor of RushJen
(q.v.), and from this date the two manors have
descended together. Cumberlow Green lies in the
south-west of the parish, on the borders of Clothall,
.into which parish the manor extended and in which
the manor-house was situated.4
The Knights Hospitallers held certain lands in
Rushden which were attached to their preceptory of
Shingay in Cambridgeshire.5 This manor of Shingay
was given them by Sybil de Ravnes, daughter of
Roger de Montgomery, in I 140,0 and it is probable
that the land attached to it in Rushden represents the
half hide which Earl Roger held in Broadfield in
1086,7 for there is no further trace of this holding in
Broadfield and the boundaries of the manorial hold-
ings do not seem to correspond with the present
boundaries of the parishes.8 In I 198 the Knights
Hospitallers were holding land in Rushden and were
fined for receiving a fugitive, Ralph Rusticus, there.9
They continued to hold these lands10 until the dis-
solution of the order, after which the preceptory of
Shingay with all its appurtenances in Rushden and
elsewhere was granted by Henry VIII to Sir Richard
Long in tail-male in 1540.11 There is no further
record of the Rushden estate after this date. Shingay
survived as the name of a wood, which is marked on
the tithe map of 1845.12
The Knights Templars also seem to have had a
small holding in Rushden, attached to their manor of
Temple Dinsley, in 1309, the year of the suppression
of their order, when a report was ordered to be made
on all their lands in Hertfordshire.13 After the grant
85 Cussans, Hist, of Hern. Odsey Hund.
164 seq.
06 Ibid. 87 ibid.
88 Burke, Landed Gentry.
■ Ibid.
90 Ibid.
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 51.
92 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 65.
93 Chart. R. 34 & 35 Edw. Ill, m. 2,
91 Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 9, 12,
>3-
65.
Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxi
97 Close, 7 Hen. VII, pt. i, no. 9,
0.
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii,
o. 126.
9ia Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 29 Hen. VIII.
93 Chauncy, Hist. Antij. of Herts, CO.
100 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 16 & 17
liz.
1 Ibid. Mich. r9 & 20 Eliz.
* Close, 19 Geo. Ill, pt. xx, no. 3.
268
• Feet of F. Herts. East. 43 Eliz.
4 See Close, 19 Geo. Ill, pt. xx, no. 3 ;
information from Rev. J. Mearns.
5 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 613 (1).
6 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 808, 834.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 322.
8 Cf. Bradfield Grange.
9 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 159,
168.
lu See Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 531.
11 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 6m (t).
12 Information from Rev. J. Mearns.
18 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 111.
ODSEY HUNDRED
of the Templars' lands to the Knights Hospitallers14
this estate probably became amalgamated with the
Hospitallers' other holding in Rushden.
The church of ST. MARY THE
CHURCH VIRGIN consists of chancel 28 ft. by
14 ft., nave 43 ft. by 20 ft., south porch,
west tower 11 ft. by 10 ft. 6 in., all dimensions
taken internally. The walls are of flint rubble
covered with cement, the dressings are of stone ; the
chancel is built of brick and the roof slated, the nave
roof being covered with lead.
The nave dates from about 1 340—50 ; the chancel
is modern, although built on the old foundations,
parts of which are visible on the south side. The
chancel arch is of 15th-century date ; the west tower
of about 1400.
In the original 14th-century plinth visible on the
south side of the chancel are the jambs of an old
doorway. The four-light window in the east wall of
RUSHDEN
orders, with moulded capitals and splayed bases ; the
capital on the east side is enriched with leaf orna-
ment, the other being plain. The south porch is
modern. At the south-east angle of the nave are the
remains of the stair to the rood loft, constructed in
the thickness of the wall. In the east wall, north of
the chancel arch, is a large niche with cinquefoiled
four-centred arch under a square head ; above is a
frieze filled with square panels cusped and traceried ;
portions of the flanking buttresses and the sill have
been cut away. It is of 15th-century work. On
the north wall of the nave, opposite the south door,
are traces of paintings.
The west tower is of three stages with an embattled
parapet. The tower arch is of three splayed orders
with responds and moulded capitals, the bases are
modern. The west window is of two trefoiled lights
with a sixfoiled opening in the centre and is of late
14th-century date. The second stage is pierced on
Rushden Church from the South-east
the chancel and the two windows of two lights in
each of the north and south walls, together with the
doorway in the south, are all modern. In the south
wall a late 14th-century piscina has been reset ; the
head is cinquefoiled and the plain projecting sill is
made up with cement. The 15th-century chancel
arch is of two moulded orders, the inner one sup-
ported on responds with capitals but no bases, the
mouldings stopping on a plain splay. The jambs
have been repaired. In the north wall of the nave
is a late 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled
lights under a four-centred arch, a good deal repaired ;
a late 14th-century doorway has been blocked : it
has an arch of two orders. In the south wall are
two windows of two cinquefoiled lights with transom
and traceried heads under four-centred arches ; they
are of late 15th-century work much repaired. The
mid- 14th-century south doorway is of three moulded
14 See Dugdale, Man. vi, 789 ; Addison, Knights Templars, 299.
the south face only by a narrow loop-light ; the
belfry lights are single with trefoiled heads and are
much decayed.
The low-pitched roof over the nave has been
much restored, but some of the old timbers still
remain ; the marks of the original high-pitched roof
are visible on the east face of the tower.
The octagonal font belongs to the middle of the
15th century ; the sides of the basin are decorated
with cusped and foliated panels ; the base mouldings
have been repaired with cement ; the cover is of
17th-century work.
The communion table is of the early part of the
17th century and has plain turned legs. All the
other fittings are modern.
On the south nave wall is a mural monument,
with arms, to Sir Adolphus Meetkerke, who died in
1591.
There are five bells cast from four old ones in
1 787 by John Briant of Hertford.
209
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The communion plate consists of cup, paten and
flagon, 1 7 14, and another paten, 1847.
The registers are in four books : (i) baptisms from
1607 to 1668, burials 1607 to 1668, marriages
1607 to 1669 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from 1673
to 1770, marriages 1673 to 1753 ; (iii) baptisms
and burials from 1700 to 181 2, marriages 1700
to 1748; (iv) marriages from 1792 to 18 1 2. It
will be seen that book iii is largely a repetition of
book ii. A book containing marriages (1754-92)
was accidentally burnt in 1792.
The patronage of the church of
ADFOIVSON St. Mary the Virgin was originally
vested in the lord of the manor, the
earliest recorded presentation being made by William
Basset in IZ20.15 Soon after he granted the church
to the Prior and convent of Dunstable.16 On the
living falling vacant in 1 241, however, William
Basset, probably his son, disputed the presentation,
but the prior succeeded in securing the living to his
own nominee. In 1272 a similar dispute took
place between the prior and Peter Basset, who
presented his brother John. This ended in a com-
position made between them by which Basset quit-
claimed all right to the prior.17 In 13 10 the Prior
and convent of Dunstable received a confirmation of
the church from Robert Basset, and in the same year
obtained licence to appropriate the church,18 which
in I 3 10 they alienated in mortmain to the Chapter
of Lincoln.19 To this alienation Robert Basset gave
his consent.20 The advowson of Rushden remained
with the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln until 1908,21
when an exchange was made by which the Dean
and Chapter of Lincoln became patrons of South
Reston, co. Lincoln, and the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster became patron of Rushden.22
The living was formally declare i a vicarage in 1336.
A terrier of I 709 shows that besides the small tithes
the vicar had half the tithes of hay and the tithe of
wood excepting Shingay Wood, which was tithe free.23
In 1815 William Love by his
CHARITIES will gave £180 3 per cent, consols,
the dividends thereon to be applied
towards providing a master or mistress of the Sunday
or any other school for the instruction of poor children
and for purchasing books and other necessaries for the
use of the school. This stock was sold in 18 19, and
with the proceeds and from part of the residue of the
personal estate a sum of £233 6s. 8</. consols was
purchased.
The dividends, amounting to £5 16s. 8 d., are
paid to the mistress of the Sunday school.
SANDON
Sandona (x cent.) ; Sanduna (xii cent.) ; Saundon
(xiii cent.).
Sandon is a parish of 4,060 acres lying high on the
chalk. The level of the land over the greater part
of the parish ranges upwards from some 400 ft. above
the ordnance datum to 528 ft. in the immediate
neighbourhood of the village, from which there is a
gradual descent in a north-westerly direction to a level
of only 240 ft. The soil is light, containing a
considerable quantity of chalk, of which the subsoil
is wholly composed. Arable land covers rather
more than 3,000 acres, pasture nearly 700 acres,
and the extent of woodland, which comprises small
plantations at Roe Wood, Tichney Wood (possibly
the 'Tichenho' Wood of 1222) ' and Park Wood, is
about I I 5 acres.2 The Cat Ditch, a tributary of the
Ivel, flows northwards through the parish. The
village itself stands on the high ground at some
distance from the main road. It consists of a few
farms and cottages grouped irregularly about the
church. There are several outlying hamlets. Roe
Green,2a three-quarters of a mile to the south-west of
the village, may be identical with ' the green at le
Rothe' mentioned in 13th-century court rolls.3
There is a Congregational chapel at Roe Green
dating from 1868,4 and representing a community
which existed in the parish in the latter half of the
17th century.5 In 1 809 the house of Thomas Smith
at Roe Green was licensed for worship.6 The chapel
was licensed for marriages in 1877.7 The same
minister serves the chapel of Red Hill, a hamlet in the
extreme south-west of the parish.8 The first chapel
was built here in I 720, and in 1805 a new building
was erected on ground given by Mr. Fordham.9
There are no important roads passing through the
parish, but that part of the Icknield Way which forms
the high road from Hitchin to Royston separates this
parish from that of Ashwell, where the nearest railway
station lies.
The open fields were inclosed in 1S42.10
There are moated sites at Daniels Farm and at
Hankins, about a mile to the south-west of the
church, and a thickly planted moated tumulus on the
east side of the village. Traditions are attached to
the two latter. That relating to Hankins is that the
owner, who has probably been wrongly identified
with John Fitz Geoffrey, whose brass, dated 1480, is
in the church, on his arrival from London one night
found his home in flames and his wife and children
slain by robbers. The other legend, which refers to
15 C us sans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Unit J.
:69.
16 MS. in Line. Cath. Mun. Ronm
D ii, 86, i, communicated by Rev. Jas.
Mearns ; Chauncy, Hist, and Antia. of
Herts.
" Annates de Dunstaplia (Rolls Ser.),
158, 254, 342.
18 MS. Line. Cath. D ii, 86, i, 2, 4 ;
Inq. a.q.d. file 79, no. 13.
13 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 207 ; Abbrev.
Rot. Oris,, i, 171.
80 MS. Line. Cath. D ii, 86, i.
" See Inst. Bks. P.R.O.
12 Paper read by Rev. Jas. Mearns,
East Herts. Atch. Soc. Trans, i (it, 82.
23 Terrier in custodyof Messrs. Hawkins
of Hitchin, communicated by Rev. J.
Mearns.
1 Hale, Dom. of St. PauFs (Camd.
Soc), .3.
8 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
*» Chauncy's identification of this ham-
let with the « Rodenhangre ' of Domesday
Book is apparently incorrect {f.C.II.
Herts, i, 333A, 343a).
270
» D. and C. of St. Paul's, Press B, Box
35, no. 7, Morrow of Trans, of St. Thos.
Martyr, 12 Edw. I.
4 Cussans, op. cit. OJsey Hand. 160.
5 Congregational Tear Bk. 1912, p. 228 ;
Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 81 7-1 8.
c Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 8 I 7.
7 Lond. Ga*. 5 Jan. 1877, p. 61.
8 Inform, kindly supplied by the Rct.
F. W. Low, vicar.
9 Urwick, loc. cit.; Close, 1805,
pt. xiv, no. 7.
lu Dip. Keeptr's Rep. xxvii, 25.
ODSEY HUNDRED
the Mount (Woodley Yards), is that the inhabitants
were forewarned by a boy of an iir^nding attack
by robbers, which they successfully resisted, but
the robbers, having caught the boy, flayed him
alive.11
The canons of St. Paul's held
MANORS SANDON in 1086. They had been in
possession before the Conquest.12 A
charter, of which copies are preserved in registers of
the dean and chapter,13 purports to be a grant or
confirmation made by King Athelstan (924-40) to
the monastery of ten ' mansae ' at Sandon with Rode
(possibly Roe Green) 14 and other lands in Hertford-
shire. The charter itself is a palpable forgery, but there
may be truth in the tradition that the canons owed the
gift of these lands to Athelstan. In 1086 Sandon was
assessed at 10 hides, of which 5 hides were then in
demesne, and half a hide was attached to the church lo
(q.v.). There was arable land sufficient for twenty
ploughs. An extent of the manor taken in 11 55
gives a detailed account of the stock. There were on
the farm forty-four oxen, five horses and one cart
horse, in addition to cattle and sheep.16 Some of the
services mentioned in an inquisition of 1222 are of
interest.17 Tenants of half-virgate holdings had to
carry twenty-five loads to London. They also paid
wood-silver and malt-silver, and provided two hens
at Christmas and fifteen eggs at Easter. Holders
of 10 and 5 acres rendered similar services in propor-
tion to the extent of their holding. The manor of
Sandon was not attached to any of the prebends, but
formed part of the ' communa,' the revenue of which
was appropriated to the support of all the officers
of the cathedral.18 Together with ' Rode ' and
Luffenhall it supplied the chapter with ' farm ' or
provisions for about ten weeks in each year.19
Luffenhall was in fact taxed with Sandon for temporal
purposes, but for spiritual purposes it was regarded as
a part of Ardeley20 (q.v.).
The lessee of Sandon was often one of the canons
of the cathedral. Thus in 1 1 55 the canon Alexander
was appointed ' farmer ' of this manor for life.21
Towards the end of the next century Master Robert
de Braundon, prebendary of Sneating,22 had a life
interest in the farm of the manor,23 although Ralph
de Diceto, the chronicler, who was dean from about
1 181 to 1204, tried to secure that the lessee should
always be the dean himself.24 He apparently found
two lay ' farmers ' there, namely Richard the Red
(t'liffus) and Richard of Sandon.25
The manorial lands were let to John Newport in
I 5 26 26 and the lease was renewed to him and his eldest
SANDON
son Robert in 1550.27 Robert succeeded his father
about 1552, but was disturbed in his possession by
his younger brother Thomas and the latter's daughter
Clare, who married her cousin John Newport of East
Greenwich.28 Moreover, in February 1559-60
Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester obtained from the
dean and chapter a ninety-nine years' lease of the
manorial rights with a reversionary interest in the
1 inds let to Newport,29 and conveyed his title to
William Hyde of Sandon.30 Consequently disputes
arose between Hyde and Robert Newport, who feared
that Hyde would oust him from his lease and also
arrogated to himself the right of holding courts.31
After the abolition of cathedral chapters in 1 64 1
the reversionary interest of the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's was sold to Henry Scobell of London,32
afterwards clerk of the Parliament and Secretary of
State. At the Restoration it was recovered by the
dean and chapter together with their other estates.
In 1863 they sold the manor to Mr. John George
Fordham of Royston.33 From him it has descended to
Mr. Francis John Fordham of Yew Tree House,
Royston, the present owner.34
The house of the manor is mentioned in the early
part of the 13th century, when its 'houses, ditches
and closes ' were repaired.35 The present farm-house,
called Sandon Bury, which stands on the south-east of
the church, is a I 7th-century brick building of three
stories to which a wing has been added on the east
side. It contains an original staircase. Near the
house are two I 7th-century barns and a 17th-century
brick pigeon-house with a tiled roof, now much out
of repair. Late in the 17th century the house called
Sandon Bury was in the occupation of Edward
Nicholas, son of the Dean of St. Paul's.36
The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's claimed their
usual extensive liberties in this manor.37 In 1 247
they had a grant of free warren which was confirmed
in 1316.38 It appears, however, that until 1253 the
men of Sandon had been accustomed to come to the
sheriff's tourn twice a year, and in 1278 the township
was ordered to be distrained because it had not come
to the tourn.39
John son of William Fitz Geoffrey of Sandon
released his right in ' Ladygrove ' in Sandon to
Stephen Cowherd in 1421.40 This William appears
to have been the grandfather of John Fitz Geoffrey of
Sandon, who died in 1480, leaving a son and heir
John.41 The brasses of John Fitz Geoffrey the lather
and of his wife and children are still preserved in
the nave of the church.42 It appears that the Fitz
Geoffrey estate was the reputed manor of DANIELS,
11 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii (i),
+7-
12 V.C.H. Herts, i, 317a.
18 The charter is printed by Dugdale,
Hist, of St. Paul's, 292 ; Birch, Cart. Sax.
ii, 451; Kemble, Cod. Diplom. 1127.
The jurors of 1274-5 stated that Sandon
was ancient demesne of the Crown
[Hund. R. [Rec. Com.], i, 193).
14 Since the form in the charter is
Rode or Ro3e, and the name ' Rothe '
Green occurs in early court rolls (see
above).
13 V.C.H. Herts, i, 317a; cf. Hale,
Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd. Soc), 141.
16 Hale, Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd.
Soc), 134. 17 Ibid. 17 et seq.
19 Ibid. p. iii. 19 Ibid. p. xxxix.
M D. and C. of St. Paul's, Press B,
Box 35, no. 7, Thursday before St. Philip
aid St. James, 13 Edw. III.
21 Hale, op. cit. 134.
22 Dryden, Hist, of St. Pauls (181S),
274.
23 Plat, de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
21 D. and C. of St. Paul's, Press A,
Box 40, no. 1402.
■ Hale, Dom. of St. Paul's (Camd.
Soc), III; the farmer in 1222 was John
de St. Laurence (ibid. 13).
26 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 82, no. 19.
27 Ibid.
23 Ibid. bdle. 246, no. 5. They asserted
that John Newport had assigned the lease
to Thomas Newport in the church of
Sandon.
29 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 246,
no. 5. See Close, 1649, pt. Ii, no. 1.
271
80 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c, 48.
31 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdles. 82,
no. 19 ; 86, 26.
32 Close, 1649, pt. Ii, m. I.
33 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Od:ey HunJ.
147.
34 See V.C.H. Herts. Families, 10.
35 Hale, op. cit. 14.
8G Inscription in the chancel (Dugdale,
Hist, of St. Pauls, 228).
37 Hale, op. cit. 13 ; Assize R. 325 ;
Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
33 Chart. R. 32 Hen. Ill, m. 5 ; Cal.
Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 305; Hand. R.
(Rec. Com.), i, 194.
39 Assize R. 323.
40 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 395.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. IV, no. 53.
42 See below.
A HISTORY OF PIERTFORDSHIRE
Fitz Geoffri
Sable a bull passant i
since Francis Fitz Geoffrey son of John Fitz Geoffrey
of Clapham (co. Beds.) 43 sold the ' manor of Daniels '
to George Hyde of Throcking
about I 541. 44 He bequeathed
the manor to his younger son
William Hyde,45 who sold his
life-interest to Sir John Perient,
kt., and others, including
Thomas Bo ivies the elder.46
The conveyance was possibly
in trust for Thomas Bowles
the younger and Mary his
wife, to whom a William
Hyde (presumably the nephew
and heir of the former
William) and his wife Eliza-
beth transferred their rights in 1556-*7_ By 1578
the estate had apparently reverted to William Hyde,
the nephew, oi Hyde Hall,
since with his sons Leonard
and George he then sold it
to Thomas Morrison,43
evidently the Thomas Morri-
son of CaJeby, co. Lines.,
whose son Thomas lived at
Sandon.49 Charles son of
Thomas Morrison of Sandon
moved to Overstone, co.
Northants, after the death of
his first wife Elizabeth, and
in 1650 sold the property to
Thomas Flyer of Brent therein.
Pelham.5" It descended to
his son Francis,81 who sold it in February 1720 to
Sir Gregory Page 52 of Greenwich, bart., one of the
directors of the East India Company.53 His son
Sir Gregory sold the property in 1729 to Sir John
Jennings of Newsells.54 Sir John's son George
sold it to Mr. Edward King Fordham in 1786,55
and from this date Daniels has descended with the
manor of Gannock (q.v.).
The farm called Daniels is about a quarter of a
mile south-east of Sandon Church, and one of the
fields belonging to the farm is known as ' Moores-
mead.' It appears possible, therefore, that Daniels
and La More (q.v.) were once held as one property,
and this theory is strengthened by the tenure of
La More by a certain John Daniel about 1275.50
Bassingbour:
Gyronny or and gules.
The reputed manor of GANNOCK is identical
with lands held of the dean and chapter as of
Sandon Manor by Warin de
Bas ingbourn of Wimpole,
who died about I 348." Land
in Sandon had been held by
two branches of this family
since at least 1222, when
Alan son of Alexander de
Bassingbourn 58 was tenant of
3 virgates of freehold in adii-
tion to other land, and John
de Bassingbourn had the
custody of William ' Anglus'
with I virgate of freehold and
3 acres of the demesne of
Sandon.59 In 1239-40 Aubrey (Albreda) de Bass-
ingbourn joined in a settlement on Alexander de
Bassingbourn of lands in Sandon and Kelshall and
elsewhere.00 Both John and Warin de Bassingbourn
were presented as defaulters in the view of frank-
pledge of I 30 1.61 It appears that the holding of John
de Bassingbourn included the mill.62 He was succeeded
in 1320 by his brother Nicholas.63 The tenement
called Gannocks had been settled by Rosamond de
Hoo (living in 1316)61 upon Warin de Bassingbourn
of Wimpole during her life with reversion to her
own son Robert de Bassingbourn.65 In 1324 another
settlement had been made on Warin de Bassingbourn
and his wife Amice and the heirs of Warin.66 It
was possibly on this pretext that Warin withheld the
lands from Robert de Bassingbourn until his own
death, after which they were restored to Robert.67
The subsequent history of the Bassingbourn holding
at Gannock is obscure. The ' manor ' of Gannock
was said to be held by John Sawyer at his death in
1525, when it descended to his daughter Elizabeth
wife of John Clifford.68 It was afterwards found
that her father had sold it to Humphrey Monmouth,
in whose favour a decree was issued in 1537.69 Two
years later the manor was sold by Richard Breame
(possibly an agent of Monmouth) to John Newport,
lessee of Sandon Bury, and Margery his wife.'0
John died seised of it in 1552 and left it to his
eldest son Robert.71 In 1600 Edward Newport
son of Robert 72 conveyed the estate to Thomas
Morrison.73 The latter with his wife and son
Charles74 conveyed it in 1 629 to Christopher
43 Visit, of Beds. (Harl. Soc), 26. This
John may possibly be identical with the
John mentioned above, who was aged
nine at his father's death in 1480.
44 B.M. Add. Chart. 3 5 5 1 1 ; Feet of F.
Herts. East. 3; Hen. VIII ; cf. Feet of
F. Herts. Mich. 37 Hen. VIII.
43 Visit, of He'ts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 67 ;
B.M. Add. Chart. 35511.
46 B.M. Add. Chart. 3 55 n.
47 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 2 & 3 Phil,
and Mary. The first William died with-
out issue (Visit, of Herts, loc. cit.). His
nephew William of Hyde Hall and Throck-
ing had a wife Elizabeth (Chan. Inq. p.m.
[Ser. 2], exciii, 69).
48 Feet of F. Herts. East. 20 Eliz.
(printed in Herts. Gen. and Ami q. ii, 223).
*' Visit, oj Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 77.
50 Close, 1650, pt. lxxiv, no. 36 ; cf.
Chauncy, op. cit. 82.
51 Exch. Dep. East. 3 Jas. II, no. 23 ;
Berry, Herts. Gen. 146.
bi Close, 6 Geo. I, pt. x, bo. 10.
53 G.E.C. Baronetage, v, 24.
M Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Geo. II.
65 Close, 27 Geo. Ill, pt. xxx, no. 5.
65 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 229. See
note 97 below. There is, however, no
proof that this place lay in Sandon (see
below).
» Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. Ill, no. 41.
58 Among the records of St. Paul's is an
undated acknowledgement of the receipt
of the custody of Thomas and Alan * sons
of Alexander de Bassingbourn ' together
with their lands in Sandon (Liber A.
fol. 45).
59 Hale, op. cit. 13-15.
60 Feet of F. Div. Co. 24 Hen. III.
61 D. and C. of St. Paul's, B Box 35,
no. 7, Morrow of St. Lawr. Martyr,
29 Edw. I.
02 Ibid. Tues. after Mich. 8 Edw. II.
Henry son of Richard held the site of the
mill in 1222 (Hale, op. cit. 15).
63 Ibid. Morrow of Trans, of St. Thos.
14 Edw. II.
272
84 L:ber A. St. Paul's, fol. 52.
65 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. HI, no. 41.
A Warin de Bassingbourn of Wi:npole
surrendered his lands in Sandon to the
dean and chapter in 1316 (D. and C. of
St. Paul's, A 28, no. 299), when Rosa-
mond also surrendered her right in certain
pasture (Liber A. fol. 52).
60 Feet of F. Herts. 18 Edw. II,
no. 391. John de Bassingbourn, parson
of Abingdon, was agent in this settle-
ment.
67 Cal. Close, 1346-8, p. 480.
<" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xliii, 44.
63 L.and P. Hen. VIII, xii (1), 1 138.
70 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 1 Hen. VI II.
71 Harl. MS. 758, fol. 27 ; cf. Chan.
Inq. p.m (Ser. 2), c, 48.
72 Harl. MS. 758, fol. 27 ; cf. settle-
ments quoted by Chauncy, Herts. 75.
78 Feet of F. Herts. East. 42 Eliz.,
printed in Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii,
272.
' 7> Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 76.
ODSEY HUNDRED
Vernon 7o of Hertingfordbury (q.v.). Francis son of
Christopher Vernon and Eleanor his wife and another
son Edmund 76 made a conveyance of the property in
1654 to Elias Harvey and John Prestwood,77 possibly
in trust for sale. By 1680 the manor had come into
the possession of Henry Lawrence and Ann his wife,
who conveyed it that year to Giles Lawrence 78 of
Stepney, mariner. He bequeathed all his estates, in-
cluding Gannock and ' Laomer ' (i.e. La More) Farm
in Sandon, to his wife Sarah and her heirs.79 He had
previously settled two-thirds of his estate on his wife
for life with remainder to their children,1* and in 1688
Mary wife of John Chappell conveyed her interest
in two-thirds of the manors of Gannock and More to
William Wakelyn and Richard Wildey.81 This two-
thirds was apparently acquired by Rene Tahourdin,
who was in possession in 1746.82 He died in
1 75 1.83 He was apparently succeeded by Richard
Tahourdin, who with his wife Anne sold this estate
to Edward Slater in 1778.84 The subsequent history
of this part of the property is unknown. It is said
that Richard Lawrance of Lambeth Marsh was
owner of the ' manor and estate of Gannock '
(possibly the remaining third of the original manor)
in 1 76 1, and that it was sold by his brother Giles and
his sister Cecily Courtenay and others to Mr. Elias
Fordham of Sandon.85 He sold it to his brother
Mr. Edward King Fordham of Ashwell, who died
in 1847. After this the estate came by will to
his nephew John George Fordham of the Priory,
Royston.86 It now belongs to Mr. F. J. Fordham
of Yew Tree House, Royston.
The present farm-house of Gannock lies to the
north-west of the village near Gannock Green and is
in the occupation of Mr. J. S. Sale.
The history of another reputed manor known as
GRENEHALL is somewhat obscure. It was the
subject of a plea in the King's Bench between
Robert son of Nichola, who was wife of Adam Pigas,
and Sir Thomas de Heslarton, kt., and his wife Alice.
In 1345 Robert claimed the reversion of Grenehall
in accordance with a settlement upon Adam and
Nichola, which he affirmed had been made during
the reign of Edward II.87 The termination of
the plea, which was still proceeding in 1350,88 is
unknown. In 1568 Grenehall Manor was conveyed
by Edward Bridges and Frances his wife to Nicholas
Fitz Hugh for the life of Frances.89 In 1571 a
settlement was made on Nicholas for twenty years
from March 1569 with remainder to Richard Fitz
Hugh,90 who in 1584 conveyed the estate to George
SANDON
Edwards and his heirs.91 Nothing more is known of
Grenehall after this date.
The manor of LA MORE was held of the Dean
and Chapter of St. Paul's.92 Walter and William
' de Mora ' were freehold tenants in Sandon early in
the 13th century.93 Robert 'atte More' was a
tenant there about 1301.94 The earliest known
record of the manor is a conveyance by Robert
Basset of Rushden and his wife Margaret to John
de Preston and Thomas Semelegh.95 In 1261
William Basset had been among the witnesses of
a surrender to the dean and chapter by William son
of James de Sandon of id. rent due from Theobald
' de la Mor ' for land in Wodewellfeld.90 Robert
Basset also witnessed the surrender by Warin de
Bassingbourn of his lands in Sandon in 1316.97
Evidently the manor alienated by Robert Basset in
1 384 was identical with the messuage and lands in
Sandon held by the trustees of Sir Robert Belknap, kt.,
in 1390.98 He had succeeded the Bassets as lord of
Rushden (q.v.). With that manor Sir John Fray, kt.,
baron ot the Exchequer, also acquired the manor of
La More in Sandon.99 He settled it upon his wife
Agnes with remainder to their daughters Agnes and
Katherine in succession.100 The latter married
Humphrey Stafford l and succeeded her sister, who
died without issue.2 Possibly La More was accounted
an appurtenance of her manor of Rushden. It is not
specifically mentioned among the lands of which she
died seised in 1482,3 but in 16544 it was in the
possession of Francis Vernon of Gannock, whose
predecessor, Robert Newport, purchased Rushden in
1574.5 Nevertheless, the house and land called 'the
Moore ' in Sandon was the property of Ralph Parker
about 1600.6 From 1654 onwards the manorial
rights seem to have descended with Gannock (q.v.).
OLIVERS, known also as HYDE HALL, EAST
END or SOUTH ALL, was held of the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's as of Sandon Manor.7 The
family of Oliver were tenants of the manor in the
13th and 14th centuries. About 1277 William
Oliver was sued in the court of Sandon in a plea of
debt.8 Towards the end of the same century Richard
Oliver witnessed a conveyance of a grove in Sandon.9
A Richard Oliver had land in Sandon and ' Someres-
hale ' in 1312.10 ' Magister ' Ralph Oliver was in
default at a court held at Sandon in 1322.11 It
was possibly he upon whom settlement was made
in 1 3 14 of two messuages and certain land in
Sandon 12 for life with successive remainders to Alice
and Nichola his sisters and to William Oliver
75 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 5 Chas. I.
76 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 100.
77 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 6 Chas. II.
78 Ibid. Trin. 52 Chas. II.
79 P.C.C. 23 Cann. 6° Ibid.
61 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Jas. II.
sa Recov. R. Hil. 20 Geo. II, m. 157.
88 Gent. Mag. (1751), xzi, 139.
84 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 9 Geo. III.
85 Clutterbuck, Hem. iii, 581.
86 Cussans, Herts. Odsey Hun J. 155.
87 De Banco R. 344, m. 78 ; 345,
m. 118 ; 352, m. 130.
88 Ibid. 363, m. 175 d.
89 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 10 Eliz.
90 Ibid. East. 13 Eliz.
91 Ibid. Herts. Mich. 26 & 27 Eliz.
92 Inq. a.q.d. file 448, no. 22.
98 Hale, oP. cit. 15 ; D. anj C. of
St. Paul's, A Box 29, no. 366.
94 Ibid. B 35, no. 7. View of frank-
pledge, 29 Edw. I.
95 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Ric. II,
no. 61.
96 D. and C. of St. Paul's, A Box 29,
no. 367 ; cf. p. 284 below.
97 Ibid. A Box 28, no. 299. There is
a possibility that the unidentified lands
called 'La More,' which John Daniel
sought to replevy against Sibyl widow of
Richard la Tracie in 1275, lay in Sandon
{Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 229). See above
under Daniels.
98 Cal. Par.1388-92, p. 231. Thomas
Semelegh was one of these trustees.
99 Inq. a.q.d. file 448, no. 22.
100 Chan. Inq. p.m. I Edw. IV, no. 28 ;
Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 71, no. 40.
1 Chan. Inq. p m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 45
(file 67).
273
2 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 71, no. 40 ;
cf. the account of Rushden Manor.
3 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 230.
4 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 6 Chas. II.
5 See the account of that manor.
6 They are mentioned in his will of
that date [Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 350).
7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 45 ;
(Ser. 2), exciii, 69.
8 D. and C. of St. Paul's, B Box 35,
no. 7.
9 Ibid. A 29, no. 368.
10 Ibid. B Box 35, no. 7, Sat. after St.
Andrew, 6 Edw. II.
11 Ibid. Morr. of Trans, of St. Thos.
Martyr, 16 Edw. II. At this court John
Scutel was presented by the homage for
having beaten William Oliver at ' Ikenild '
(possibly on the Icknieid Way).
12 B.M. Add. Chart. 6248.
35
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of BuntingforJ and his heirs. It seems probable that
one of these sisters married Laurence de Ayot, lord of
Ayot St. Lawrence. In 1353 he died seised of a
tenement called Olivers in Sandon which he held of
the inheritance of his son and heir William,13 who
was imprisoned for felony in the Bishop of Win-
chester's gaol at the time of his father's death.14
In 1457 Walter and Alice Freeman were holding
the manor in right of Alice and granted a life-interest
in it to Robert Oliver and his wife Elizabeth.1,1
Possibly in consequence of the felony of William de
Ayot the tenement had reverted to the other heirs
under the settlement of 1314."' In 1490 this estate
belonged to Matilda Exton in her own right, and
she together with John Barbour, her son by a former
marriage, conveyed it to Richard Fyfehid alias Lowe
and other trustees,17 who granted it in 1492 to
Leonard Hyde of Throcking and others.18 The^e
appear to have been acting only as trustees. In
1506 they transferred the 'manor' to Sir Robert
Drury, kt., and others, who in turn conveyed to
Thomas Sandon.13 It passed from his daughter
Agnes to her daughter Rose
wife of John Bird.20 They
sold the ' manor of Olivers or
East End ' to Simon Pratt,
and his son John with his
wife ' Etheldred ' 21 (Audrey)
made a conveyance of the
estate to William Hyde of
Throcking about 152:.
George Hyde of Throcking
had a release from Francis
Fitz Geoffrey." His grand-
son William son of Leonard
Hyde conveyed the estate to
his uncle William Hyde of
Daniels, who reserved it in alienating Daniels.23
William Hyde of Daniels died childless, and Olivers
appears to have reverted to William Hyde of Throck-
ing. He died in 1580, leaving to his son and heir
Leonard the manor of Olivers, and a capital messuage
called Hyde Hall to his wife for life.24 After this
date the manor is frequently called by the name of
Hyde Hall.
In 1607 Sir Leonard Hyde, kt., sold the manor of
Olivers or Hyde Hall to Sir Thomas Cheeke, kt.,
of St. Martin's in the Fields,25 who is said to have
conveyed it two years later to the Earl of Exeter.26
In 1 61 2 he sold it to Sir Julius Adelmare alias
Caesar.27 This estate was settled on his son Sir John
Caesar.28 His eldest son John sold it in 1656 to
William Franklyn. He died without male issue,
and the manor passed to his only sister and heir
Mary wife of Sir Nicholas Miller, kt.29 They were
or and a chief ermine.
succeeded by their son Franklyn, who married Jane
daughter of Sir Reginald Forster.31 She succeeded
to the manor on the death of her husband in 1728.
At her death four years later the estate passed to her
grandson Nicholas Franklyn Miller.31 He died at
the age of nineteen, and the estate passed to his aunt
Jane NorthclifF, widow, his father's sister. Under
her will the estate came to Edward Mundy 32 of
Shipley, Derby, who had married Hester sister of
her nephew Nicholas Franklyn Miller. From
Edward Mundy the estate passed to his son Edward
Miller Mundy,33 and he sold it in 1789 to William
Baker of Bayfordbury.34 It has since descended in
Baker of Bayfordbury
his family, and the present owner is Mr. Clinton R.
Baker 3:i of Bayfordbury.
Hyde Hall is a I 7th-century house much restored
and altered. Two of the chimney-stacks and a part
of one of the gables appear to be original. Near the
house is a large 1 6th-century brick barn lighted by
long narrow loops.
The church of ALL SJINTS consists
CHURCH of chancel 36 ft. by 15 ft., nave 52 ft.
6 in. by 20 ft., north and south aisles
54 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in., south porch 12 ft. by 10 ft., west
tower 12 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., all dimensions being
taken internally.
The chancel was rebuilt on the old foundations
about 1 348,36 and the nave with its aisles was erected
about 1360-70, the west tower and south porch
W Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 45.
« Ibid.
15 Chauncy, Herts. 81, quoting a fine
levied 34. Hen. VI, which cannot now be
found.
16 Cf. Add. Chart. 6248.
» Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Hen. VII.
18 Chauncy, op. cit. 81, quoting title-
deeds.
19 Chauncy, op. cit. 81, quoting from
'Carta penes Dnm. Nich. Miller.'
M Ibid.
-' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxi, 276.
•"- Chauncy, op. cit. 81.
n B.M. Add. Chart, ,5511; cf.
Chauncy, loc. cit. ; Recov. R. Mich.
4Eliz. m. 818.
24 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), exciii, 69.
For the pedigree see Herts. Visit. (Harl.
Soc. xxii), 67-8.
" Close, 5 Jas. I, pt. xviii.
26 Chauncy, loc. cit., quoting title-deeds.
27 Close, 9 Jas. I, pt. xxv, no. 32.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiv,
159.
29 Chauncy, Herts. 81, quoting from
'Carta penes Dom. Nich. Miller.'
M Le Neve, Pedigrees of the Knights
(Harl. Soc. viii), 354.
81 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
274
Herts. 579, quoting from ' Evidences of
late W. Baker of Bayfordbury.'
32 Ibid. ; cf. P.C.C. Will, 226 Lisle.
38 Burke, handed Gentry (1906), 1203.
34 Close, 30 Geo. Ill, pt. xviii, no. 14.
35 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 31.
86 Among the muniments of the Dean
and Chapter of St. Paul's is an agreement
dated II July 1348 between Masters
Alan de Hothom and John de Barnet,
canons of St. Paul's, on behalf of the
dean and chapter, and Thomas Rykelyng,
stone-mason, by which the latter under-
took to pull down the walls of the chancel
of the church of Sandon and to rebuild
Sandon : Church and Cottages from the South-west
Sandon Church : The Nave looking- East
ODSEY HUNDRED
being later additions of about the first decade of the
15th century. The church, all but the tower, was
repaired in 1832 and 1875 and the tower and south
porch in 1909. The church is built of flint rubble
with stone dressings, the chancel roof is tiled and the
nave roof covered with lead.
The three-light traceried window in the east wall
of the chancel is modern ; in the north wall are two
late 14th-century windows having two trefoiled lights
with rectilinear tracery. Between them is a low-
arched recess which was probably used as an Easter
sepulchre ; the arch has a richly crocketed label ; it
is of late 14th-century work. The two windows in
the south wall are similar in detail and date to those
on the north. In the south wall is a 14th-
century triple sedile with a good deal of modern
work, which does not appear to be in situ. The
arches are trefoiled with crocketed heads and
the shafts under have moulded capitals and
bases. Adjoining the sedile is a trefoil-headed
piscina of contemporary date but a good deal
defaced. The chancel arch is of the latter part
of the 14th century and has two hollow-
chamfered orders, and the jambs have moulded
capitals and bases. Parts of the roof trusses
over the chancel appear to belong to the 14th
century, the rest of the roof being modern.
The nave arcades are of four bays, the arches
having two chamfered orders with labels on both
sides of the walls ; the piers are octagonal and
have moulded capitals and bases ; the bases vary
in the north and south arcades. A small clear-
story window at the east end on either side of
the nave was inserted in the 15th century, prob-
ably to give additional light to the rood-loft.
In the east wall of the north aisle is a three-
light window, nearly all of which is of modern
stonework. Adjoining it, in the north wall, is
a plain niche or recess with a segmental head,
which possibly contained an image, or it may be
part of the stairway to the rood-loft of which no
other traces remain. In the south-east angle is
a 15th-century piscina with cinquefoiled arch
and moulded edges. The east and west win-
dows in the north wall are of the late 14th
century and have two trefoiled lights with a
sixfoiled opening above ; the other window is
modern. The north doorway is of two moulded
orders with grotesque head stops to the label.
In the east wall of the south aisle is an
obtusely pointed window of three lights with
flowing tracery of about 1360—70 ; adjoining it,
in the south wall, is a 14th-century trefoiled
piscina with credence shelf. The two windows
in the south wall are of modern stonework, but the
doorway of two moulded orders is original. There
is an old iron ring handle on the door.
The south porch, of early 15th-century work,
restored in 1908, has a two-light cusped window on
either side, and the doorway is of two moulded
orders with moulded capitals, all a good deal
repaired.
The roofs over nave and aisles are chiefly modern,
SANDON
but some old timbers remain, and at the west end of
the north aisle is a 15th-century moulded beam and
carved boss.
The tower is of three stages. It was considerably
restored in 1908. The four-centred tower arch is of
three moulded orders, the inner order resting on
engaged shafts with moulded capitals and bases.
The west doorway and window above are modern.
The second stage is pierced in the south by a narrow
single light ; the belfry windows are of two lights
with a cusped opening in the heads, all much repaired.
The bowl of the font is modern, but the octagonal
stem with its four flanking octagonal shafts and bases
belongs probably to the 14th century.
Sandon : Church Tower and South Porch
The 15th-century oak rood-screen stands in its
original position ; the upper part is open with ogee
arches and traceried heads, the lower panels are
cusped, with carved spandrels and are separated by
pilaster buttresses ; some traces of colouring are
visible.
The early 17th-century oak pulpit is richly carved;
the reading-desk has some old linen panels in it.
At the west end of the nave are some oak seats of the
them on the old foundations to a height
of 17 ft. at the two sides. The east wall
was to have a window containing three
divisions, called 'dayes,' and each of the
tide walls two windows like the said chief
window, but containing only two * dayes '
apiece. At each of the two chief angles
there should be a buttress, ; ft. in breadth
and ljft. in thickness, and a buttress of
like size in each of the side walls. There
275
was to be a suitable door on the south
side. For this work the said Thomas
was to have the stone of the chancel and
20 marks {Hist. MSS. Com. Rej,. ix,
App. i, 39).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
I jth century with poppy-head finials. In the windows
of the aisles are some fragments of old painted glass.
On the nave floor is the brass of John Fitz Geoffrey,
lord of the manor of Daniels, who died in 1480, in
armour, with his wife and six daughters ; there are
three shields, a fourth being missing. At the west
end of the south aisle is a brass inscription, undated,
but probably of the early 16th century, to Symond
Pratt, lord of Olivers Manor, and his wife Jone.
On the south chancel wall is a mural tablet to Edward
Nicholas, who died in 16S3, and an alabaster monu-
ment to Elizabeth Moryson of Daniels, who died in
1626. There is a slab on the nave floor to Edward
Nicholas, 1683.
There are five bells: the treble (undated), second
(1721), third (1728) and fourth (1709) by John
Waylett ; the tenor (1624) by Miles Graye.
The communion plate consists of cup and large
paten, 1688, the gift of John Nicholas, Warden of
Winchester College, and a pewter almsdish."
The registers are in four books : (i) baptisms
1697 to 174.9, marriages and burials 1678 to 1749 >
(ii) baptisms and burials 1750 to 179;, marriages
1750 to 1766; (iii) baptisms and burials 179610
I 8 12 ; (iv) marriages 1 767 to 181 2.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON Sandon belonged to the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's,38 and in I I 55
it was let to farm with the manor to Alexander,
one of the canons of the cathedral.39 There was
attached to the church half a hide of land which
was geldable to the king.40 The church was
appropriated to the dean and chapter by Bishop
Walter of Lincoln in I 1 83-4.*' A vicarage was
ordained in the time of Bishop Hugh Wells
(1209-35)" and confirmed in 1406. " The advow-
son of Sandon remained with the Dean and Chapter
of St. Paul's until the middle of the 19th century."
In 1845 the parish was transferred from the diocese
of Lincoln to that of Rochester, and in 1850 the
advowson was transferred to the bishop of the latter
diocese.4' In 1877, after the formation of the see of
St. Albans, the patronage of Sandon was transferred
to the Bishop of St. Albans,40 in whose gift it now is.
In the Parliamentary returns of
CHARITIES 17S6 it is stated that an unknown
donor gave a rent-charge of £2 for
bre.id to the poor. Bread to the value of £2 is pro-
vided annually by the tenant of Beckfield Farm and
distributed by him at Christmas.
It is also stated in the same returns that an
unknown donor gave £2 yearly for distribution to
the poor. This sum is annually distributed by the
tenant of 'Killhop Farm' to the poor in small sums.
In 1747 John Brett by his will gave a sum of
money, now represented by £782 3/. ()d. consols
with the official trustees, producing £19 lis. yearly,
the interest to be applied towards the support or
maintenance of the Protestant Dissenting Calvinist
minister or ministers officiating at ReJhill.
THERFIELD
Furreuuelde (xi cent.) ; Tirefeld (xii cent.) ;
Terfeud, Tertefeud, Trefeud, Tirefeld, Therefeud,
Tiresfeld (xiii cent.) ; Theresielde, Torfeld (xvi cent.) ;
Tharfield (xvii cent.).
Therfield is a parish of about 4,704 acres in the
north of the county, stretching from the Cambridge-
shire border some 4J miles towards the south. It
lies on a ridge of the Chilterns which slopes some-
what abruptly to the north and more gradually to the
south. The highest part of this ridge is more than
500 ft. above the ordnance datum, while the low
ground on the northern border has a height of about
235 ft., and in the south the ground slopes down to
365 ft. The Icknield Way marks the northern
border of the parish and the straight line of Ermine
Street forms the parish boundary on the east.
A by-road leads direct from the Icknield Way to
Therfield village, which stands on the highest part of
the ridge. The village, called locally the ' town,' '
is small and built irregularly about an open green, the
rectory and the church standing a little way back on
the south-west.
To the north-west of the church there can be traced
a fortified village with a mount and baileys, defended
by a dry ditch. There is evidence of an inner ditch,
and of a larger inclosure on the south.
The rectory lies to the south-east of the church.
Its main building, which is of brick, appears from the
registers to have been rebuilt about I 769, the library
having been added in 1800.8 On the east side is a
building of two stories which dates from the 15th
century, and which was probably a wing of the old
building, foundations of a similar wing having been
discovered on the west side of the main building.3
The old wing is built of flint rubble covered with
cement, and with clunch dressings ; the roofs are
tiled.
The ground stage of this wing consisted originally
of one long room, running north and south, 30 ft. 8 in.
by 1 1 ft. 3 in.4 ; at either end, on its eastern side, was
a projecting wing, that on the north being 1 1 ft. 3 in.
by 7 ft., that on the south 1 2 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. Some
time during the I 7th century, probably in the time of
Charles II, the south wall on the ground story of the
3" There were formerly belonging to
the church two silver flagons given in
1689 by John Nicholas, bearing date letter
1637-8, maker's mark R.C. and a pheon
and the Nicholas arms, argent a fess wavy
gules between three ravens or. They
bore the inscription ' Donum Johannis
Nicholas S.T.P. Coll. Beat* Maria? prope
Winton custodis. Quid rependam Domino
pro omnibus retributionibus ejus quas
contulit milii. Calicem salutarem acci-
piam et nomen Domini invocabo.' These
flagons were sold in 1907 for £700 under
a facultv and the sum utilized for the
repair of the tower and porch of the
church (Herts, and Cambs. Reporter,
5 June 1908).
:" Hale, op. cit. 148.
»9 Ibid. 134.
40 Ibid. 141, 148.
41 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 29*.
For the confirmation by Bishop Henry
in 1254 see ibid. 32; cf. also Liber A.
Sc. Paul's, fol. 23.
48 Liber Antiqtnu Hugonis Wells,
29.
43 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 39.
44 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
4i See East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii
("). 43-
46 Lond. Ga*. 13 July 1S77, p. 4126.
1 Rev. J. G. Hale, St. Albans Archit.
and Arch. Soc. Trans. 1884, p. 20. The
'town house' was granted to Sir Robert
Chester in 1553 (Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. iii,
m. ,8).
1 Rev. J. G. Hale, op. cit. 27.
* Ibid.
4 All dimensions are taken internally.
276
ODSEY HUNDRED
north wing was removed, and a beam put in to carry
the wall above, and the east wall continued to the
south wing, thus forming the two wings into one
■P fn?
lO SO JO 40
Mai n Bu i l dino
M 15'*Cent
£23 U'^Cent and la<ti^
Plan of Therfield Rectory
rectangular block. Projecting southwards from the
south wing is a one-story building of the same date,
2 1 ft. by 8 ft. 8 in., beyond which are brick out-
buildings and a brew-house of the 17 th century ; in
the yard is an old deep well.
The principal room on the ground floor, which is
now used as a kitchen, and may have been originally
so used, has been reduced by a modern lobby at
the south end, from which an original doorway with
two-centred arch and moulded jambs gives access to
the modern building. In the centre of the west wall
of the kitchen is a fireplace, 9 ft. wide with straight
lintel, now partly blocked ; on the opposite
wall is a wide round-arched recess, on either
side of which is a low doorway with two-centred
arch and moulded jambs, opening into the north
and south wings respectively. At either end of
the original room or kitchen is a four-light
window with pointed cinquefoiled arches under
a square head, with moulded label and head
stops ; the jambs and mullions are moulded, and
a heavy mullion divides each pair of lights ; the
window at the south end has had one pair of
lights cut down to form a doorway. In the
north-east angle is the doorway to the turret
stair to the upper floor, but the stair itself is
gone ; a portion of the circular stairway pro-
jects on the outer face of the wall. The north
wing, now used as a scullery, had formerly a
two-light window in its north wall, but this
has been made into a doorway, only the outer
moulding being retained. The 17th-century
wall connecting the two wings is of brick,
about 22 in. thick, the old walls adjoining being
2 ft. 6 in.
The south wing is entered from the enlarged
north wing by a 17th-century opening under a
four-centred arch, the original north doorway to
the wing having been blocked by the east wall
erected at that period. The window in the
east wall of the wing is not original. A door-
way of late date has been cut through the south
wall to give access to the yard. The one-story
building to the south has, on either side, a small
circular quatrefoiled window of clunch ; all the
other windows are modern.
THERFIELD
Above the north wing is a small room fitted up as
a chapel, with traces of a pointed window in the east
wall, now partly blocked and occupied by a sash
window. In the north wall are two 15th-century
windows, one of two lights, the other a single light,
both now blocked. The chapel is lined with oak
bolection moulded panelling of the time of Charles II ;
the door to the adjoining room on the south, which
was part of the I 7th-century extension, has its upper
panels filled with the original squares of clear glass ; this
adjoining room has woodwork of the same period as
that in the chapel, and the brass door handles and
locks are cut and pierced with patterns.
Externally, the old portion, which projects about
10 ft. in front of the main rectory building, is covered
by a roof, gabled at each end, running its whole
length ; over the east wall of the chapel is a smaller
gable, the roof running into the main roof at right
angles. On the upper floor in the room over the
kitchen are two-light windows in the north and west
walls, similar in detail to the north window of the
kitchen underneath ; the window in the west wall of
the kitchen is modern. In the north gable is a small
quatrefoiled opening set in a triangular moulded
frame of clunch, and on the apex of the gable are
small cusped gablets. The outer portion of the
circular staircase on the north front is finished,
under the springing of the gable, by a plain low
pyramidal roof; there are some narrow loop lights
in it, now blocked. Some heraldic painted glass,
formerly in the old building, has been removed to
the church.
At the foot of the sloping garden, on the south side
of the house, is an old fish pond.
Therfield Rectory: ^th-century East Wing
from the North-west
277
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the village itself are one or two 17th-century
houses, notably The Limes, the residence of Mrs. Hale,
widow of the late rector, a house now used as the
village reading-room, and, to the east of the church, a
timber and plaster house with thatched roof divided
into two cottages. The Elms, further north, is a two-
storied house, partly of brick plastered and partly of
timber and plaster. It dates from the early part of the
1 6th century, and has additions probably made at the
beginning of the 1 8th century. It contains some
original fireplaces and other fittings.
To the north-west of the village is Tuthill Farm,
composed of several cottages, which at one time
apparently formed a single 17th-century house.
Barley Barn at Tuthill Farm was licensed as a place
of worship for Protestant Dissenters in 17795
Dissenters had a certified place of worship in the
village from 1691 onwards, and generally met in
buildfngs belonging to the family of Fordham,6 who
occupied the demesne lands of Therfield Manor.'
The present Congregational Chapel, a little south-
east of The Elms, dates from 1836, and a manse was
established in 1854." Schools were endowed about
the year 1854.9
The parish is thinly populated, but there are a few
outlying farms and cottages, and in the extreme
south-east the village of Buckland has extended across
the Ermine Street into Therfield. There are several
homestead moats in outlying parts of the parish.
These are at the manor-house of Mardley Bury near
Reed End, and at the manor-farm called Hoddenhoo
in the extreme south of the parish.10 Bull Moat, in
the south-east, is in Buckland village. Another moat
lies opposite to Five Houses Farm, in the west. The
name ' Fivehowses ' occurs on the 1 Jth-century
Court Rolls.11
A notable feature of the parish is the large open
common covered with short turf which extends along
the whole of the northern border, and has an average
breadth of half a mile. The surface of this common
is undulating and forms a series of low hills. Five
tumuli lie together in a single group, to the south of
which is the only long barrow remaining in Hertford-
shire. There are other round tumuli in the same
neighbourhood. One barrow at Money Hill, now
demolished, probably dated from the Bronze Period.1-'
From the higher grounds there are extensive views
of the Cambridgeshire plain, and on a favourable day
the towers of Ely Cathedral and King's College Chapel,
Cambridge, may be seen clearly. This common is
generally known as Royston Heath, taking its name
from the market town of Royston, part of which was
formerly in Therfield parish.13 The heath was a
favourite hunting ground of James I while residing at
Royston (q.v.), and is now a public recreation ground
with golf links and rifle range, under the care of a
body of conservators. There is a right of sheep
feeding, but no other animals may be grazed. A
portion of the heath is let for training racehorses.
The southern edge is fringed with belts of wood,
chiefly beech and larch. Similar woods occur in
other parts of the parish, within which there are 1 13
acres of woodland.
There are several small greens. Hay Green and
Washing Ditch Green to the south-east of the village
and Collins Green in the west of the parish are
mentioned in 1 6th-century Court Rolls.14 The pound
is situated at Hay Green near Haywood Lane.
Chapel Green lies a mile to the south of the village.
The open arable fields were inclosed in 1 849,15 the
heath and greens in 1893.16
The soil is chalk, and the land is for the most part
arable, but grass covers over 600 acres. The people
are entirely agricultural, and turkey breeding is a source
of considerable profit. There is a disused chalk-pit
immediately to the north of the village.
Among estates released to the abbey of Ramsey in
the 13th century were lands in ' Wellemadestot ' and
on ' le Watelrydie.' 17 The field called ' Eyhtacres '
abutted on ' Sepwykestrate ' 18 ; and certain common
pasture lay ' beyond Theuestrat ' partly at ' Pyntte-
sheggis,' partly on ' Astoneshel ' and partly on
' Ordmarashel,' 19 which last abutted on the road to
Buntingford (i.e. Ermine Street).2" Other place-
names which occur on the 16th-century Court Rolls
are Rowkes nest (cf. the modern Rooksnest Farm),
Moneycrofte,21 Myldaynefeld, Gillarkes, and Snayl-
horne peece.22
Among the outlying farms are Wing Hall, over-
looking the heath, and Slate Hall in the occupation of
Mr. Albert Drage.
A fair formerly held on the third Monday and
Tuesday in July was abolished in 1873.23
Certain land, afterwards part of the
MANORS manor of THERFIELD, was bought by
Ethelric Bishop of Dorchester early in
the nth century (1016-34), and presented by him
to the abbey of Ramsey.24 It was said that the
bishop purchased it from an unpopular Dane who
feared that the villagers would murder him.20 Thomas
of Therfield evidently confirmed this land to the
abbey in the time of Abbot Robert.26 They were
confirmed in their possession of this land by Edward
the Confessor,27 William I 2S and 'other kings,' M and
by Edward III.30
In 1086 the abbot's holding at Therfield was
assessed at 10 hides I virgate, and the manor was
said to be and to have been (i.e. before the Conquest)
the demesne of Ramsey Abbey.31 Nevertheless the
men of the Hundred Court declared in 1274-5 that
5 Urvvick, Norn
6 Ibid.
7 See below.
s Close, 1854, pt lxii, n
9 Ibid. no. 22 ; cf.
no. 15 ; 1865, pt. xxxii, n
lu See below.
" MSS. D,
box 41.
'-' V.C.H. Herts, i, 233.
13 See the account of Royston.
u MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul
box 39.
'■■ Enrolled in Cum. Pleas, Cur.
East. 12 Vict. in. 2.
pt. xlv,
and C. of St. Paul's, B,
16 Blue Bk. hid. Awards, u+.
I; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5412.
18 Ibid. A 54.11.
19 Ibid. A 7262.
!°Ibid. A 5432.
81 See under Charities.
ss Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
E, boxes 34-41.
23 Land. Gaz. 6 June 1 S7 3, p. 2742.
-4 Chron. Abbat. Ramesei. (Rolls Ser.),
140-3 ; Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls
Ser.), ii, 73.
" Chron. Abbat. Ramesei. (Rolls Ser.),
140-3 ; cf. the name Dane End near
RceJ En I.
278
>6 Cartul. Moa. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
i, 101, 276 j cf. Chron. Abbat. Ramesei.
(Rolls Ser.), 34T. The abbot was pro-
bably Robert Trianel (1 180-1200).
*> Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
i, 2-6.
* Ibid, ii, 94. !9 Ibid, i, 276.
3" Ibid, ii, 73.
31 V.C.H. Herts, i, 316a, 299, 301.
The measure of land on this manor was
64 acres equal to the virgate {Cartul.
Mon. de Rameseia [Rolls Ser.], iii, 213).
The 10 hides held in 10S6 was land
apart from the gift of Ethelric (cf. Cartul.
Mon. de Rameseia, i, 276).
Therfield Rectory : North Window of Kitchen
Therfield Rectorv : South Window now partly Doorway
ODSEY HUNDRED
Ramsey Abbey. Or
a bend azure with three
rams' heads argent thereon
having horns or.
this manor was ancient demesne of the Crown, but
that they knew nothing of its alienation.32 Apparently
there was no foundation for
the;r statement.33 The manor
was kept in hand by the abbot
and convent 34 until the dis-
solution of the monastery in
1539.35 The service due to
the Crown was that of four
knights' fees.36
The ' farm ' due from the
manor of Therfield to the
abbey was sufficient to sustain
the monks for a whole fort-
night.37 It was rendered in
October, February, April, and
August.38 It included flour,
meal, malt, peas, cheese, bacon, honey, butter,
herrings, eggs, hens and geese, sheep and lambs,
and beef, in addition to a money payment.39
It is recorded that Abbot Walter ( 1 1 3 3-60) alienated
portions of the demesne lands to his sister's son
Ralph of Therfield, kt.40 In 1386 the abbot added
to the manor lands to the value of £20 in part satis-
faction of a licence to acquire property to the value
of £60 41 which had been granted to the abbey by
Edward II at the instance of his wife Isabel.
Among the records of this manor is a late
13th-century custumal.42 The villein tenants were
tallaged by the monks of Ramsey at £$, which was
rated according to the property of each tenant, and
was assigned to the cellarer by Abbot Hugh Folliot
(1216-31).43 They had numerous carrying services
to Ramsey, Cambridge, Ware and London, and it is
interesting to notice that the tenants were already
beginning to compound for these and other services.
After the dissolution of Ramsey Abbey, Therfield
Manor was seized by Henry VIII, and remained in his
hands until 14 January I 54.0-I, when he gave it to
his queen, Katherine Howard, as part of her jointure.44
After her execution in February 1542 the manor
reverted to the king,45 and in June 1544. he granted
it in frankalmoign to the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's in exchange for certain manors in Essex and
Middlesex.46
The first court of the dean and chapter was held in
July 1544.47 In 1642 the cathedral was closed and
the Mayor and Aldermen of London were appointed
sequestrators of the property of the dean and chapter. 4H
THERFIELD
Therfield Manor was purchased from the trustees for
the sale of the lands of deans and chapters in March
1649-50 by Samuel Pennoyer of London.49 After
the death of Pennoyer his widow Rose succeeded to
the property and held courts in April 1655.50 In
the same year she evidently married Samuel Disbrowe,
who was still holding in her right in 1657.51 The
manor was recovered by the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's at the Restoration with their other confis-
cated estates.5- They remained lords of the manor
until 1872, when all their estates, including Therfield,
were vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.53
In 1542 Thomas Benett was tenant of the manor-
house, styled the ' manor or Bery Stede.' 54 It was
afterwards held at will by John Wenham the elder,
who surrendered it to the use of his brother John
Wenham the younger in 1552.55 The dean and
chapter reserved right of accommodation for their
receiver, steward and bailiff", when they should hold
courts, and also a room for the use of the bailiff at the
time of his rent-collecting.56 In I 578 John Wenham
conveyed his rights in the ' Bury Stede ' to John
Wood, who held it at his death in 1587. He left as
heir his son John, aged three years.57
In the 17 th century the site of the manor was let
to members of the family of Fordham,58 who have
resided in the parish ever since.53 Mr. F. J. Fordham
of Royston is the present owner of Park Farm, which
is in the occupation of his son, Mr. H. J. Fordham.
The Abbots of Ramsey had extensive liberties within
their manors including Therfield. Under a confirma-
tory charter of Edward the Confessor they claimed
soc and sac, toll, 'mundbryche, feardwite, fihtwite,
blodwite, mischenninge, fritsocne, hamsocne, forstalle,
forhpheang, withpheang, heangwite, gridbriche,
uthleap, infangentheof, scipbriche, tol and team.' 6CI
William I added the right of gallows, and it is said of
infangtheof.61 King John granted view of frank-
pledge, amendment of the assize of bread and ale,
tumbril and free warren.62 To these privileges
Henry III added freedom from scot or geld and
exemption from the shire and hundred courts,63
which the abbot's tenants at Therfield were wont to
attend until about 1267.64 The abbot proved his
claim to all the above liberties within the manor of
Therfield in 1287.65
The manor of HAT (la Haye, xiv cent. ; Heye or
Haye, xvi cent.) was held of the main manor of
Therfield.66 Its early history is obscure ; it may be
M Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 193.
aa See, however, the carrying services
mentioned below, which may point to its
having been once ancient demesne.
84 Add. R. (B.M.), 39473, 39584,
39656 ; cf. Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.),
bdle. 108, no. 27 ; Carta!. Man. de
Rameseia, ii, 218 ; iii, 226, 325.
35 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 550.
36 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 270 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 444.
87 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
iii, 230.
38 Ibid. 234-6.
39 Ibid. !6i-2, 168.
40 Ibid, ii, 270, 275; cf. iii, 112;
Pipe R. 6 John, m. 3 d.
41 Cat. Pat. 1385-9, p. 233.
42 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
i, 45-8.
"Ibid, ii, 21S.
44 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, p. 716. '
45 Courts were held in his name in 1542
(MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, B, box 39).
46 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xix (1), g. 812
(32).
47 MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, B,
box 39.
48 V.C.H. Loud, i, 417 ; courts were
held in the name of the sequestrators in
1645 and 1648 (D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, box 41) ; in the name of the trustees
in 1649 (ibid.).
49 Close, 1650, pt. lxvi, no. 30.
50 Pennoyer held courts there in 1653
(MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, B, box
40-
51 Ibid.
53 Cf. V.C.H. Land, i, 430.
» Ibid.
54 Therfield Ct. R. (MSS. D. and C.
of St. Paul's, B, box 39).
55 Ibid.
« Ibid.
279
57 MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, B,
box 39.
58 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 86.
59 See monumental inscriptions quoted
by Clutterbuck (Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 593), and V.C.H. Herts. Families, 10.
60 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
ii, 76.
61 Plat, de Quo rVarr. (Rec. Com.),
287 ; but cf. the list of liberties including
infangtheof quoted above from the (pro-
bably spurious) charter of the Confessor.
6- Ibid. A new grant of free warren
was made in 1251 (Cal. Chart. R. 1226-
57. P- I66)-
63 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
iii, 53.
01 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194.
«3 Plac. de Quo ITair. (Rec. Com.), 287.
«G Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. Ill, 35 ;
7 Hen. IV, 52 ; Ct. R. penes D. and C.
of St. Paul's, B, box 39.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
label argent.
identical with the place called ' Haia ' associated with
' Bradenach,' co. Huntingdon, and mentioned in a
1 2th-century account of the increase in the lands
of Ramsey Abbey.67
In the 14th century it was in the possession of the
family of Scrope of Masham. Sir Geoffrey Scrope, kt.,
founder of that family and
justice of the Common Pleas,
was associated with Hertford-
shire through his marriage
with Laura daughter of Sir
Gerard Furnival of Munden
Furnival68 (q.v.). In 1 33 8
Thomas of Brancaster granted
the manor of Hay to Sir
Geoffrey Scope in return for
100 marks silver, and shortly
afterwards Sir Geoffrey granted
a life-interest to Thomas.69
The latter is included among
the tenants of Ramsey Abbey
in Therfield who owed suit at Broughton.70 The
manor apparently reverted to Sir Geoffrey Scrope
within a few years, for he held at his death before
1 34.1 a tenement in Therfield with pleas of court
and a capital messuage.71 In or before the time of
his son and heir Sir Henry Scrope, kt., of Masham,
a sub-enfeoffment was possibly made to the family of
Sir John Scrope,72 a younger son of Sir Richard
Scrope of Bolton, and great-nephew of Sir Geoffrey.'3-
The rights of the Scropes of Masham as mesne lords
had evidently lapsed by 1561.74
The tenant, Sir John Scrope, was succeeded by
two daughters Joan and Elizabeth,75 who married
respectively Sir Richard Hastings, kt., and Thomas
Clarell of Aldwark, co. Yorks.7tl Apparently Eliza-
beth Clarell succeeded in time to the whole of
Hay,77 for in 1474 it was evidently inherited in
entirety by her daughter Elizabeth wife of Sir Richard
Fitz William, kt. In that year a settlement was
made on Sir Richard and Elizabeth for their lives
with remainder to Sir Richard's third son Edward.7*
Probably a further settlement was made later, for the
manor descended to Thomas Fitz William,79 Sir
Richard's eldest son, who was slain at Flodden Field
in 1513.80 His young son and heir William Fitz
William died under age 26 August I 515, and was
succeeded by his two sisters, Alice wife of James
Foljambe and Margaret wife of Godfrey Foljambe.81
Godfrey and Margaret Foljambe sold one moiety of
the manor to Robert Pakenham of Streatham,82 from
whom it was purchased in February 1549-50 by the
tenant, John Berners of Therfield.83 Thomas Berners
apparently united the two moieties by purchasing the
second from George Gill in 1562.84 Gill had
acquired this moiety from Sir Godfrey Foljambe, kt.,86
probably the eldest son of James and Alice Foljambe.86
John Berners, gent., resided in Therfield about
1 64 1,87 and probably retained this manor, but the
subsequent history of the estate is unknown.
Hay Farm lies on the high ground to the east of
the village, presumably on the site of the capital
messuage held by Sir Geoffrey Scrope.88 A windmill
belonged to the manor in the 14th century.89
GLEDSETS, known also as BUTLERS," was held
of the main manor of Therfield 91 apparently by
service of one-fourth of a knight's fee.92 Abbot
William of Ramsey (1267-85) assigned to the
almoner of the abbey a tenement lately acquired
from John of Gledsey.93 About 1278 Joan wife
of John of Gledsey demanded of Robert of Gledsey
the custody of one quarter of a knight's fee in
Therfield, the heir to which was still a minor.91
Elias of Gledsey owed suit to the Abbot of Ramsey
at Broughton early in the 14th century.95 This
Elias was witness to a lease of land in Therfield in
I 333. 9G The tenement called Gledseys was occupied
by John Butler in 1444.97
In the time of Henry VIII the Hyde family were
in possession of this manor.98 In I 544 John Hyde
and Margaret his wife and Thomas their son con-
veyed it to John Gill and Margaret his wife.99 John
Gill was succeeded in 1546 by his son George.10"
The latter assigned this manor to his wife Anne as a
portion of her jointure,1 and died in 1568, leaving a
son John as heir.2 John Gill died in 1600 and the
manor passed to his son George,3 who sold it in 1607
to William Clerke.4 In 1638 William Clerke, gent.,
was ordered in the court of the main manor to keep
his flocks for Gledseys and Five Houses within the
ancient bounds.6 He was apparently succeeded by
his son Thomas Clerke,1' whose property was divided
67 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
iii, 226.
68 Foster, Yorh. Fed. N. and E. Riding,
ii, pedigree of Scrope,
68 Feet of F. Herts. East. 12 Edw. Ill,
no. 186, 187.
70 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Set.),
no. 35.
" Ibid.
73 Foste
In
6 Ri(
, loc.
p.m.
II, pt
14 Edw. Ill,
28.
74 Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, box 39 ; the last known record of the
mesne lordship is the inquisition on the
death of Sir Stephen son of Sir Henry
Scrope of Masham (Chan. Inq. p.m. 7
Hen. IV, no. 52), when the service
claimed was that of half a knight's fee.
Probably this sub-feoffment, which seems
to have been made after the Statute of
' Quia Emptores,' represents a subtenancy
made before the Statute.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. IV, no. 52.
76 Foster, loc. cit.
77 Sir Richard Hastings left no children
(Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Hen. VI, 58). Pro-
bably, therefore, Joan Hastings died
childless.
78 Feet of F. Div. Co. H il. 1 3 Edw. IV ;
cf. Foster, Tarks. Fed. W. Riding, i,
pedigree of Scrope.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxix, 53.
80 Foster, loc. cit.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, 87.
82 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 38 Hen. VIII.
83 Ibid. Mich. 4 Edw. VI ; Close, 4
Edw. VI, pt. ii, no. 13.
84 Feet of F. Herts. East. 4 Eliz. ;
Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's, B,
box 39.
BS Ibid.
86 Foster, loc. cit.
87 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 121, no. 342.
Cussans and Clutterbuck misread Chauncy
in stating that La Hay was acquired by
the family of Turner before 1630.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. HI,
no. 35.
89 Ibid.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxv, 77.
91 Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, boxes 40, 41 ; A, box 64.
93 Chauncy, //;;/. Antia. of Herts. 87.
280
98 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
ii, 233.
94 Quoted by Chauncy, loc. cit.
95 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
i, 41. 95 Ibid, iii, 116.
97 MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, A,
box 64.
98 Herts. Gen. and Antij. iii, 258.
99 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 36 Hen. VIII.
100 Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, box 39.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 82 ; cf.
Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 5 Edw. VI.
' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 82.
8 Ibid, eclxv, 77.
4 Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, box 40 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4
Jas. I ; nevertheless it was included
(possibly in error) among the lands of
which Sir George Gill, kt., died seised in
i6t9 (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], ccccvii,
95).
' Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
B, box 41.
0 Thomas Clerke was a tenant of Ther-
field Manor in 1627; cf. Chauncy, loc.
ODSEY HUNDRED
among his four daughters, Hester wile of Henry
Meade, Elizabeth wife of Thomas 7 Sanford, Susan
Clerke and Sarah wife of John Higham.8 The
Highams were dealing with their fourth of ' Butler's '
manor in 1666.9 By 1676 a part of the estate of
Thomas Clerke in Therfield had been acquired from
the four co-heirs by John Green of Thorpe.10 After
the death of Susan Clerke her sisters divided her
portion of Gledseys Manor between them. Sanford
held one-third in right of his wife and purchased
another third. He was succeeded by his son John
Sanford, who was in possession of two-thirds of the
manor about 1700.11 The remaining third was pur-
chased by Ralph Baldwin, gent., whose son Ralph
Baldwin inherited it in 1694.12 The 'manor' of
Gledseys was subsequently sold by Mr. B. Wortham
to the late Mr. Phillips, who bequeathed it to the
father of the present owner, Captain J. H. J. Phillips.13
The lands of Gledsey Manor extend into Buck-
land parish.14
The manor oiHODDENHOO or HODDENHOO
NEWHALL was among the possessions of Royston
Priory at its dissolution.15 In 1086 Hoddenhoo was
within the hundred of Edwinstree,16 and the greater
part of the manorial lands lie in Buckland parish,17
but the manor-house of Hoddenhoo is within the
boundaries of Therfield parish.
In the Domesday Survey Hoddenhoo is returned
in two portions. The one consisting of 1 hide and
half a virgate had been held before the Conquest by
a sokeman of Earl Algar and three sokemen of
Archbishop Stigand. In 1086 it was held of Odo
Bishop of Bayeux by Osbern, tenant also of Buckland
and of land in Throcking.18 Possibly, therefore,
this was the land in Hoddenhoo given with land in
Throcking to the priory of Holy Trinity, Aldgate,
by Roger son of Brian and his wife Maud and
confirmed to the priory by Henry III in February
1226--7.19
The second portion consisted of a hide and a
virgate held before the Conquest by two sokemen
of Earl Algar. Tetbald held it of Hardwin Scales
[de Scalers) in 1086.20
It is uncertain how Royston Priory acquired the
' manor of Newhall and Hoddenhoo in Buckland,' 21
which by process of exhaustion appears to be identical
with Tetbald's holding. Probably it was given to
the priory between 1189 and 1291, for it is not
named in the confirmatory charter of Richard I of
the former date,22 and the priory had lands in Buck-
land worth £3 8/. at the latter date.23
THERFIELD
In January 151 2-1 3 the site of the manor was
let on a sixty years' lease, and Laurence Pleydon was
lessee in 1536, when the property of the priory had
been surrendered to the Crown.24 The courts were
apparently held at Buckland.25 In December 1540
Robert Chester, gentleman usher of the Chamber,
received a grant of all the possessions late of Royston
Priory including the manor of Newhall and Hodden-
hoo.26 He sold this manor to John Gill and his
wife Margaret about the following Easter.27 It
remained with his direct descendants 28 at least until
the death of Sir George Gill, kt., in 1619.29
Early in the year 1662 the lord was Ralph
Freeman30 (lord also of the manor of Aspenden).
He had been preceded by
John Putnam,31 and the
manor descended to his son
Ralph Freeman.32 Apparently
a settlement was made on his
son Ralph about 1 700. 33 The
Freeman of Aspen-
den. Azure three loxen-
ges argent.
latter's son William Freeman
was dealing with the manor
in 1730.34 Dr. Ralph Freeman,
his brother, succeeded in
1749.35 I* descended with
his manor of Hamels in Stan-
don to Philip third Earl of
Hardwicke, and is now the
property of the Hon. John Henry Savile, grandson
of Lady Anne Yorke, eldest daughter of the Earl of
Hardwicke mentioned above.
The manor of WEST REED or ALAN DE REDE,
sometimes called MARDLET BURT, was held by the
Priors of Royston.36 The house at Mardley Bury
with a carucate of arable land and certain meadow,
pasture and rent was acquired by the priory in 1302
from Adam de Twynham.37 The ' manor ' of West
Reed, ' formerly called Alan de Rede,' 38 held by the
priory at the Dissolution, is in all probability identical
with the tenement in the ' vill ' of West Reed which
a certain Alan de Rede held of the Earl of Gloucester
rendering suit at the earl's court of Popeshall 39 (in
the neighbouring parish of Buckland). Alan de Rede
died about 13 14 and left a son and heir Henry.40
The priory of Royston had already in 1 2 5 I acquired
from Elias son of Richard of West Reed a messuage
and 51^ acres of land in West Reed.41 How the
priory obtained the manor of Alan de Rede is un-
known. In 1358 Thomas Palfreyman of Royston,
chaplain, alienated 80 acres of land in West Reed
and Royston to the priory.42 The estates seized by
7 Chauncy styles him William Sanford.
8 Ct. R. May 1673 penes D. and C. of
St. Paul's, W.C. 1, no. 13.
9 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 18 Chas. II.
10 Ct. R. penes D. and C. of St. Paul's,
W.C. 1, no. 13 ; possibly about the
year 1671 (Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
23 Chas. II).
11 Chauncy, loc. cit.
12 Ibid.
13 Inform, kindly supplied by Mr. J.
Phillips of Royston.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 82.
15 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
16 V.C.H. Herts, i, 310A, 340a.
17 Cf. Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 684;,
7052 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxv, 77.
18 V.C.H. Herts, i, 310A.
19 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 153.
"> V.C.H. Herts, i, 340a.
21 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
32 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 405.
23 Pope Ntch. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 14 ;
cf. Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 432.
'* Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1606.
« Ibid.
86 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, g. 379 (60).
27 Feet of F. East. 33 Hen. VIII ; cf.
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, g. 733 (57).
28 See the account of Gledseys above.
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxvi, 97 ;
cclxv, 77 ; ccccvii, 95 ; cf. Plac. de
Banco, Mich. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary,
m. 1 d.
80 Feet of F. Hil. 13 & 14 Chas. II ;
cf. Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), lxii,
fol. 55a.
81 Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), lxii,
fol. 58 d.
S9lbid. fol. 55a, 58 d. ; Feet of F.
28l
Herts. Trin. 25 Chas. II ; cf. Chauncy,
Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 125.
38 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1 1 Will. III.
84 Recov. R. Hil. 4 Geo. II, m. 254 ;
cf. Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Ediuinstree
Hund. 96.
35 Recov. R. East. 23 Geo. II, m. 323.
36 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1597.
37 Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 36; cf. Inq.
a.q.d. file 40, no. 5.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii,
14.
39 Ibid. 8 Edw. II, no. 9 ; the Pnors
of Royston subsequently paid rent to
Popeshall (Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII,
'597)-
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 9.
-11 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 36°-
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 55.
36
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the Crown upon the surrender of the priory in-
cluded the manor of West Reed with rents in Ther-
field and West Reed including the rent of Mardley
Bury Close.43
In 154.0 Henry VIII granted 'the manor of West
Reed called Alan de Rede ' with all the property of
the late priory to Robert Chester.44 Shortly after-
wards this manor was purchased from Chester by
John Bowles of Wallington and his son and heir-
apparent Thomas.45 John Bowles died seised of it
in 1543, but his son Thomas was evidently already
dead, for John's heir was his grandson Thomas son
of Richard Bowles.46 Thomas Bowles ' the younger '
of Standon sold the manor of West Reed alias ' Alan
de Rede ' with its appurtenances in West and East
Reed and Therfield (evidently including Mardley
Bury) to William Hyde of Sandon about 155 6.47 In
1563 William Hyde conveyed the manor to Thomas
Turner of West Reed in Therfield, yeoman, and
John his son.48 This Thomas Turner had learned
to sing at Royston Priory and lived more than
ninety-five years.49 In March 1606-7 he was styled
' of Reed End in Therfield.' 50 William Turner is said
to have sold the manor in 1630 to John Willymot.51
His son John bequeathed it to his wife Anne,
daughter of James Willymot of Kelshall, and she
was holding it in 1700. 52 In 1714 it was acquired
by John Fisher, and in 1 72 1 it was the property of
the Hon. Peregrine Bertie the younger and his wife
Elizabeth.53 In 1753 it was in the possession of Pere-
grine Bertie,54 and Catherine Dorothy Bertie, Elizabeth
Bertie and Mary wife of Samuel Lichigaray joined in
a conveyance of it in 1783.55 George Sutton was
dealing with the manor in 1788.56 It was bought
in 1790 by James Free,57 and from his grandson Clerke
Free it was purchased by the Rev. Charles Moss, rector
of Therfield and afterwards Bishop of Oxford. In
1839 his executors sold to the Hon. William Herbert,
from whom the manor was purchased in 1853 by
Thomas Henry Usborne of Staplehurst, co. Kent.57a
He was succeeded by his son Captain Thomas
Starling Usborne, who bequeathed it to his three
daughters. Two-thirds of the estate together with
the manorial rights were purchased from them by
the present owner, the Rev. George Archer. 57b
A farm-house and homestead moat still remain at
Mardley Bury. The site of the house of ' Alan de
Rede ' is more difficult to locate. It certainly lay in
West Reed, if it is to be identified with the manor-
house of the priory of Royston at West Reed, and
some, at least, of the ' fields ' of West Reed were
within the parish of Therfield.58 They probably
extended as far as ' Reed End.'
In 1275 it was returned that the men of West
Reed had withdrawn their suit due to the honour of
Richmond.69 These were possibly the men of that
hide in Reed which Alward had held of Count Alan
in 1086.60 The land had formerly been held by
Turbern, one of Eddeva's men.61 The fact that
castle ward was due to the honour of Richmond from
the collector of the rents of the Prior of Royston in
West Reed and elsewhere 62 tends to prove that this
hide was among the lands acquired by the priory in
West Reed.
Before the time of the Domesday Survey Alric the
priest held of the Abbot of Ramsey 3 virgates of land
in Therfield.63 These had passed by 1086 to Wigar, a
tenant under Hardwin Scales.64 The overlordship
thus diverted from the abbey was still in the posses-
sion of the Scales family in 1303,65 and was possibly
attached to their neighbouring manor of Reed (q.v.).
The tenant in 1303 was a certain John of Oclee.66
Manorial rights belong to the RECTOR}'. It
was said in 1547 that courts leet and view of frank-
pledge were usually held at the rectory.67 The
rectory manor was let on lease with the parsonage in
1 5 5 3 -6S The late incumbent, the Rev. J. G. Hale,
was accustomed to hold courts yearly in the ' Court
Room ' of the rectory.69 In 1336 Wymar de Corton
conveyed a toft in Therfield to the parson for the
enlargement of the rectory.70
The church of ST. MART THE
CHURCH VIRGIN, which consists of chancel,
nave with north and south aisles, and
west tower, was rebuilt in 1878, some of the old
material being re-used. The windows in the chancel,
all but the one in the east wall, are from the old
church,71 and in the modern roof are some carved
figures of angels and bosses of the 15th century.
The porch was added in 1906, and the tower, of
which only the first story was built, was completed
by the rector, the Rev. F. R. Blatch, in 191 1.
In the south wall of the chancel the early 14th-
century double piscina has been reset ; it has moulded
arches on shafted jambs with moulded capitals and
bases. The sedilia adjoining, though chiefly of modern
work, have some old stone in them. In the north
chancel wall is an arched recess containing an ancient
stone coffin.
In the vestry are many fragments of stone carving
dating from the 13th to the 16th century, corbels,
parts of tombs, including a curious effigy of a man
lying with his head at right angles to his body and
his legs crossed ; in his right hand is a drawn sword ;
at the end of the stone are two small female figures,
standing ; on the end of the stone is a shield charged
with a cross.
On the window sills in the chancel are some frag-
ments of carvings, and underneath the tower are some
carved oak figures of angels from the old roof.
There are some fragments of I 5th-century heraldic
glass in the church, until lately in the old rectory.
48 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, 1597.
** L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, g. 379 (60).
"Ibid. g. 1308 (+0); Close, 33
Hen. VIII, pt. ii, m. 31.
« Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14.
" Pat. 2 & 3 Phil, and Mary, pt. v,
m. 1 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 3 & 4
Phil, and Mary. -18 Add. Chart. 27340.
19 Exch. Dep. East. 5 Jas. I, no. 16.
*° Ibid.
" Chauncy, Hist. Anti-j. of Herts. 87.
M Ibid. ; cf. Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
20 Chas. II ; Recov. R. East. 1 Jas. II,
m. 1 go.
58 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antia. of Herts.
iii, 586 ; cf. Feet of F. Herts. East. 7
Geo. I.
54 Recov. R. East. 26 Geo. II, m. 407.
55 Ibid. Hil. 23 Geo. Ill, m. 270.
56 Ibid. Mich. 29 Geo. Ill, m. 179.
57 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
57a Cussans, Odsey Hund. 119.
57b Inform, kindly supplied by Mr. J.
Phillips of Royston.
53 Exch. Dep. East. 5 Jas. I, no. 16.
59 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194.
60 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319.
« Ibid.
282
M Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, 1597.
68 V.C.H. Herts, i, 339a.
«< Ibid. cf. p. 292.
65 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
« Ibid.
67 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. v, m. 24.
69 Star Chamb. Proc. Phil, and Mary,
'> 39 j v, 36 ; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2),
clxxi, 21.
69 Rev. J. G. Hale, ' Paper on Ther-
field,' St. Albans Archil, and Arch. Soc.
1S84, p. 19 et seq.
70 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 333.
71 Hale, op. cit. 26.
ODSEY HUNDRED
The octagonal font belongs to the late 14th century;
the basin is plain, with mouldings underneath, and
mouldings to the base.
Underneath the tower is a large mural monument
of cedar wood, flanked by carved figures, to Ann wife
of Francis Turner, a former rector; she died 1677.
The carved figure of Time is intact, but the skeleton,
Death, is broken.
There are six bells : the treble by W. & P.
Whitman, 1689 (recast in 191 1) ; second and third
(recast in 19 1 1) by Miles Graye, 1626 and 1656
respectively; fourth by John Dier, 1597 ; fifth in-
scribed ' Praies the Lord,' 1608; and tenor by
John Waylett, 1707.
The communion plate consists of cup and two
patens without hall mark, a small cup with handle,
the hall mark erased, and a large silver-gilt flagon,
1667, the gift of Dr. Barwick, Dean of St. Paul's
and rector of Therfield.
The registers are in six books : (i) baptisms from
1538 to 1662, burials 1539 to 1662, marriages 1538
to 1661 ; (ii) baptisms from 1662 to 1750, burials
1662 to 1 68 1, marriages 1662 to 1749 ; (iii) burials
from 1678 to 1750 ; (iv) baptisms and burials from
1750 to 1 81 2, marriages 1750101753; (v) and (vi)
marriages from 1754 to 1796 and 1796 to 1812
respectively. There are some considerable gaps in
book i.
The earliest definite record of the
ADVOWSON church is a papal bull of 1 178 con-
firming the abbey of Ramsey in
possession of it.72 The successive abbots retained the
right of patronage until the Dissolution,73 after which
the advowson was granted with the manor to the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's.74 They have re-
tained the advowson to the present day.76
In 1 392 the Abbot of Ramsey had licence to unite
the church of Therfield with Shillington Church,
co. Beds., notwithstanding that the advowsons of
these churches were parcel of the respective manors
of Shillington and Therfield.76 The arrangement, if
ever it was carried into effect, does not appear to have
been permanent. A licence to appropriate Therfield
Church was obtained by the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's in 1 547 upon condition that a perpetual
vicar should be appointed to fulfil in all respects the
office of rector, and that he should pay to the Bishop
of Lincoln and Archdeacon of Huntingdon for pro-
curations and synodals of the church of Therfield
I is. 6d., and should support all other burdens of the
church excepting only the repairs of the chancel, for
which the dean and chapter were to be responsible.77
It was also stipulated that a suitable residence and an
income of £10 should be provided for the vicar. It
appears that the proposed ordination of a vicarage
was never carried into effect.78 The living is now a
THERFIELD
rectory in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of
St. Paul's.
A pension of 4 marks was paid by this church to
the monastery of Ramsey 79 and devoted to the office
of sacrist.80 Confirmations of this pension were
made by Pope Honorius III in 1225 81 and by Pope
Gregory IX in 1233,82 by Richard Bishop of Lincoln
in 1 262,83 by St. Hugh Bishopof Lincoln (1 1 89-95),^
and it was included in a general confirmation by
Walter Archbishop of Canterbury of gifts to Ramsey
Abbey in 131 g.b5 William Burham, rector of
Therfield, who was deprived for marriage about
1554,86 refused to pay this pension.87 Thomas
Hewlet and another incumbent in the 1 6th century
declared that the living was free of any such
charge.88
Several men of note have been rectors of Therfield.
Among these was John Yonge, Master of the Rolls
and diplomatist, whose well-known monument stood
in the Rolls Chapel, now the Record Office Museum.
He was made Prebendary of Holborn in St. Paul's
Cathedral in 1 5 1 1, and three years later was presented
to the rectory here. In the 16th and 17th centuries
William Alabaster, a Prebendary of St. Paul's, Francis
Turner, Bishop of Norwich, William Holder, a noted
divine, and William Sherlock, Dean of St. Paul's, were
successively appointed to this living. In 1604 John
Overall, Bishop of Norwich, was rector, but the church
was served by a curate.89
William Burham, the rector, deprived about 1554,
had ' let to farm all the Rectory premises except
one chamber in the west end of the parsonage house '
to Andrew Meverell for six years. In August of the
next year John Sapcote, a lessee of Burham's successor,
John Whiting, clerk, entered upon the parsonage-
house. It appears that Sapcote was occupying the
rectory in 1561,90 but Burham let to another lessee,
Robert Newport.91 The end of this dispute is
unknown.
Elyn Colle, by will dated 1494, left £1 6s. Sd. for
a new rood loft in the church within two years of
her decease,92 and in 1 5 1 1 a bequest was made by
William Chapman for the painting of this rood loft.93
In 1503 Edward Shouldam, clerk, made provision
for a priest to say mass in the church of Therfield.94
In I 506 Richard Bentley left an offering to the altar
of the chapel of SS. John and James, where he desired
to be buried.95 There were also altars of St. John the
Baptist and St. Katherine,96 and lights of our Lady of
Pity,97 St. Nicholas and St. Katherine.98
A devotional gild which paid izd. yearly to
Ramsey Abbey at the feast of St. Benedict was in
existence not later than H30.98a Two obits in
Therfield Church were suppressed by Edward VI.
One was given by John Bateman, and was of the
value of 5/. yearly. This was to be paid out of the
72 Cartul. Mon. de Rames ,
134,
73 The abbot recovered the right of
presentation against John de Retford,
clerk, about 1381 (Chan. Misc. bdle. 62,
file 1, no. 14).
74 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), g. 812
(J*)-
75 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
76 Cal. Pat. 1391-6, p. 73.
77 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. v, m. 24.
78 The living was a rectory in 1553
(Star Chamb. Proc. Phil, and Mary,
bdle. 1, no. 39).
79 Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia (Rolls Ser.),
89 Diet. Nat. Biog.
ii, 180.
90 D. and C. of St. Paul's,
80 Ibid. 201 ; Dugdale, Mon. ii, 574.
Press B, box 39.
81 Cartul. Mon. de Rameicia (Rolls Ser.),
91 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdli
i, 109.
no. 21.
88 Ibid. no.
92 P.C.C. Will, 20 Vox.
88 Ibid, ii, 181, 182, 207.
93 Ibid. 6 Fetiplace.
84 Ibid. 1 So.
94 Ibid. 24 Blarayr.
85 Ibid. 183 ; see also 211.
95 Ibid. 7 Adeane.
86 Star Chamb. Proc. Phil, and Mary,
96 Ibid. 20 Vox.
bdle. 5, no. 36.
»7 Ibid.
87 Augm. Off. Proc. xvi, no. 59.
93 Ibid. 6 Fetiplace.
88 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 1 1 1,
9"a Cartul. Mon. de Rameseia
no. 82.
Ser.), i, .3,.
(Rol)s
283
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
rent of some 29 acres of land which he gave to the use
of the poor." The other was worth 8/. yearly, and
arose from 8 acres of land given by John Chapman
for that purpose.100
The School House charity, com-
CHARITIES prised in an indenture of I 2 December
1670, in which it is recited that the
house had from time out of mind belonged to the
inhabitants and had been used as a dwelling-house
for a schoolmaster, is regulated by a scheme of
the Charity Commission dated 18 August 1 905.
The property consists of a cottage and 10 poles of
land let for £5 yearly, and the scheme directs that
the income shall be applied for the benefit of the
poor. The income is distributed in sums of about
2/. 6d. each.
The Bateman charity, the date of the foundation
of which is unknown, but comprised in a deed of
8 April 1644, is regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commission 3 January I 899. The endow-
ment consists of 37 a. 2 r. 16 p. of land in Therfield
and 2 roods in Kelshall producing £34 12*. yearly.
The net income is applied in the purchase and
distribution of coal to the poor.
In 1772 John Clerke by his will gave £2 yearly
issuing out of a field called Moneycroft to be dis-
tributed in bread to the poor every three years. The
last distribution was made in 1909.
WALLINGTON
Wallingtone (xi cent.) ; Waudlington or Wadling-
ton (xii-xiv cent.) ; Wadelington (xv cent.).
The village of Wallington lies on the northern
slope of the chalk hills about 3 miles south-east of
Baldock station on the Cambridge branch of the
Great Northern railway.
The single village street lies at right angles to the
road from Sandon to Baldock. The village has a
plentiful water supply, and the hill on which it
stands is almost surrounded by the Cat Ditch, a
tributary of the River Beane. At the head of the
street, 466 ft. above the ordnance datum, is Walling-
ton Bury, and just below it lie the church and rectory
faced by the Manor Farm. Below these the street
follows the slope of the hill in a north-easterly direc-
tion, and at its centre the road to Baldock turns
westwards near the school.1
Wallington, like the adjacent parishes of Bygrave
and Clothall, is still uninclosed, and it retains a few
features of the mediaeval village community. The
great open arable field, covering nearly two-thirds of
the whole area of the parish (2,043 acres), lies on
the sloping ground to the north of the village. Its
wide expanse is unbroken by hedge or tree and only
divided from the open fields of Bygrave by the
Icknield Way and from those of Clothall by an open
roadway. In its centre, at Metley Hill, is a tumulus
of unknown date and origin. At the present day
the villagers apparently claim no rights over the
field, which is farmed by the occupiers of the Manor
Farm, Wallington Bury and the Lodge Farm. The
cottagers have, however, the right to keep a cow and
a calf on the small common pasture in the south
of the parish.3 This district is well wooded and
contains inclosed meadows and fields. The per-
manent grass increases and the population of the parish
diminishes.3 The inhabitants are almost entirely
employed in agriculture.
In 1 40 1 a house with 360 acres of land in Clothall
and Wallington was purchased from Richard Martell
of Dunmow by the Prior of Dunmow.4
The modern estate of Wallington
MANORS was consolidated early in the 16th
century by John Bowles, who acquired
the three manors of Wallington, Monks and Mont-
fitchets. These three were evidently identical with
the two holdings of Robert Gernon and Goisbert de
Beauvais at the time of the Domesday Survey.5
In 1086, however, there were three other holdings
in Wallington. Wimund held 2 hides less 10 acres of
Count Alan of Britanny, lord of the honour of Rich-
mond. Before the Conquest this land had been held
by two sokemen of Eddeva, 6 probably Edith the
Fair.7 It was possibly a part of the ' two hides
and one virgate ' in Wallington which with a virgate
in Clothall was held in the 12th century by Robert
of Abinger (de Habingwurth, de Abbingburne')? The
mesne lord of the fee was then Ruald Pincerna.9
The heir of Robert of Abinger was a leper and a
minor, and therefore his inheritance was seized by the
Crown about 1 185.10 One part of the fee was then
in the occupation of the lords of the manors of Wal-
lington and Monks, while Warin de Bassingbourn held
a carucate 'by so much knight's service as pertains to
a hide.' u It appears possible that the first portion
became absorbed in the two manors of Wallington
and Monks. In 1275 the bailiffs of Richmond
Honour still took 12^. yearly from the tenement
which had belonged to Theobald ' de Mora,' 12 and
may have been that formerly held by Warin de
Bassingbourn. 'William ' of Abinger is said to have
given two thirds of the tithes of Wallington to the
priory of Bermondsey.13 Evidently this gift was of
two thirds of the tithes arising out of the ' Abinger
fee' in Wallington. It gave rise to a dispute
between William de Thorntoft, parson of Walling-
ton, and the Abbot of St. Albans in 1308.14
Of the other Domesday holdings, the one belonged
to the fee of Hardwin de Scales, of whom it was
held by Siward. It included 1^ hides and 26 acres,
and had formerly been held by Wlware, a man of
Anschil of Ware.15 No later trace of this holding
90 Chant. Cert. 27, no. 32. 10° Ibid.
1 For the school see under Charities.
2 Slater, Engl. Peasantry and End. of
Common Fields, 45.
3 Ibid. There were 213 inhabitants in
183 1 (Pop. Ret. 248), and in 1901 there
were 152 (ibid. 14), but this gave a
slight increase on the population of 1891.
* Cal. Pat. 1399-1401, p. 539.
5 See below.
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 319.
7 Cf. V.C.H. Essex, i, 350.
9 Stacey Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus,
35. The identification rests upon its
extent. The other holding of about
2 hides was that of the Scales family (see
below).
9 It has not yet been possible to identify
this Ruald, unless he may be Ruald the
Constable of the honour of Richmond.
See Gale, Reg. Honoris de Richmond, 32, 82.
lu Stacey Grimaldi, loc. cit. " Ibid.
" Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 193 ; cf.
the account of ' La More' in Sandon.
13 Dugdale, Mon. v, 97 ; according to
the monks the gift took place in 11 80 ;
but in 118^ it was the heir of Robert of
Abinger who was in the king's custody.
M Chauncy, Hist. Antia. of Herts. 47,
quoting 'Mich. Term 2 Edw. II Rot. 1,
Cur. Recepit. Scac' The original record
of this plea cannot be found.
14 V.C.H. Herts, i, 339.
284
ODSEY HUNDRED
has been found. It may have been attached to
Hardwin's neighbouring manor of Reed (q.v.). It is
not clear whether it was this same Siward who held
a virgate in Wallington of Geoffrey de Mandeville.16
The manor of WALLINGTON seems to be
identical with the 3 hides and 4.0 acres of land
there which were held of Goisbert de Beauvais by a
certain Fulk in 1086. The greater part of this
holding was occupied before the Conquest by Edric,
one of Earl Algar's men ; but a small tenement of
24 acres was held by a sokeman of Eddeva the Fair,
and subsequently came to Ralf Earl of Norfolk. It
was amalgamated with the main manor before 1086,
and probably before 1075, for it was not then held
by the earl.17
In 1 543 the manor was said to be held as of Little
Wymondley 18 ; this was probably an error for Great
Wymondley, for a portion of the latter was held by
Goisbert de Beauvais in 1086.19 From the 1 3th cen-
tury onwards the overlordship of Wallington Manor
was held by the Argentines and their successors, lords
of both Great and Little Wymondley (q v.), of whom
it was held by the service of half a knight's fee.30
The immediate tenants of this manor in the 12th
and two following centuries took their name from
Wallington. They may possibly have been descendants
of Fulk, the tenant in 1086. William de Wallington
appears to have held the manor in 1 185.21 He was
probably the son of Robert de Wallington and the
same William who gave the church to the monks of
St. Albans.32 William and Reginald de Wallington
served as jurors with Richard of Clothall and others
in 1200.23 John de Wallington witnessed charters
relating to neighbouring lands in 1279.24 This or
another John held the manor in 1303,25 and was still
living in 1324.26 Apparently he was succeeded by
Richard Monchesney,27 the king's escheator in Hert-
fordshire,38 who had grant of free warren in Wallington
and also in Clothall,29 where his interest was for life
only.30 Walter Monchesney, evidently the heir of
Richard, seems to have conveyed the manor to Sir John
Lee, kt., lord of the neighbouring manor of Botteles
in Clothall, for a yearly rent of loo/.31 Sir Walter
Lee, kt., son of Sir John,32 released all his rights
in Wallington to Richard Ravensere and others in
1376,33 evidently in trust for sale.34
The history of the manor during the next century
WALLINGTON
is obscure. William Brid was holding it in 1428. 36
In 1455 it was settled on John Prisot, a judge and
member of the commission for raising funds for the
defence of Calais,36 and his wife Margaret with
remainder to the heirs of Margaret by her former
husband William Walkern.37 Richard Echingham
and his wife Joan were parties to this settlement, and
appear to have been the heirs of Margaret,38 since
the manor subsequently descended to Sir Edward
Echingham of Ipswich, kt.39 In February 1515-16
he sold Wallington Manor for 400 marks to John
Bowles, gent., who already resided at Wallington.40
John Bowles purchased also the manors of Monks
and Montfitchets (q.v.), thus consolidating in Walling-
ton a considerable estate, which he settled upon his
grandson Thomas.41 The latter was aged thirteen at
his grandfather's death, which took place in 1543.42
In his time a single court was held for his manors in
Wallington. In consequence even the tenants of his
son and successor Thomas Bowles began to doubt the
existence of two distinct manors of Monks and
Wallington, while the existence of Montfitchets was
almost forgotten.43 Thomas Bowles the younger
settled the Wallington estate on John son of his eldest
son Lewis with remainders in succession to Lewis
and to the latter's younger brothers, Charles, Thomas
and others. Thomas Bowles died 10 September
1626,44 and John, the grandson, on whom the estate
had been settled, 28 January 1627-8,45 leaving a
brother and heir Thomas. Lewis Bowles survived
till I February 1633—4, when his son Thomas was
still living.40 It is not clear whether this Thomas
was to inherit under his grandfather's settlement. A
Thomas son of Thomas Bowles and probably nephew
of Lewis was dealing with the estate in 1659,47 and
was possibly the same Thomas who in 167 1 sold it
to the Rev. John Breton, D.D., Master of Emanuel
College, Cambridge.48
The latter bequeathed it to Thomas Breton, a
merchant of London, who was succeeded by his son
Francis Breton. A life-interest was bequeathed by
Francis Breton to his widow.49 His daughter and
heir, Alice Breton, married Sir John Jennings of
Newsells in Barkway.50 Their granddaughter Hester
Elizabeth Jennings carried the estate in marriage to
John (Peachey) Lord Selsey.61 Their second son and
ultimate heir Henry John Lord Selsey died childless
16 V.C.H. Herts, i, 331a.
17 Ibid. 336a.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14.
19 V.C.H. Herts, i, 335*.
80 Feud. Aids, ii, 433, 447 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 6 Hen. VI, no. 53.
81 Stacey Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus,
35, where this William is associated with
the monks of St. Albans, who were hold-
ing the manor of ' Monks ' in Wallington.
88 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 229.
8S Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii, 275 ;
cf. i, 169.
84 MSS. D. and C. of St. Paul's, A,
box j i, no. 597 ; cf. A, box 30, no. 453.
85 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
86 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. Si; Lay Subs.
R. bdle. 120, no. 11.
87 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
88 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, pp. 393, 479 et
•eq.
89 Chart. R. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 23.
30 See the account of Hauvills in
Clothall.
31 Cott. Chart, xxvii, 127.
38 See Clothall ; it is remarkable that
Wallington is not mentioned in the
inquisition on John Lee (Chan. Inq. p.m.
44 Edw. Ill, no. 37).
33 Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 9, 12.
34 Cf. Botteles in Clothall.
35 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
36 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; cf. the account of
the altar tomb in the north chapel of the
church.
37 Feet of F. Herts. 33 Hen. VI,
no. 175.
38 Thomas Walkern held Netherwick
in Wallington in right of his wife Joan
about the middle of the 14th century
(Assize R. 339).
39 Close, 8 Hen. VIII, m. 8 ; it M
notable that the manor of Barsham, co.
Suff., which had belonged to the Walling-
ton family and was held by Aymer de
Wallington as late as I 346 (Feud. Aids,
v, 40, 65, 67), also descended to the
Echinghams (Suckling, Hist, of Suff. i,
37 ; Exch. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], file 639,
no. .3).
285
* Close, 8 Hen. VIII, m. 8 ; Feet of
F. Herts. Trin. 9 Hen. VIII.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxviii, 14.
42 Ibid.
43 Chan. Proc. Eliz. B. vi, 6 ; B.xiv, 7.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxviii,
14 ; cccclxxxvii, 1 1 1.
45 Ibid, ccccxc, 84.
46 Ibid.
47 Recov. R. Mich. 1659, m. 126;
since Thomas son of Lewis Bowles was
aged eighteen in 1638 it is scarcely
possible that he could have been succeeded
by a son Thomas by 1659.
48 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts.
48.
49 Ibid, j cf. Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
2 & 3 Jas. II ; Recov. R. Hil. 2 & 3
Jas. II, m. 8.
50 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
'"> 3*>5> 596 ; cf. Feet of F. Herts. East.
6 Anne ; Recov. R. East. 6 Anne, m. 224 ;
East. 15 Geo. II, m. 211.
51 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 596 ; cf.
Recov. R. Mich. 47 Geo. Ill, m. 237.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
10 March 183 8.52 The estate descended to his
sister the Hon. Caroline Mary Peachey, who married
the Rev. Leveson Vernon-Harcourt, and died without
issue in 1 87 1.53 In accordance with her mother's
will, Wallington then passed to Hugh Henry Rose,
Lord Strathnairn of Jhansi, who had distinguished
himself in the command of the Central India Field
Force during the Sepoy Mutiny.54 He died in 1885,
and his estate was administered by his great-nephew
Admiral the Hon. George Henry Douglas, who
succeeded to the Wallington property.55
Apparently Mr. John Dorsett Owen of Plastyn
Grove, Ellesmere, Salop, purchased the whole of the
Wallington estate, which was held by his trustees after
his death in March 1905. They sold to Mr. Philip
Arnold. The estate has again been divided in recent
years. The Manor Farm, with the manorial rights,
was purchased by Mr. Hugh Rayner, junior, whose
father has long been tenant of the farm. The Bury
Farm was purchased in two lots by Colonel H. A.
Remer and Mr. Pratt.56
Half a knight's fee in Wallington was held early in
the 14th century as a separate tenement. Richard
de Hoggeswell held it of the lord of Wallington in
1303.57 He was still living at Wallington about
1322.58 He seems to have been succeeded by
William de Hoggeswell, but this holding evidently
escheated to the lord of Wallington before 1428,59
and was probably absorbed in the main manor.
MONKS' MJNOR in Wallington and Clothall
originated in grants of lands to the monks of
St. Albans by William son of Robert de Wallington
and several others.60 These gifts were confirmed by
Henry II between the years I 174 and I182.61 It
was probably assigned to the use of the monks' kitchen,
as was Wallington Church.62 In 1291 the manor
was worth £j I zs. 4<«'.63 The lands, with reservation
of the courts baron and view of frankpledge, were let
to farm in the 1 6th century and were held by John
Bowles,64 who was also tenant of the monks' lands in
Bygrave (q.v.).
The manor was purchased in June 1 540 by
John Sewster of Ashwell.65 He alienated it in the
same year to John Bowles,65" who thus completed the
consolidation of the Wallington estate.
A field called ' Monks' Piece ' still belongs to
Wallington Manor.66
The manor of MONTFITCHETS is probably
identical with 3 hides all but 20 acres held of Robert
Gernon by a certain William in 1086. This land
had been held by Alvric, a man of Goduin son of
Ulestan.67 It was probably acquired in the time of
Henry I by William Montfitchet together with the
estate at Letchworth held of Robert by the William
of Domesday Book.68 The overlordship apparently
descended in the Montfitchet family. Richard Mont-
fitchet (son of Gilbert and grandson of William)
succeeded to the Letchworth Manor (q.v.) about I 1 90.
The latter's son and heir died about 1258, and the fee
of Montfitchet in Wallington was ultimately assigned
to Margery Corbet, granddaughter of his sister
Margery.69 It was held by the service of a quarter of
a knight's fee.70 As in the case of Letchworth a sub-
feoffment seems to have taken place, the actual tenant
of Montfitchets being John Muschet,71 a name which
is possibly a corruption of Montfitchet.72 With
Letchworth the Wallington quarter-fee had certainly
come by 1 295 to a younger branch of the Montfitchet
family.73 It seems possible that the feoffment was
made to a younger son of Willi.im Montfitchet during
the I 2th century, as in 1198 Richard son of William
Montfitchet unjustly disseised Warin son of John of a
tenement in Wallington.74 Before 1295 the over-
lordship had been acquired by Philip Burnell, heir of
the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and was assigned to
his widow Maud.75
The subsequent history of Wallington Montfitchets
is identical with that of Letchworth Montfitchets
until 1539, when John Hanchet, gent., sold the
former to John Bowles,76 who had already purchased
the main manor of Wallington. Thenceforward
these two manors have been amalgamated.
The church of ST. MARY consists
CHURCH of chancel 27 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in., north
chapel 24 ft. by II ft. 6 in., nave
47 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., south porch 10 ft. 6 in. by
9 ft., west tower 11 ft. square; all internal dimen-
sions.
The walls are of flint rubble, all covered with
cement except the chancel, the dressings are of stone ;
the chancel roof is slated, that over the nave being
covered with lead.
The general walling of the nave and chancel may
be of the 14th century, but the absence of such early
detail makes the date uncertain. The west tower
belongs to the beginning of the 15th century, and
the north chapel and north nave aisle were probably
added shortly afterwards, and at the same time new
windows were inserted throughout ; the south porch
is of late 15th-century date. In 1864 the chancel
was almost entirely rebuilt and a new chancel arch
inserted.
All the details of the chancel are modern with the
exception of the arch opening into the north chapel,
which dates from about 1440-50. It is four-centred
and consists of two wave-moulded orders, the outer
order being continuous, the inner resting on shafts
with moulded capitals and bases.
The east window of the chapel is of three cinque-
foiled lights with rectilinear tracery under a four-
centred arch ; the two windows in the north wall
have each three lights under a four-centred arch. In
the south wall are the remains of a piscina projecting
from the wall on a semi-octagonal moulded pedestal ;
62 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vii, 109.
63 P.O. Dir. 1866, 1870; Burke,
Landed Gentry.
64 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Odsey Hund.
82 ; G.E.C. op. cit. vii, 291.
53 Times, 24 Dec. iSS;.
66 Inform, from the Rev. Charles W.
Clarke, rector. 5; Feud. Aids, ii, 4.3 3.
68 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 11.
59 Feud. Aids, ii, 447.
60 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 229 ; Cott. MS.
Nero D vii, fol. 95.
«' Dugdale, loc. cit.
«> Ibid. 2 32.
63 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 51 A.
64 Partic. for Grants (Augm. Off.),
Hen. VIII, no. 982 (1).
« L. and P. Hen. Fill, xv, 831 (45).
65» Ibid. (49) ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
32 Hen. VIII.
66 Inform, from the Rev. Charles W.
Clarke, rector.
61 V.C.H. Herts, i, 324a.
es Cf. the account of Letchworth.
286
69 Cal. Gen. i, 224 ; Cal. Close, 1272-9,
pp. 82, 84.
70 Feud. Aids, ii, 433, 447.
71 Cal. Close, 1272-9, pp. 82, 84.
7a See under Letchworth.
73 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463; cf.
Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex.
7« Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 155.
75 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463.
76 Feet of F. Herts. East. 31 Hen. VIII ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 31 Hen. VIII,
m. 9d.
Wallincton Church : I Sth-century Altar Tomi
ODSEY HUNDRED
in the north-east angle, high up in the wall, is a
stone roof corbel carved with an angel bearing a
shield.
On the north side of the nave is an arcade of three
bays with pointed arches of two moulded orders upon
piers composed of four semicircular shafts separated
by hollows ; the shafts have moulded capitals and
bases ; the shafts on the east and west sides of each
pier are larger than those on the north and south,
and their capitals are deeper. In the east end of the
south wall is a low-side window of two cinquefoiled
lights under a square head, very similar in position
and detail to that at Hinxworth Church, and belong-
ing to the same period (about 1440). The two
other windows in the south wall are of three plain
lights under four-centred
arches ; these belong to the
1 5th century, as also does the
south doorway of two moulded
orders with label. In the
north-east angle of the nave
is the doorway to the stair to
the rood loft. The roof over
the nave is of the 15 th cen-
tury, plain.
In the north wall of the
north aisle are three windows
similar to those in the north
wall of the chapel, and the
west window in the aisle is
like the east window of the
chapel. The north doorway
is blocked ; it has a four-
centred arch under a square
head. The roof over the aisle
is original, about 1440-50,
and has moulded principals
with carved bosses at the in-
tersections ; at the feet of the
principals are carved figures
of angels. The roof is carried
to a point a little to the east
of the chapel screen, the re-
mainder of the chapel having
a flat panelled modern roof.
The outer doorway of the
south porch is of two moulded
orders, the inner order form-
ing the arch and resting on
shafted jambs with moulded
capitals and bases, the outer
order being carried over
square ; the arch spandrels are
pierced. On either side of the porch is a three-light
window, most of the stone-work being modern. In
the north-east corner are the remains of a stoup.
The tower arch is of three orders, a plain splay
between two hollow chamfers ; the semi-octagonal
responds have moulded capitals and bases. The
buttressed tower is of three stages ; the west window
in the first stage is of two trefoiled lights with quatre-
foiled opening above ; the second stage has a narrow
single light on the south side ; the belfry windows
are each of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoiled
opening in the head, but are much decayed ; the
tower is finished with an embattled parapet.
A 15th-century oak screen separates the north
aisle from the chapel ; the open upper panels have
WALLINGTON
traceried heads, and the lower closed panels are also
traceried. The doorway has an ogee crocketed arch ;
a portion of the carved and moulded cornice remains.77
There are some plain old pre-Reformation seats in
the nave, and the oak communion table belongs to
the early part of the 17th century.
In the north window of the chapel are some
fragments of 16th-century glass with the arms of
Piggot and Prysot.
In the chapel is a 15th-century altar tomb panelled
alternately with cusped niches containing small figures
of saints, and large cinquefoiled panels containing
shields bearing the arms of Piggot and Prysot ; on
the west end one panel contains a shield, and the
other a carving of a pelican in her piety. On the
Wallington Church from the South-east
covering slab are indents of a man and his wife, four
shields and a marginal inscription. In the nave floor
is a slab to Richard Blow, who died in 1698. In
the chapel are the indents of an early 16th-century
brass of a man and his wife, with four sons and four
daughters, also two shields and a representation of
the Trinity, and in the south porch is the indent of
a 15th-century brass of a priest or civilian.
In the churchyard are remains of the old font,
which is much broken. The octagonal bowl is of
the late 1 2th century, and has shallow arched sink-
ings on the sides ; the clunch base is of the 15 th
century and is moulded with cusped panels.
77 In 1495 Laurence Harrys left money for painting the rood
loft and its images (P.C.C. Wills, ll Vox).
287
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
There are five bells, all by John Briant, 1 794.
The communion plate consists of a cup of 1754,
paten of 1840, a modern plated flagon and two
pewter almsdishes.
The registers are in three books : (i) baptisms and
burials from 1661 to 1753, marriages 1661 to 175 1 ;
(ii) baptisms and burials from 1754 to 1 8 1 2 ; (iii)
marriages from 1754 to 1812.
The church was given to the
ADVOWSON monks of St. Albans with the manor
of Monks by William de Welling-
ton.78 In 1218 Honorius III confirmed the assign-
ment of Wallington and Bygrave Churches to the use
of the kitchen of the monastery.79 Apparently no
appropriation took place, but an annuity of £ I was
assigned to the abbot.80 The right of presentation
remained with successive abbots until the Dissolution,
but the advowson for one turn was often granted by
the abbot to private individuals.81
The subsequent history of the advowson is coinci-
dent with that of Monks Manor until 1660, when
Thomas Bowles sold the advowson for one turn to
Neville Butler.82 Upon the death of his nominee,
which took place in 17 14, Francis Ereton, to whom
the advowson then reverted, gave it to the Master of
Emanuel College, Cambridge, on condition that the
incumbent should always be a Fellow of the College.83
The advowson was subsequently transferred to
Mr. Owen, who died in 1905. It was purchased by
the late Mrs. Clara Risdon.84
In 1 64; the ejected minister, John Bowles, evidently
a relative of Thomas Bowles, then patron of the
living, assaulted William Sherwin, a Puritan divine
of some note, who had been appointed to the living
upon its sequestration.86 Sherwin ceased to preach
at Wallington either in 1660 or in 1662.86
In 1736 the Rev. John Browne
CHARITIES by his will gave £100 for a school-
mistress. The same testator also
gave £20 for aged poor, the interest to be distributed
every year on Easter Monday. These legacies were
invested in £131 17/. \d. consols with the official
trustees, and in 1868 ^106 13/. \d. stock was sold
to provide a cottage and premises for the residence
of a schoolmistress. By an order of the Charity
Commission, dated 5 August 1904, it was determined
that the cottage and premises and a sum of £3 \s. $d.
consols should form the endowment of ' Browne's
Educational Foundation,' and the residue £2 I lgs. yd.
consols should form the endowment of ' Browne's
Charity for the Poor.'
Joseph Edmonds gave, but at what period is un-
known, a sum of £5, the interest to be paid to the
most constant communicants among the poor. This
legacy was invested in £$ 8/. z,d. consols in the name
of the official trustees, producing zs. id. yearly.
In the Parliamentary returns of 1 786 it is stated
that £$0 was given many years ago by an unknown
donor for the benefit of the poor. This sum was
invested in 1864 in £32 18/. jd. consols in the
name of the official trustees, producing 16s. \d.
yearly.
The income arising from ' Browne's Charity for
the Poor ' and the two last-mentioned charities is
distributed among poor communicants and those
attending church.
rs Cott. MS. Nero D vii, fol. 95 ;
Dugdale, Mon. ii, 219.
79 Dugdalc, op. cit. 232.
60 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37.
81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 69 ;
Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 27; 1348-50,
p. 306 j Wethamstede, Reg. Mon. S.
Albani (Rolls Ser.), ii, 4, 71, 88, 117,
16;, 224.
82 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Cussans, Hut.
of Herts. Odiey Hund. 85.
83 Cussans, loc. cit.
84 Inform, from the Rev. Charles
Clarke, rector.
85 Add. MS. 15669, fol. 186, 365.
86 Diet. Nat. Bhg.
288
THE HUNDRED OF BRAUGHING
CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF
BISHOP'S STORTFORD
BRAUGHING
EASTWICK
GILSTON
HUNSDON
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
STANDON
STANSTEAD ABBOTS
THORLEY
THUNDRIDGE
WARE
WESTMILL
WIDFORD
' ■*».
Braughing Hundred is large in area in proportion to the number of its
parishes. Its boundary has changed little since the earliest records of it.
Widford and Cockhamsted
were both in Edwinstree
Hundred in 1086, but assess-
ments of the 14th century
show that Widford had been
transferred to Braughing
before that date,1 whilst
Cockhamsted does not later
appear to have had any
separate entity either civil
or ecclesiastic, but to have
been included in the parish of
Braughing in this hundred.
Besides the vills of the
Domesday Survey which
correspond with the other
civil parishes in the list of
1 8 3 1 ,3 there were then also
Wickham3 and Eia.4 Wick-
ham was a separate vill for
judicial5 and fiscal purposes as late as the 14th century, but four persons
only were assessed under its name for a subsidy in 1307.6 Later it was
included in Bishop's Stortford. Eia must have lain not far from Wickham,
for it seems to have been originally included in the same assessment (see
below), but no further mention of it has been found, and there seems to be
no survival of the name. Gilston is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey,
and seems to have been then included in Sawbridgeworth. Thundridge,
although assessed by itself in 1086,7 does not seem to have had any
. , —
Index Map to the Hundred of Braughing
1 See Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
8 Pop. Ret. 1 8 3 1 .
3 V.C.H. Herts, i, 308a, 332^ 335^.
4 Ibid. 31 \a.
6 Assize K. 325 (15 Edw. I).
289
6 Subs. R. bdle. 120, no.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 311a.
37
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
independent existence for civil purposes later,8 and ecclesiastically was a
chapelry to Ware.
The assessment of this hundred was evidently based on a 6-hide unit.
This is shown clearly in the assessment of Bishop's Stortford9 at 6 hides,
Stanstead,10 Eastwick11 and Hunsdon12 together at 241 hides, Westmill13
at 12 hides, Standon 14 and Thundridge15 together at 12 hides, and Ware16
at 24 hides. The total as it stands (counting Stanstead, Hunsdon and
Eastwick at 24 hides, which must have been the original number) is
116 hides 3 virgates 21 acres. Evidently 3 hides and 9 acres had dropped
out of an original assessment of 120 hides. These 3 hides and 9 acres,
if distributed among Sawbridgeworth, Thorley, Braughing, Wickham and
Eia (the only places in 1086 not corresponding with the 6-hide unit),
bring up the assessment of Sawbridgeworth and Thorley together to 30 hides,
Braughing to 6 hides, and Wickham and Eia together to 6 hides, which
was probably the original apportionment.17
The conditions of tenure before the Conquest show comparatively few
estates held in demesne by tenants of any importance, but a great number
of holdings, some of very small extent, in the hands of 'men,' sokemen, or
thegns of the larger landholders.18 Thus Asgar the Staller had, besides a
large estate formed of Sawbridgeworth and most of Thorley, men or
sokemen at five different places ; Earl Harold, who had no demesne lands in
this hundred, had tenants also in five places, and six tenants of the king held
land in the hundred. King Edward himself had no lands in demesne, but
from the pre-Conquest tenants given in the Domesday Survey it seems
probable that Braughing, Westmill, Hunsdon, and Eastwick were once in
the king's hands, whilst the payment to the king's sheriff due from Stanstead
Abbots points to that also having been once royal demesne. The result of
the Conquest was a considerable simplification of tenure, most of the
divided estates of 1066 being held in 1086 by some great Norman baron
who had taken over, not only a pre-Conquest lord's own estate, but also
those of his sokemen (cf. the holding of Asgar the Staller and his men in
Stanstead, Sawbridgeworth, Thorley and Wickham acquired by Geoffrey de
Mandeville and the holding of Alwin of Godtone and his men in Stanstead
acquired by Ranulf). This may be compared with the tenurial conditions
in Odsey Hundred, where the small, divided estates of the pre-Conquest
period seem in many cases to have survived the changes in ownership
(cf. particularly Hinxworth).19
8 Its original assessment was evidently with Standon (see below), but later it was included for fiscal
purposes in Ware (cf. Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8 [i Edw. II], where the lord of the manor of Thundridge
[Adam de Swillington] is assessed under Ware). See also Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I), where it is called the
' hamlet of Thundridge.'
9 V.C.H. Herts, i, 308*. 10 Ibid. 326^, 332*7, 335a, 34.3^. u Ibid. 335^.
12 Ibid. 344A 13 Ibid. 324^, 325*7. 14 Ibid. 343^.
1S Ibid. 31 la. 16 Ibid. 326^.
17 Sawbridgeworth was assessed at 24J hides (V.C.H. Herts, i, 3 3 2rt), Thorley at \\ hides (ibid. 308*;,
332^). These with I hide added make up 30 hides. Braughing needs I hide added to its 5 hides (ibid.
322*7) to make up 6. Wickham (ibid. 308*7, 332^, 335*^) was assessed at 4 hides 1 virgate 21 acres, and
Eia (ibid. 311*7) at \ hide. These with I hide and 9 acres added make 6 hides. These additions make up
the 3 hides 9 acres. 18 See Domesday Survey, V.C.H. Herts, i, 288.
19 The numerous manors found in Standon and Ware in Braughing Hundred at a later date may
perhaps represent arrangements made before the Conquest, the tenants of that date continuing to hold, but
under the new Norman lord.
290
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Very little information is to be found in regard to the hundred court.
The hundred was a royal one,20 and remained in the king's hands until
granted by Elizabeth to Sir William Cecil in 1 57 1 .21 The descent then
follows that of Hertford Hundred (q.v.). The court must have been originally
held at Braughing, which seems to have been a place of importance. It
was probably part of the ancient demesne of the Crown,22 and was the head
of a deanery,23 besides giving its name to the hundred. Whether the three
weekly court continued to be held at Braughing is not clear from the
evidence, but in the 14th century the sheriff's tourn was held at the
neighbouring village of Puckeridge.24
The jurisdiction of the sheriff was limited by the usual private
franchises. In 1287 no fewer than six lords claimed the right to hold
view of frankpledge at Sawbridgeworth, three claimed it in Gilston, three at
Thorley, and one at Ware.26 Rather earlier the lord of Standon had been
presented for non-payment of 1 6s. for sheriff's aid, 1 mark for view of
frankpledge and for withdrawal of suit at the hundred and county court,
which ought to have been rendered for the whole vill by the tenant of
certain lands whose tenure made him responsible for rendering the suit.26
The lords of Braughing and Eastwick were presented at the same time for
similar encroachments, all of which were said to have been made within the
last twenty years.27 Bishop's Stortford, as a borough, was independent of
the hundred in the appearance before the justices of assize, and sometimes
also for purposes of local assessment.28
20 Assize R. 325, m. 25 (15 Edw. I) ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 190.
21 Pat. 13 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 21.
22 See Assize R. 6 Edw. I (Agard's MS. index, fol. 98^).
23 The deanery was not coincident with the hundred. It included most of the places in Braughing
Hundred, the greater part of Edwinstree Hundred, and a few parishes in Odsey.
24 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 41.
25 Assize R. 32;, m. 25 (15 Edw. I).
26 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188 ; cf. p. 193, where suit is said to be owed by the reeve and four men.
Possibly the Geoffrey de Leukenure mentioned in the other passage was the reeve.
27 Ibid. 191.
28 See Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 25 (1+ Edw. III).
291
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
BISHOP'S STORTFORD1
Stortford (xi-xvi cent.) ; generally Bishop's Stort-
ford after xvii cent ; variants are found such as
Storfurde (xvi cent.),2 Stanford and Stafford (xvii
rent.).3
Bishop's Stortford is a parish of 3,284 acres, of which
1 3 are water. Nearly one half of the area is arable
land, permanent grass is rather less than a third, whilst
woods and plantations only cover about 1 60 acres.4
These returns show a considerable change in propor-
tion since the Domesday extent of the manor, which
must have included most of the parish ; the return of
meadow was for one plough team only and of woodland
for 300 swine. Hoggate's Wood to the north of the
town, part of Bloodhound's Wood, High Wood,
Great Plantains Wood on the west of the parish and
part of Birchanger Wood on the east are now the only
woods of any size. An inclosure award was made
for the parish in 1826 under an Act of 1820. 5 The
principal common fields were Prestley Field (Prestlaye,
1396 ; Priestlay, 1656), Hockerill Field, Bishop Field
on the east, Apton or Appleton Field on the west,
South Mill Field on the south, Broad Field and
Common Down on the north.0
The navigable river Stort flows through the parish
from north to south, forming for a little way the
north-eastern boundary between Stortford and Bir-
changer. The p.irish is intersected by the road from
London to Cambridge which runs north and south,
and crossing this from east to west is a road partly
coinciding with the Roman Stane Street, which con-
nects Stortford with Great Dunmow on the east and
Little Hadham and Braughing on the west, whilst
a branch from it to the south runs through Standon
to Ermine Street. Many fragments of Roman
pottery have been found on the brickfield owned by
Mr. J. L. Glasscock on the east side of the main
road from Hockerill to Cambridge, and Roman coins
of the Lower Empire have been found in Castle
Garden. Of prehistoric remains there are two
palaeolithic implements, the tusk and tooth of elefhas
primigemus found near Potters Street, and the
skeleton of a horse attributed to the neolithic period.
Two iron Anglo-Saxon spear heads have also been
found.7
The town of Stortford is situated in the south of
the parish on the River Stort. It must have been a
little to the south of the Roman road if that road
continued, as is probable, in a straight line across the
Stort. The town evidently grew up round the ford,
and it seems likely that the site of the castle was
chosen so as to command the ford, which would
account for its position on such low ground. This
ford was possibly safer than the ford or bridge further
north where the Roman road originally crossed the
river, and so the old line of road was abandoned, and
a loop line brought south across the second ford.
This, the present road, passes in a westerly direction
through the town, where it is called successively
Hockerill Street, the Causeway, High Street and
Windhill, then turns to the north and rejoins Stane
Street to the west of the town. Intersecting this
road and running from south to north is the road
from London to Cambridge. The line of this
road now follows a course to the east of the town,
passing through Hockerill. But the earlier route
was probably that of the road which, leaving the
present London Road to the south of the town just
before that road crosses the Stort,8 runs right through
the town where it is called South Street until its
intersection with the road running east and west and
is continued as North Street on the other side. At
Northgate End it turns to the east, then to the north,
and eventually rejoins the other line of the road
to Cambridge. The town is also connected by road
with Farnham to the north-west and Much Hadham
to the south-west.
The four main streets of the town, North Street,
South Street, Windhill and High Street, form a
cross. The names North Street and South Street
occur in the I 3th century, whilst Cornmarket Street
of that date possibly represents the present High
Street. Fyl Street and Water Lane are also men-
tioned then.9 With so many lines of communication
Stortford was a place of great commercial activity
as far back as we have any records of it. The
Bishops of London seem to have had a prescrip-
tive right to a market there, for no grant is on
record. The market-place is in the centre of the
town in the south-west angle at the intersection of
the two roads. Converging on it were rows (probably
of permanent booths) called the Fish Row,10 the
Spicery Row,11 the Mercery,12 the Buchery,13 Shop
Row,14 Barley Hill and Wheat Hill.15 The Fish
Row or Market which branched off from High Street
lay to the west of the present corn exchange.16
Continuing to the south was Potters Hill or Potters
Cross,17 otherwise Pultry or Poultry Hill and later
the Leather Market. A cross called Potters Cross
stood here and was possibly the market cross.18
Tanning and leather making were important in-
dustries of the town 19 ; tanning was carried on in
the 15 th century in Water Lane.20 The names
of thirteen token issuers at Stortford during the
second half of the 17th century are known. Nineteen
1 In this account of Bishop's Stortford
the writer has been much indebted to
Mr. J. L. Glasscock for his help and
suggestions.
* L. and P. Hen. Fill, viii, p. 339.
3 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 1 59, 268.
4 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
6 Blue Bk. Intl. Awards.
6 Information from Mr. J. L. Glass-
cock.
7 Evans, And. Stone Impl. 602 ; Evans,
Arch. Surv. of Herts, j information from
Mr. J. L. Glasscock.
8 The earlier road is likely to have
avoided the crossing, as the Saxons were
not engineers.
9 Rentals and Surv. R. 298.
10 Glasscock, Rec. of St. Michael's,
Bishop's Stortford, 94.
11 Ibid. 140.
12 Ibid. 4.
13 Add. Chart. 5295.
14 Rentals and Surv. R. 299 ; Glass-
cock, op. cit. 70.
15 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 51.
16 Glasscock, And. Crosses of Stortford,
25-
17 See will of John Potter of Potter-
292
crowche, 1433, printed in Herts. Gen. i,
384.
18 Glasscock, Anct. Crones of Stortford,
25.
19 Cf. the frequent occurrence of
Tanner and Skinner as a surname on
the court rolls, &c, and in Glasscock, Rec.
of St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford, 45, 70.
20 Ibid. 102. A decree was made in
the court baron at the beginning of the
17th century that no one having stalls
or standing in the fish market should let
them to any tanner or shoemaker on
pain of 20j.
Bishop's Stortford : St. Joseph's, formerly Wind Hill House
[From ' A History of the Families ofSkeet, Somerscales and others ')
BRAUGHING HUNDRED BISHop
of their tokens are extant, of which the dated ones
range from 1666 to 1669, and all of which were
probably issued between 1665 and 1680.21
Fairs were held at Stortford three times a year, on
the feasts of St. Michael, Ascension and Corpus
Christi. Part of the fairs were held inside the
churchyard until the end of the 1 6th century.22 A
schoolhouse stood near the churchyard in the 15 th
century, where a chantry school was probably carried
on.23 The grammar school founded by Margaret
Dane in 1579 was a building abutting on the High
Street on the north and on Church Lane on the
west. The library adjoined the schoolhouse ; this
was collected chiefly by Dr. Thomas Leigh, vicar of
Stortford. On the refounding of the school by
Dr. Tooke, the Wheat Hill market-house was acquired
in 1699, and a schoolhouse built on arches over the
market-house with the west front looking over the
churchyard.24
Destroyed either at the Reformation or during
the Commonwealth were four crosses which stood in
roads leading from the town of Stortford. Collin's
Cross probably stood on the site still called by
that name at the point where the road from
Takeley joins the road leading from Hockerill to
Stanstead. It was probably named from the family
of Colin who were living here from the 13th cen-
tury onward. The name also survives in Collin's
Croft. Crabb's Cross stood on the road now called
Rye Street leading from Stortford towards Manuden,
probably at a four-want-way made by the inter-
section of this road with an ancient way (now a
water-course) to Farnham. Crabb was a common
surname in the parish, and the family has given its
name to Crabb's Croft, Crabb's Croft Mead and
Crabb's Field in the immediate neighbourhood of
the site above indicated. A third cross was Wayte
Cross, which stood at the junction of Maze Green
Road with the old road from Stortford to Little
Hadham on a site now occupied by the grounds
of Westfield (the modern name for Waite Field)
House. Close by was Waite Field,25 and Wayte
Strete 26 was probably the name of the road leading
from the cross to the town. Maple Cross, the fourth
cross, is said by Chauncy to have stood on the south
of the town, probably on the old South Road leading
from Stortford to London.27 Its exact site and also
the derivation of the name are uncertain.
Like other market towns with a powerful lord of
the manor, Stortford had to some extent a burghal
constitution, but there seems to be no truth in the
story told by Chauncy and repeated by other historians
of its having received this constitution from King
John, for as far as is known he gave no charter
to the town. It appears to have been a mesne
S STORTFORD
borough held of the Bishops of London. At
the beginning of the 14th century separate courts
were held for the barony and the borough,28 but
later only manorial courts were held, at which the
borough presented separately from the ' upland ' by
1 2 burgesses and separate officers were elected.29
The burgage tenants could alienate by charter, and on
entering into a tenement they paid a variable sum
ranging from 8d. to 20</. for the freedom of the
borough. In 1344—5 t^le burgage rents amounted
to §s. \d. for the year.30 In the 13th and 14th
centuries the township is found presenting separately
from the hundred before the justices of assize,31 and
in a subsidy collected in 1340 it is classed as a
borough with Hertford and assessed separately from
the rest of the county.32 As the head of the Bishop
of London's barony it was important enough to send
members to Parliament in the 14th century. Two
members were summoned from it to the Parliaments
held in 1311,33 1312, I 3 1 3, 1314-15, 1318, 1320,
1322,34 and 1 340-1. 35
The number of inns which appear in the records
of the town witness to its active commercial life.36
Many of these are still standing, although most of
them have been much altered. The White Horse
Inn in North Street is a house of two stories built of
brick and plastered timber, in plan the shape of an L-
The overhanging upper story is plastered and
decorated with square and diamond-shaped plaster
panels containing ornamental designs. The Half
Moon Inn in the same street is a timber house
which was restored about thirty years ago. In High
Street there is the Boar's Head Inn, built about 1600
of timber and plaster, but so much altered that the
original plan is obscured. The projecting wings as
well as the main building are gabled. In a few of the
windows are still the old metal casements ; the quarter-
circle bay windows in the re-entering angles are an
1 8th-century addition. In the stables there has
been inserted a moulded beam with a defaced carved
boss of the 15 th century. There is an embattled oak
beam of the 1 5 th century over the fireplace in the top
room. The Grapes Inn in South Street is probably
of the late 1 6th century. It is built of timber and
plaster. An original angle bracket is hidden behind
a square corner. On the other side of the same street
is a house now known as the Reindeer Inn of the 1 6th
or 17th century. This is not the Reindeer Inn of
Pepys fame, kept by the notorious Betty Ainsworth,
which stood at the corner of Fish Street and High
Street on the site now occupied by Messrs. Walker's
Stores. In Bridge Street is the Black Lion Inn, a
16th-century timber and plaster rectangular house of
two stories and an attic. The upper story overhangs
on the north and east, and the attic again projects ;
al Information from Mr. J. L. Glasscock.
»» Shi. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 13.
23 This and the Gatehouse, close by,
paid a rent to the church (Glasscock,
Rec. of St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford, 4).
24 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 81.
25 Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
170.
26 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. 3 ;
Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 65, 66.
Wadeswyk is another name found in the
14th century (Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 66).
This is probably the same word, for
WadesmiU in Standon is found asWates-
mill (Cott. MS. Nero, vi E, fol. 120).
27 The account of these crosses is
taken from Glasscock, And. Crosses of
Stortford, Mr. Glasscock has found re-
ference also to a ' Shyrte Cross ' (Rentals
and Surv. R. 299), which may possibly
be another name for one of those above
mentioned.
25 MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's,
Press A, box 64, no. 23.
23 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 65,
66.
30 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1140, no.
31 See Assize R. 318 (32 Hen. Ill);
320 (39 Hen. Ill) ; 325 (15 Edw. I) ;
293
see also Agard's MS. index to Assize R.
6 Edw. I.
32 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 25.
33 This Parliament was first summoned
in August 131 1, but was prorogued and
re-summoned in November 131 1. At
the second summons Stortford did not, so
far as we know, return any members.
34 Ret. of Memb. of Pari, i, 23 ;
V.C.H. Herts. Families, 295.
3i The names of these two members
are given by Willis Browne in Notitia Pari.
30 Glasscock, Rec. of St. Michael's,
Bishop's Stortford; Rentals and Surv.
R. 299; Ct. Rolls, &c.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
on the north the upper story has a moulded sill with
a twisted ornament and is carried on carved brackets.
On the upper floor of the north front, on each side of
two modern oriel windows, is a row of small lights
with moulded oak frames and mullions. On the east
there are also two small blocked windows with oak
mullions. The house contains some 17th-century
panelling. The Star Inn in the same street is a
1 7th-century house of timber and plaster, much re-
stored. There is a carved bracket under the eaves.
Besides the inns there are a number of interesting
old houses in the town, principally of the 1 7th century.
St. Joseph's, formerly Wind Hill House, west of the
church, is an early 17th-century L-shaped house of
two stories and attics. It was apparently encased in
the 1 8th century with brick walls, and was much
died without issue in 1866. His brother Thomas
succeeded, and on his death the house descended to
Mr. Frederick Wilby (lord of Piggotts Manor, q.v.).
In 1903 it was acquired by the Provincial of the
Redemptorist order for the Redemptorist Fathers,
who since May 1900 had occupied a small house in
the Portland Road, to which an iron church was
attached. A church dedicated in honour of St. Joseph
and the English Martyrs was built on the site of the
stables of Wind Hill House, and opened by Cardinal
Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, in 1906. One
of the stained glass windows has fragments of old
glass said to have come out of St. Michael's Church.
Previous to the arrival of the Redemptorist Fathers
in the parish a small house of Belgian nuns (Sceurs
de Ste. Marie) had been established in the Grange
The White Horse Inn, Bishop's Stortford
altered in the following century. It contains a
17th-century heavy oak staircase, with moulded hand-
rail, carved balustrade and panelled and moulded
newels. The entrance hall on the east of the stair-
case was formerly part of the large hall and has the
remains of an ornamental plastered ceiling. This house
belonged in the 1 8th century to the Clapp family, and
was probably used in connexion with the old Stortford
School.37 In 1 806 it became the property of the
Wilby family, who enlarged it and put in a fresh
front. Mr. William Wilby of Wind Hill House
died in 1827 and was buried in St. Michael's.
His son Thomas died without issue in 1 847, when
the property passed to his nephew William, who also
Road in 1896. The sisters afterwards bought Wind
Hill Lodge, where they built a large convent by the
side of the old house, and they now have a school
there.38 The house no. I 2 North Street is probably
of the I 7th century and retains some of the old beams.
In High Street there is a timber and plaster house
of three stories (now divided into two dwellings,
nos. 10 and 12) of the early 17th century. It has
two gables and projecting upper stories, with carved
brackets under the second floor. There are two
oriel windows on the first floor, and all the windows
have wooden frames and mullions. On the north
side of Bridge Street, opposite the ' Black Lion,' is a
16th-century house with a hipped roof, now occupied
57 In 1768 Dr. Johnson's negro servant
Francis Barker was at school at ' Mrs.
Clapp's.' The Rev. Joseph Clapp was head
master of the school ; he died in 1767.
294
88 Information supplied by M-ijo
Skeet.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED bishops stortford
by a saddler, in which is a ceiling ornamented with
some plaster work similar to that in the hall at Wind
Hill House.39 Several other houses on the same side
of the street have gabled roofs. An old house called
Feckinghams or Fockinghams in Basbow Lane was
pulled down between 1870 and 1880 by the owner,
Mr. G. E. Sworder.40
The most important event in the later history of
the town was the construction of the canal called
the Stort Navigation by George Jackson (afterwards
Sir George Duckett, bart.), under Act of Parlia-
ment passed in 1765.41 The canal was begun
in 1766 and finished in 1769. The improved
water communication stimulated the manufacture of
malt, which has always been the chief industry.42
Between 1801 and 1891 the population increased
about fifteen years ago by Messrs. Benskins. Other
industries include brickfields, limekilns, coach and
sacking works, a hatters' furrier manufactory, and a
foundry. The corn exchange at the corner of
Market Place was built in 1828.44 The fairs held
on Holy Thursday and Thursday after Trinity Sunday
were abolished in 1893, but the corn market is still
held in Market Square and cattle and poultry markets
at Northgate End and North Street. The tolls have
been recently given to the town by Sir Walter Gilbey,
bart., lord of the manor, and are now collected by the
urban district council.45
Petty sessions were held at Bishop's Stortford for
that parish, Thorley and Sawbridgeworth before
1832, but it was not until that year that it was
proposed to make a separate division of those parishes,
The Black Lion Inn, Bishop's Stortford
from 2,305 to 6,595, an unusual increase for a rural
parish.43 The opening of the Great Eastern railway
also increased the trade, and large quantities of malt
are now exported to London. The old Stortford
Brewery, which occupies a large site between Water
Lane and Northgate End, was founded by Messrs.
Hawker & Co. in the 1 8th century, and was bought
which were then included in the division of Eastwick,
but were said to comprise together more than one-
third of the population of the hundred of Braughing.46
Stortford was made the head of the new petty
sessional division thus formed. The sessions are held
at the police station. In 1866 the Local Govern-
ment Act was adopted by the parish,47 and a board
39 Information supplied by Major F.
Skeet.
40 For this house see Com. Pleas D.
Enr. Mich. 39 Eliz. ; Hil. 6 Chas. I, m. 9.
41 Glasscock, Rec. of St. MichaeTs,
Bishop's Stortford. Sir George Duckett is
buried in the churchyard. As George
Jackson he was for many years secretary
to the Navy Board and Admiralty. Port
Jackson in New Zealand and Port Jackson
in New South Wales were called after
him by his friend Captain Cook the
navigator. He was created a baronet in
1791, and in 1797 he obtained licence to
take the name and arms of Duckett, his
wife being an heiress of that family. See
Duchetiana, by Sir G. F. Duckett, and
G.E.C. Baronetage, v, 273.
42 About 1630 the justices of the
peace for Hertford returned that the
maltsters of Stortford and other towns
in the county were chiefly employed in
295
making malt for the provision of the
houses of the neighbouring gentry, who
sent their own barley to them for this
purpose [Cal. S. P. Dom. 1636-7, p. 323).
48 Herts, and Essex Observer, 30 Mar.
1901.
" Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 109.
45 Information from Mr. J. L. Glasscock.
46 Sea. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 338.
47 Land. Gaz. 7 Dec. 1 866, p. 6835.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
governed the town until 1894., when by the Local
Government Act of that year it was replaced by an
urban district council. The county court district
of Stortford was formed in 1847.48 Stortford is also
the head of a union, the union buildings lying some
way to the south-east of the town, off the Dunmow
Road.49 The isolation hospital of the Hadham and
Stanstead rural district and the Sawbridgeworth
urban district is also in this parish. In 1895 a
hospital was given to the town by members of the
Frere family and built on a site on the north of the
town presented by Sir Walter Gilbey, who also built
the King's Cottage Homes in South Street, to which
an additional block has lately been added by Admiral
F. Van der Meulen.
The ecclesiastical parish of Holy Trinity, New
Town, was formed in 1 860,50 and the church in
South Street built in 1859. A congregation of
Independents was formed here in 1662.51 In the
1 8th century they acquired a chapel in Water Lane,52
and the present Congregational Church, built in
1859, is in that street. Incumbents of some note
were Richard Rawlin, 1687-1759, and John Angus,
I 724-1 80 1.53 A Wesleyan congregation was formed
about 1823, and in 1866 a chapel was built in
South Street. This was superseded by a chapel on
the west side of the road, built about 1908. A
Baptist chapel was built in Sandpit Field in 1819,54
but was pulled down in 1899 and the present
chapel built.55 There were Friends in the parish
as early as 1665, and a meeting-house (successor
to a former one) was built in the New Town Road
in 1709.56 The meeting has now been discontinued,
but the old house still stands on the north side of
the road. Baron Dimsdale, the famous inoculator,
was buried in the Friends' burial ground. The
cemetery on the south of the town was made in 1855.
In Hadham Road is Bishop's Stortford Grammar
School, representing the foundation of Margaret Dane
of 1579. After its discontinuance for many years
the school was revived in 1850, chiefly through the
efforts of the vicar, the Rev. F. W. Rhodes.57 His
son, the Rt. Hon. Cecil Rhodes, was born at a house
at the end of South Street, and was educated at the
grammar school. The Nonconformist school now
called the Bishop's Stortford College in Maze Green
Road was opened in 1868 by the East of England
Nonconformist School Company, who acquired the
buildings and land of the Stortford Collegiate School,
an unsectarian school opened in 1850 just before the
old grammar school was revived. There are public
elementary schools at Northgate End (built in 1839),
in Apton Road (built in 1 872), and in South Street
(built in 1852), a County Council secondary school
built in 1 910 in Warwick Road, and a Technical
Institute in Church Street. The Diocesan Training
College for Schoolmistresses in Hockerill was opened
in 1852.
Hockerill (Hokerhulle, xiv cent.) 5S forms a suburb
of Bishop's Stortford and lies on the east side of
the river at the intersection of the London Road and
the Dunmow Road. Hockerill Bridge is mentioned
in the 14th century.59 Here also are a number of
old houses, among which may be mentioned the 16th-
century timber and plaster house which was once the
Old Red Lion Inn. It is of two stories and has a
projecting upper story carried on two carved brackets.
It contains some 16th-century oak panelling. On
the south side of the main road is a cottage probably
of the early 17th century with original brick central
chimney stack, and the Cock Inn, which is a timber
and plaster house of about 1600 with carved barge-
boards in the gables. At the Crown Inn, which stood
on the south side of Hockerill, the manorial courts of
Bishop's Stortford were held. This was an important
inn in coaching days, as it was the second stopping
place for coaches travelling from London to Cam-
bridge and Newmarket. The premises now used as a
malting were part of the stables.60 The church of
All Saints was built in 1852 and the vicarage in 1894.
An elementary school for boys was built in 1868.
Plaw Hatch, about I mile east of Stortford, is the
residence of Mr. C. J. Hegan, J. P. ; The Grange, of
Sir John Barker, bart., J. P. ; Whitehall, of Mr. T.
Gilbey, J. P. ; and Westfield House, in the Hadham
Road, of Mr. F. Wilby.
The manor of STORTFORD
CASTLE AND was held in the reign of King
MANORS Edward the Confessor by Eddeva
the Fair. After the Conquest it
was sold by William I to William Bishop of London
(1051-75),61 and in 1086 it was held by Hugh
Bishop of London. It was
assessed in the Domesday
Survey at 6 hides. There
was land for ten ploughs,
although there were only six
plough lands under cultiva-
tion ; two mills were then
included in the extent of the
manor.1'2 Stortford remained
part of the lands of the
bishopric until 1868. It
seems to have been usually
farmed out by the Bishops of
London. Occasionally the
offices of keeper of the gaol,
farmer of the manor, farmer of the market and
mills, and farmer of the park were held by the
same person,63 but generally the custody of the
gaol was held separately from the farm of the
manor,61 although accounts for 1346 show the
custodian of the gaol also the farmer of the market
and mills.65 The farm of the whole manor, including
courts, markets, fairs, &c, amounted in 1437-8 to
£40, reservation being made by the lord of the
See of London.
Gules two swords of St.
Paul crossed saltire-wise.
48 Lond. Gaz. 10 Mar. 184^, p. 990.
45 The old workhouse mentioned in
1793 (see Sess. R. [Herts. Co. Rec],
ii, 177) stood on the south side of
Hockerill Street and is now part of a
malting (information from Mr. J, L.
Glasscock).
50 Lond. Gaz. 25 Jan. i860, p. 29:.
51 See Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts.
700 ; Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 207.
52 Clo8ev 19 Geo. II, pt. vi, m. 12.
53 See Diet. Nat. Biog.
54 Urwick, op. cit. 767.
55 Herts, and Essex Observer, 6 Apr.
1901.
66 Urwick, op. cit. 706.
57 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 81.
38 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. I.
59 Ibid.
60 Herts, and Essex Observer, 6 Apr.
1901. Paper by Mr. J. L. Glasscock.
« V.C.H. Herts, i, 308, 279. Tnii
William was a pre-Conquest bishop, who
acquired a number of estates by purchase
from William I.
82 Ibid.
63 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. 41.
64 See ibid. no. to.
65 Ibid. no. 3. Two mills, as men-
tioned above, are given in the Domesday
extent. The mill conveyed in Feet of
F. Div. Co. 10 Hen. Ill, no. 44, may
be another one.
296
Bishop's Stortford Church : The Nave looking East
Bishop's Stortford : Waytemore Castle, South Wall of Keep from Enclosure
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
advowson of the church, wood and underwood on the
manor, warren, fishery, chattels of felons and fugitives.
The park was accounted for separately, the profits of
this arising from the agistment of cattle and the sale
of the underwood.66 The courts of the manor were
held by the farmers.67 Accounts for 1394-5 show
four courts held in that year, at Michaelmas, Epiphany,
Easter, and Trinity, and one view of frankpledge,68
but in the next century, as appears from the court
rolls extant at the Record Office,69 only two courts
were held in the year, one general court about
Michaelmas, and a court and view of frankpledge
usually on the morrow of the feast of Holy Trinity.
Two constables were chosen at the view of frank-
pledge. The common fine payable by the chief
pledges at the same court was \6d. A fine for
recognition called ' Sadelselver ' was levied from the
customary tenants of the manor at the first court held
after a vacancy of the bishopric. It was returned,
however, in 1429 that all the customary lands had
been resumed by the lord and re-granted at farm.
These grants at farm for a period of years are very
common on the court rolls at this date. In 141 5
a tenement in South Street formerly belonging to
the priory of St. James the Apostle of Thremhall, and
then in the lord's hands by reason of the prior's
refusal to pay the rent, was granted to Richard
Pygdon for 1 00 years at a rent of SJ.SSz There
were, however, customary tenants on the manor in the
I 8th century, and such tenants were admitted at courts
baron held for the manor at this date.70 Thomas
Hasler of Tilbury Fort, Essex, was the customary
tenant of land near Goose Meade to which his son
Thomas Hasler was admitted in 1705.71 George
Jackson of the Admiralty (afterwards Sir George
Duckett, bart.) held a messuage on Goose Meade
and land between Town Mill and Goose Meade.72
Grants by the lord of pieces of the waste are
common about this date.73 After 1830 the head-
borough, ale-tasters, flesh and fish-tasters, and cattle
drivers were appointed by the vestry instead of by
the court leet, and so continued to be until 1872,
when the officers were abolished.74 Paid surveyors
of the highway were first appointed in 1836, instead
of those chosen by the town.75 They were superseded
by a Highway Board in 1856, which lasted until the
adoption of the Local Government Act in 1866.
A lease of the manor for twenty-one years from 1 6 14
was made by Richard Bishop of London to Queen Eliza-
beth, who assigned it to Sir Edward Denny in 1 596. 76
The manor, together with the site, park, two water-
mills called Town Mills, and the fairs and markets,
was sold in 1647 by the trustees for the sale of
Bishops' lands to Richard Turner, a citizen and
merchant tailor of London.77 It reverted to the
Bishop of London after the Restoration, and remained
with the see until transferred to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in 1868.
BISHOP'S STORTFORD
For the origin of the castle of Waytemore we have
no exact date."a It was probably one of the numerous
castles raised by William I78 whilst the manor was
in his hands before the sale to William Bishop of
London between 1066 and the bishop's death in
1075. The first mention of it seems to be in the
charter (issued probably on the accession of Maurice
Bishop of London in 1086) by which William I con-
firmed to the see the castle of Stortford and all the
land which William Bishop of London had of the
king.79 At this date the castle must have consisted only
of the earthworks, upon which were erected a timber
keep and other timber defences.80 It was not probably
till the reign of Henry I, or later in the I 2th century,
that masonry works were commenced. The remains
of the keep stand on the summit of an artificial
mound about 42 ft. in height. The plan of the
keep is roughly rectangular, the northern end form-
ing a segment of a circle ; the other three sides
appear to have been straight, but the walls themselves
have been broken down almost to the ground level,
with the exception of some blocks at the south end ;
the whole of the outer and inner facings of the outer
walls, except next the sunk chambers, have completely
disappeared. The average dimensions within the
inclosed area measure about 106 ft. from north to
south and 57 ft. from east to west. At the north-
east and south-east angles are chambers sunk about
7 ft. below the general surface level ; they measure,
respectively, about 18 ft. by 15 ft. 6 in. and
17 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft. ; across the segmental northern
end is a low wall about 2 ft. 6 in. thick, at the west
end of which are traces of a circular turret ; a break
in the main south wall may indicate the former
entrance. The outer and inner walling is built of
flint rubble ; the inner walls at the north end are
bonded irregularly with Roman bricks, with mediaeval
tiles in parts ; no stonework remains in situ. The
flint walling probably dates from the Norman period,
but it is not possible to speak definitely on the point
owing to the lack of detail. At the north end is a
small collection of wrought stones, chiefly limestone,
which have been found on the site ; they comprise
splayed window and door jambs and plinths ; a
moulded stone was also found, which may have sup-
ported an oriel or formed part of a deep string-course.
These stones probably date from the 14th century,
when a licence to crenellate was granted. Portions
of leadwork from window glazing, spurs and frag-
ments of pottery have also been picked up in the
inclosure. A well still exists within the walled
space, the depth of which is about 40 ft. The
castle and grounds are now the property of the
urban district council, which is taking proper care of
the remains.
In 1 137 Anselm Abbot of St. Edmund's, who was
trying to obtain the bishopric of London, took possession
of the castle. His election by a faction in opposition
66 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. 20.
67 Ibid. no. 9, to.
68 Ibid. no. 10.
69 (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 65, 66.
69a Ibid. no. 66.
70 Add. Chart. 27090-105.
n Ibid. 27090.
72 Ibid. 27105. He had seisin in 1794.
For details about him see note 41.
73 See ibid. 27091, ^7093, 27097.
74 J. L. Glasscock, Rec. of St. MichieFs,
Bishop's Stortford, 87. At a court held
in 171 8 bread and butter weighers were
among the officers elected.
75 Ibid. 88.
76 Cat. S. P. Dam. 1595-7, P- 295-
77 Close, 24 Chas. I, pt. xjtvi, no. 43.
n* It has been suggested that Wayte-
more may be identified with the Saxon
Wigingamere, where in 921 a 'burg'
was built by Edward the Elder (Angl.-
Sax. Chron. [Rolls Ser.], ii, 31 ; i, 194 ;
297
see also ii, 82). It may be noticed that
the name Waytemore seems to be con-
nected with the Wayte Field and Wayte
Street also found in this parish (see above).
78 See Round, ' Castles of the Conquest '
{Arch, lviii).
79 Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauTs (1658),
196. The charter is taken ex codke MS.
of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's.
s0 For description and plan of earth-
works see V.C.H. Hera, ii, 115.
33
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
to the dean was, however, shortly afterwards annulled.81
In the intrigues of Stephen's reign the castle played a
part of some importance, and it is probable that the
masonry keep had been built by this time. From its
position on the main road from London to Saffron
Walden it cut the communication between those
places for Geoffrey de Mandeville Earl of Essex.
The possession of the castle was therefore an import-
ant object to the earl and formed part of the price
demanded by him from the Empress Maud for his
support. By her charter of 1141 or 1 142 she pro-
mised that if she could acquire the castle from the
Bishop of London by exchange she would grant it to
him, but if she was unable to do this she would
destroy it.83 In the quickly changing events of the
to leave the country ; his property was seized by the
king, who in 1 2 1 1 dismantled the castle.81 The
next year the king was excommunicated. After his
submission in May I 2 I 3 he restored the lands of the
bishopric and in July of that year gave the bishop
leave to rebuild the castle.85 The bishop, however,
was in a strong enough position to demand compen-
sation, and a few months later obtained from the
king an acknowledgement that he was bound to repair
the castle and restore it to its former strength.80
Rather more than a century after the rebuilding,
licence was obtained by Ralph Stratford, then Bishop
of London, to crenellate the castle and tower.87
There seems little evidence that the bishops ever
used the castle as a residence. Stephen de Gravesend,
Probable Outer Line of Wall
IO ? O IO 20 30 40 50 60 70 8p
Scale of Feet
Plan of Waytemore Castle, Bishop's Stortford
reign, however, neither the promise nor the threat
was carried out. In 1 1 89 the temporalities of the
bishopric were in the king's hnnds, and on the Pipe
Roll for that year is entered a payment to the
custodian and porter of the castle.83 William de
St. Mere l'Eglise, who held the see of London in the
reign of John, was one of the bishops who published
the interdict in 1208 and was consequently obliged
Bishop of London, died at Stortford in 1 338, but his
death took place at the rector's house.88 There was,
however, a chapel in the castle, and a chantry was
founded there by Ralph Bishop of London in 1352.
The provost and chaplains had a plot of land in the
castle assigned them on which to build a dwelling-
house and licence for free entrance to and exit
from the castle.89
81 Ralph de Diceto, Optra (Rolls Ser.),
i, 25.
82 Round, Gtoff. de Mandeville, 167, 174.
83 Hunter. Gt. Roll of Fife, I Ric. I
(Rec. Com.), 12.
84 The date is given as 1213 in
'Annales Londonienses,' Chrort. of Reims
ofEdw. I and Ed-ui. II (Rolls Ser.), i, 15,
but the other date is probably the correct
one (Walsingham, Ypodigma Neustriae
[Rolls Ser.], I 2 9). Everlitur and destruitur
are the words used by the chronicler.
The subsequent rebuilding of the castrum
(the word used) refers probably to the
buildings in the bailey as distinguished
from the keep (turris).
298
85 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 101. See
note 84. 86 Ibid. 124.
87 Cat. Pat. 1 34 5-8, p. 61.
88 Chron. of Reigns of Edit}. I and
Edit.: II (Rolls Ser.), i, 367. A synod
was held at Stortford c. 1150 (Cart, of
Colchester [Roxburghe Club]), 174.
89 Cal. Pat. 1350-4, p. 324.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED bishop's stortford
The prison in the castle was in existence early in
the 13th century and probably before. In 1234
there is mention of a prisoner detained for murder
' in the king's prison at Stortford.' 90 Why it should
be called the king's prison is not clear, for the see was
not vacant at that date. The custody of the gaol was
held by an officer of the bishop,91 who, as mentioned
above, was sometimes the same as the farmer of the
manor or the farmer of the market. The gaol was
used for all criminals within the liberty of the bishop
in Hertfordshire,92 but the greater number of prisoners
were convicted clerks. The treatment was probably
rigorous. A certain heretic named Ranulf, an
apostate Franciscan, who disturbed London by his
attacks on the Catholic faith in 1336, was imprisoned
there by the bishop until the best method of pro-
ceeding against him should have been decided, but
his death is recorded very shortly afterwards.93 In
September 1344 there were fifty prisoners in the
gaol, and seven more were added during the year,
and of these twenty-nine died. At the beginning of
the year 1345 there were
twenty-five prisoners, and nine
of these died. In 1347-8
there were fifty prisoners, the
cost of keeping them being
reckoned at \d. a day each.94
The accounts of the gaolers
include such items as lights
for visiting the prisoners at
night, shackles, fetters, iron
for staples, stocks, and so on.95
In spite of all precautions,
however, the prison does not
seem to have been very secure,
judging by the numerous
notices of the escape of
prisoners from it.96 During
the episcopate of Robert Bray-
brook (ob. 1404) batches of
sixteen, eighteen, and ten
prisoners escaped in succeeding
years.97 In each case the
bishop received pardon from
the king for the escape, but
William Gray, bishop in 1429,
seems to have been actually
charged with a fine of £426
1 3/. 4</. for the escape of five clerks, who had carried
off their gaoler with them. On information received
by the king that these prisoners had been recaptured at
great labour and expense while the bishop was abroad
on an embassy a respite of the fine for ten years was
allowed to him.98 In 1539 the number of prisoners
was eleven.99 The prison was not in the keep of the
castle, but stood with some of the other buildings on
a site now occupied by the house called Castle Cottage,
and was separated from the keep by the moat.lu0
By 1 549 the castle was in ruins, only a few pieces
of the walls remaining.1 The prison survived
and is mentioned by Norden, writing in 1598, as
' a dungeon deep and strong.' 2 The Jesuit lay
brother Thomas Pound was imprisoned there by
Bishop Aylmer in 1580 to prevent his infecting
others by his conversation,3 and in a letter to Sir
Christopher Hatton gives a dismal description of it.4
It was probably used until the time of the Common-
wealth, after which prisoners were sent to the county
gaol.8 Chauncy says that the buildings were sold
about 1649, and soon afterwards pulled down. An
inn called Cherry Tree Inn was built on the site
near the old gatehouse of the castle. This has been
incorporated in the present Castle Cottage, formerly
the residence of Mr. Edward Taylor.6 The ground
on which the castle stands was lately the joint property
of several members of the Taylor family.7 In 1907
Castle Cottage, Bishop's Stortford
it was acquired with the castle by the urban district
council for public gardens.
The remains of the castle are close by the town,
but separated from it by the River Stort. The land
round it is very marshy, so that it is often spoken of
as standing on an island. The entrance was probably
on the south from the causeway across the marsh.
90 Cal. Close, 123 1-4, p. 403.
91 John de Solio is called constable of the
castle in 1 305 {Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix,
App. i, 39«).
92 See Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I),
m. 25 d.
98 Chrort. of Reisms of Edw. I and
Edw. II (Rolls Ser.'), i, 365.
94 Mins. Accts. idle. 1140, no. 1, 3.
A yearly rent of 3 quarters of wheat from
two plots of land called Redynge and
Bocmongerecroft was granted to the
bishop in 1387 for the maintenance of
the prisoners (Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 374).
95 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. 1, 3.
One pair of stocks was made 'in the
free prison in the long bay,' so that there
seems to have been some distinction in
the treatment of prisoners.
96 See Assize R. 320 (39 Hen. Ill),
m. 26, for an instance of collusion be-
tween the Bishop and William de Say (a
neighbouring lord), one of whose clerks
had been imprisoned in the castle.
97 Cal. Pat. 1391-6, pp. 45, 345;
1 399-1401, p. 501. These prisoners
were all clerks. Some of them may
have been Lollards, for Braybrook was a
vigorous opponent of heresy (see Diet.
Nat. Biog.).
299
98 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 540 ; 1429-
36. P- 35-
99 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), 242.
100 East Herts. Areh. Soc. Trans, i (1), 45.
1 Leland, Itin. quoted by J. L. Glass-
cock in East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, i
(1), 45. a Descr.of Herts. Z%.
3 Strype, Life of Aylmer, 46-7.
4 See Herts, and Essex Observer, 3 June
1905. Paper by Major F. J. A. Skeet.
5 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 269.
6 Information from Mr. J. L. Glass-
cock.
7 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. no.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The farm called Stortford Park and Park Cottages
mark the site of the park of the Bishops of London.
The site of the manor and the farm called Stortford
Park were held on a lease by Dr. William Stanley,
the precentor of St. Paul's, at the beginning of the
1 8th century.8 After his death in 1827 the lease
was sold, the premises then including 950 acres of
land and quit-rents amounting to £13 I 3J.8a The
farm, which now belongs to Mr. F. Wilby, dates
from about 1600 and is built of timber and plaster,
which was refaced with brick in the 1 8th century.
It is composed of a main block and two wings ; in
the former is a square chimney stack with V-shaped
pilasters.
Stortford Castle was the head of the barony of
the Bishop of London.9 The barony consisted of
thirty-six and a third knights' fees lying in Hertford
and Essex.10 The service, however, appears to have
The bishop's feodary held courts leet throughout
these lands.13 The places composing the bishop's
liberty in Hertfordshire were Stortford, the two
Hadhams, Albury, the three Pelhams, Meesden,
Datchworth, Stevenage, Graveley and Chesfield.
Castle-ward rents amounting to £5 15/. 4^. were
still payable from lands within these parishes when
Salmon wrote (1728). Sheriffs' warrants for execution
within this area were directed to the bailiff of the
liberty, who also had a right to strays and to toll of
corn and cattle in the markets and fairs.14
The manor of PI COTS, PIGGOTTS, PEKOTES
or PICKETTS, lying in the south-west of the parish,
was evidently formed by subinfeudation from the
manor of Stortford, of which it was held by a castle-
ward rent.15 A rental of Stortford of the late 13th
century mentions ' tenementum Pycot ' under the
heading of North Street, but does not give any addi-
Piggotts, Back Vitw, Bishop's Stortford
been commuted for twenty knights in the early
13th century,11 and by 1303 the whole barony is
returned as responsible for the service of five fees
only.12 A similar reduction is noticeable in the assess-
ment of Richmond Honour, which fell from 140 fees
to five. Castle-ward rents were payable to Stortford
by the lands of the barony ; these like the rents
of Rochester Castle were due on St. Andrew's Dav.
tional information.16 In 1351 John de Mounteney
of Stanford Rivers, co. Essex, released all his right
in ' the land called Picottes ' to James de Thame,
citizen of London.17 The latter possibly left
two heiresses, for in 1 377 Thomas Mounjoye
and Alice his wife conveyed the manor to John
Gemptyng and Agnes Grey and the heirs of Agnes,
the quitclaim being from the heirs of Alice.18
8 Salmon, op. cit. 271; Feet of F.
Herts. East. 5 Geo. II.
8a Particulars of sale communicated by
Major F. Skeet. 9 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
>° Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 187,
499 ; Tata de Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 270.
The number, probably by a scribal error,
is given in the latter list as 26J.
11 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 541.
13 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
13 See Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 140, no. 13,
26 ; Cott. Chart, xxvii, 46 ; Bracton's
Note Bk. (ed. Maitland), no. 275 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ix, 147 ; Cal. Pal.
138S-92, p. 443. 14 Salmon, op. cit. 279.
15 Cussans says that this manor was
held by the family of Picot by grand
serjeanty {Hist, of Herts. Braughing Hund.
116), but he is probably confusing it with
the manor of Heydon in Essex. Possibly
this manor was held by the same family,
but not by serjeanty.
300
16 Rentals and Surv. R. 298. Mr.
Glasscock suggests that this is the tene-
ment which in the 1 5th century paid a
rent of 151. to the lord of Picots and
which stood on the west side of North
Street, on the site now occupied by the
George Hotel (see Herts. Gen. and Ant.
ii, 325).
17 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 362.
18 Feet of F. Herts. I Rife IL no. 4.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED bishop's stortford
Court rolls of the manor for 1396, 1417 and 1421
are extant, but the name of the lord is not given.19
In 1427 a court was held for John Gaall and Agnes
his wife, who were possibly the heirs of John and
Agnes Gemptyng. In 1458 the court of John
Leventhorp,20 Robert Canfeld, Ralph Grey and their
co-feoffees was held, and in 1470 the court of Henry
Barlee (of Albury) and others.
In 1533 the manor was in the possession of Richard
Apryce,21 and a few months after it passed to his brother
and heir Thomas.22 In 1556 Roger Apryce conveyed
it to John Ellyott, citizen and mercer of London.23 He
evidently left two daughters, for in Hilary 1 573-4
Thomas Saunders and his wife Jane levied a fine of a
moiety of the manor,24 and in 1577 Robert Hall, jun.,
and his wife Anne together with Saunders and his wife
conveyed the whole to Robert Hall, sen., and others.25
This may have been for a settlement on Thomas
his first court in 1606.30 He granted the manor in
1622 to his son Robert,31 who held his first court in
1649.32 Later he joined in a sale with Nicholas
Westwood of Farnham, co. Essex, and Sarah his wife,
John Cleere the elder of Bengeo and Mary his wife,
and John Cleere the younger and Sarah his wife to
Edward Hawkins of Stortford. After the death of
the latter it descended to his three daughters : Mary,
who married Robert Dawgs, of Loughton, co. Essex ;
Elizabeth, who married John Barrington, second son
of Sir John Barrington, bart., and Susan, who married
William Layer of Shepreth, co. Cambridge. In 1 700
Mary Dawgs, then a widow, Susan Layer and her
husband, and John Barrington, son of Elizabeth, and
Anne, her daughter, wife of John Flacke of Linton,
co. Cambridge, joined in a sale to John Lowe of
St. Margaret's, Westminster.33
John Lowe left the manor by will of 1707 to his
PlGGOTTS FROM THE WEST
Saunders and Jane, for in the next year they conveyed
to Thomas Crabbe,26 who held his first court in
1581.27 In 1604 Thomas Crabbe was holding with
Grace his wife, and in that year conveyed the manor
to Francis Cutt of Debden, co. Essex, and John Cutt
his brother (sons of Richard Cutt of Debden).28
After the death of Francis within a year, John Cutt
(called of London) sold the manor with the meadow
called Pigotts Hatch, the two fields called the Ley es, &c,
to Robert Salmon of Broxted, co. Essex,29 who held
grandson John Lowe of Ashwell, co. Herts. From
the latter's brother and devisee William Lowe
of Henlow, co. Bedford, and of Basinghall Street,
London, it came by will to Thomas Wheeler of
Basinghall Street, who held it for life with remainder
to his wife Susan for life, then to their four sons,
William, Thomas, James Rivington, and Peter, as
tenants in common. In 1 801, after the death of
Thomas Wheeler, Susan with her three sons sold the
manor to her fourth son James Rivington Wheeler.34
19 Printed by Mr. Glasscock in the
Herts. Gen. ii, 266. The court for 1396
was held by . . . clerk, but this is pro-
bably not the name of the lord.
20 John Leventhorp married Joan
Barrington, daughter and heir of a Bar-
rington who had grant of free warren in
Thorleyand Stortford in 1448 (Chart. R.
1-20 Hen. VI, no- 41). The Leven-
thorpes had Thorley.
21 Recov. R. Mich. 2; Hen. VIII,
rot. 434.
22 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 26 Hen. VIII.
83 Ibid. East. 2 & 3 Phil, and Mary.
24 Ibid. Hil. 16 Eliz.
23 Ibid. East. 19 Eliz.
26 Ibid. Trin. 20 Eliz.
87 Ct. R. communicated by Major
Skeet.
28 Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Jas. I.
30I
29 Deed communicated by Major F.
Skeet. Dated Feb. 1604 (o.s.).
30 Herts. Gen. ii, 377.
31 Deed communicated by Major Skeet.
32 Herts. Gen. ii, 378.
33 Close, 12 Will. Ill, pt. vi, no. 9 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 12 Will. III.
3* Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antlj. 0/
Herts, iii, 253 ; Feet of F. Herts. East.
41 Geo. III.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
On his death in 1 834 the manor came by will to his
nephew Henry James Wheeler for life, with remainder
to his sons in succession ; he
died in i860 and was suc-
ceeded by his son Henry James
William Wheeler.35 In 1875
Wheeler sold the manor to
Lord Ellenborough, who
mortgaged it to the Rev.
Edward C. Dermer and others.
They conveyed it in 1 90 1 to
Mrs. Helen Fitzgerald, who
sold it in 1903 to Mr. Frede-
rick Wilby, the present lord, Wiibt. Gulesamill-
whose family had for some rind argent and a border
generations been resident at ermine
Wind Hill House36 (seeabove).
The old manor-house of Piggotts,now a farm-house
occupied by the foreman to Mr. F. J. Lukies, farmer,
of Shingle Hall, lies about a mile to the south-west of
Bishop's Stortford. It is partly surrounded on the
north and east sides by a moat containing stagnant
water. The house itself is built of timber framing
covered with lath and plaster, the plaster work having
still the remains of a style of a decoration very
common in the eastern counties during the 17th
Piccotts , N6 Bishops Stortford
Ground Plan. fUD W^Cent.
century. The surface of the walls is divided into
large panels by means of slightly sunk mouldings, the
panels being filled with roughly executed pattern,
consisting of rows of arcs of circles placed one above
another. The house is small, with gables at the front
and back, and there is a long kitchen wing extending
parallel with the house. The whole interior has been
modernized, though the old wide kitchen fireplace
still remains.
W1CKHAM HALL (Weekham Hall, Wykeham
Hall, xvi and xvii cent.), an estate on the north-west
of the parish, apparently represents the ' Wickeham ' of
Domesday, where were several small holdings.37
After 1086 it first appears about the end of the 15th
century. In January 149 1-2 Sir William Say
conveyed his ' plot called Wykeham hall ' and lands
called Bryans, Bledeways and Thornes in Stortford
and Farnham to Henry Freshwater for twelve years.38
The property descended to Elizabeth daughter and
co-heir of Sir William Say, who married William
Blount, fourth Lord Mountjoy, and to her daughter
and heir Gertrude, wife of Henry Courtenay
Marquess of Exeter.39 She was attainted in 1539,
and in I 544 the farm of Wickham Hall with lands
called Tolgrove, Lyvery Coppice, Whites Coppice, and
Mawkins, were granted to Sir Henry Parker, Lord
Morley.40 He is said to have alienated to John
Elliott, and Elliott to have sold to William Goodwyn.41
In 1560 Goodwyn with Margaret his wife con-
veyed the farm to John Good-
day.42 In 1 564 John Goodday
sold it to John Gibbe,43 who
died seised in 1597, having
left his property in Stortford
to his grandson George, son
of his son William.44 It
descended to a William Gibbe,
son apparently of Edmund,
the eldest son of John Gibbe,46
who died seised of it in
January 1624-5,46 his brother
James being his heir. It was
sold by James Gibbe in 1 63 3
to Arthur Capell of Little
Hadham, created Lord Capell in 1641, who also
bought the manor of Wickham (from which the
farm seems to have been separated, perhaps on the
death of Sir William Say) from Edward Atkins. He
turned the house known as
Wickham Hall into a keeper's
lodge. The estate descended
with Little Hadham to George
Devereux de Vere Capell,
seventh Earl of Essex, who in
1900 sold it to Mr. Frank
Stacey, the present owner.47
The house is timber framed
and plastered, of two stories
with attics built on an L-shaped
plan. It probably dates from
the early 17th century, but has
been much altered and restored.
One original chimney stack remains. The brick
cottage on the south of the house, formerly a pigeon-
house, is now used as a lodge.
The lands of the church or RECTORY MANOR
were held with the advowson
by the precentor of St. Paul's.
In 165 1 the manor was sold
by the trustees for the sale of
church lands to William
Alsop, a haberdasher of Lon-
don, together with the manor-
house, fields called Brickhill
Croft, Great and Little Kings-
bridge, and Swinstead, a
water-mill called Parson's
Mill on the lower side of
Great Kingsbridge, and woods
called Chanters Woods and
Pixsoe Wood.48 Leases of
the manor were made by
the precento s in the 1 8th century. With their
other lands it passed in 1867 to the Ecclesiastical
GlLEE
Guleia/es.
a hone rampant between
rwo stars in the chief and
the like in the foot all or.
;, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
F. Skect,
35 c
Hand.
36 Information from Maj
nephew of the present owner.
37 V.C.H. Herts, i, 308a, 332*, 335i
38 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 967.
*> G.E.C. Peerage.
40 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), 278
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxciii, 47 ;
(57)-
cccviii, 106. 45 Geere, op. cit. ill.
41 J. C. Geere, Farnham, Essex, Pas
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxxxi, 138.
and Present, III.
47 Geere, op. cit. ill.
4S Exch. L.T.R. Memo. R. Mich.
48 Close, 165 1, pt. xvii, no. 27. These
3 Eliz. rot. 81.
are part of the present Birchangcr Wood.
43 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 6 Eliz.
Information from Mr. J. L. Glasscock.
302
BRAUGHING HUNDRED BISHOPS STORTford
Commissioners, who about 1900 sold it to Sir Walter
Gilbey, bart., who has a minute book of the courts
from 1656-1S06. No courts are held now and the
copyholders have been nearly all enfranchised.49 The
site of the manor was held on lease by the Denny
family in the 1 8th century. It passed from them to
the Sandfords, to the Bromes, to the Debarys, and is
now owned and occupied by the Misses Lee, nieces
of the late Rev. Thomas Debary.50 The manor-
house stands about three-quarters of a mile north-east
of the church. It is of timber and plaster, of two
stories with attic, and was built probably about 1600.
It has, however, been almost completely encased with
brick early in the 1 8th century. An original window
remains with moulded wooden mullions.
The house contains some 17th-century
panelling.
The church of ST.
CHURCHES MICHAEL stands on
rising ground close to
the centre of the town, and consists of
chancel 43 ft. by 22 ft., north chapel
43 ft. by 14 ft., south vestry and organ
chamber, nave 85 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in.,
north aisle 84 ft. by 15 ft., south
aisle 84 ft. by 14 ft., north porch
14 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., south porch
12 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in., west tower 17 ft.
by 16 ft. ; all dimensions taken in-
ternally.
The church is built of flint with
stone dressings ; the walls are em-
battled ; the roofs are covered with
lead. The building belongs to the
early part of the 15 th century. In
1 8 12 the spire and portions of the
tower were taken down, the present
belfry stage built, and a new spire
erected ; about the end of the 17th or
beginning of the 1 8th century the
chancel was lengthened eastwards by
about 5 ft. 6 in.; in 1870 the north
chancel aisle and south vestry were
built; in 1885 the chancel clearstory
was added, the chancel arch rebuilt,
and an organ chamber erected on the
south side of the chancel, and at various
periods during the 19th century the
whole church was thoroughly restored.
The west tower and westermrost bay
of the nave appear to be somewhat
later than the rest of the church, as
may be inferred from the church-
wardens' accounts for 143 1.51
In the east wall of the chancel is a large five-light
modern window, and in the south wall one of three
lights, the tracery of which has been renewed ; in
the south wall is a trefoil-headed piscina with a
modern sill. The sedilia are modern. The truss
roof appears to be of 1 5th-century work, the date
1668 appearing on one of the tie-beams probably
refers to repairs only ; the spandrels of the roof
trusses are filled with tracery.
The nave is of six bays ; the arches are of two
moulded orders with a hollow between, and the
label stops are carved ; the piers are composed of
four semi-octagonal shafts with moulded capitals and
bases ; the westernmost piers are wider than the
others, and are each practically two responds, back
to back with a vertical joint between them, these
bays being probably built last as a connecting link
between the tower and the nave. Over each arch
of the nave arcades is a clearstory window of two
lights, of modern stonework, but the inner jambs
appear to be original. The low pitched king-post
roof is of 1 5th-century date ; the spandrels under
the trusses are filled with tracery ; the roof rests on
stone corbels carved with figures of angels with
shields and of saints with their emblems.
Bishop's Siortford Church from the South-west
On the south side of the north aisle at the east end
is the turret which contained the stair to the rood-
loft ; the stair is gone, but the upper and lower door-
ways remain. There are five windows in the north
wall and one in the east, all of three lights of modern
stonework, all but the inner jambs, which are
original. The north doorway is original; the arch
is moulded and the jambs have small moulded capitals.
The head over the pointed arch is square and the
spandrels are carved, one with the figure of a woman
with an eye looking down on her, the other with an
1 Information from Mr. J. L. Glass- 51 Payments made for covering, with
:* straw and lead, the walls of church and
' Ibid. tower, and of levelling the western part
3°3
of the nave floor (see Glasscock, Rec.
of St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford,
1882).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
angel holding a trumpet and a censer ; the label
stops are carved with the symbols of the four
Evangelists. The two windows on either side of
the porch, each of two lights, are of modern stone-
work externally, and most of the moulded outer
doorway belongs to the I 5th century.
The windows in the south aisle are similar to
those in the north, but the east window has been
replaced by an arched opening to the modern organ
chamber. In the south wall at the east end is a
small piscina with pointed arch, with plain round
bowl partly damaged. The south doorway is of
two moulded orders with some modern stone-
work.
The oak north and south doors are original but
have been repaired. In the east wall of the south
porch is a fragment of a stoup, and near it in the
wall a piece of clunch rudely carved in the form of a
horse-shoe. The truss roofs over both aisles are
similar in character and date to that over the nave,
with traceried spandrels, and rest on stone corbels
carved with a most interesting series of figures, human
and grotesque.
The west tower is of four stages with a stair
turret, no longer used, in the north-west angle ; a
modern stair turret has been erected at the north-
east angle, and the belfry and spire are modern.
The lofty tower arch is of three moulded orders,
separated by hollows, and the moulded responds have
capitals and bases partly repaired. The west door-
way has a pointed arch of three moulded orders, but
the other openings in the tower are of modern stone-
work, except the doorway and loop-lights in the
original turret.
The square bowl of the Purbeck marble font,
which is of late 1 zth-century date, is ornamented on
each side with four shallow round-arched sinkings ;
the stem is modern.
The 15th-century rood-screen still remains in its
place ; the lower panels are closed with traceried
heads, the open upper panels have tracery in their
arches ; the cornice with its supporting groined
canopy is modern.
In the chancel are eighteen oak stalls, with miseri-
cordes carved with representations of human heads,
animals, birds, fishes, &c. ; the fronts have traceried
panels and pilaster buttresses and the ends have
poppy-head finials ; they are of 15th-century work-
manship.
The hexagonal oak pulpit was erected in 1658 s2 ;
the sides are carved and panelled ; it stands on a
hexagonal pillar and is supported by carved brackets.
The communion table is modern, but it stands on the
ancient altar slab.
In the vestry is an early 17th-century chest, with
a hidden lock with fourteen bolts under the lid ;
there is a false lock with padlocks.
On the chancel floor are some brass inscriptions :
one to Thomas Edgcombe, 16 14 ; another on the
same slab to an infant of the Edgcombe family ; a
third to Charles Denny, 1635, for twelve years senior
fellow of King's College, Cambridge.
In the chancel are mural monuments to Mrs.
Cordelia Denny, 1698, with arms, and to the
children of Edward Maplesden, 1684-6.
There are ten bells: the treble, second (1820),
third, seventh and ninth (all I 791), by John Briant ;
the fourth, fifth and sixth (17 1 3), by John Waylett ;
the eighth a funeral bell, inscribed ' Statutum est
omnibus semel mori ' (1802), by John Briant; the
tenor (1730), by John Waylett.
The communion plate consists of a cup, 1735 ;
another, 1823 ; four patens, 1683 (?), 171 1, 1772,
and one modern; an almsdish, 1722 ; two large
flagons, I 72 I and 173 I ; also a knife and fork, 1823,
and a spoon with marks erased.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials
begin in I 561.
The church of HOLT TR1NITT was built of
stone in 1859 m ' 3th-century style. It consists of
chancel, nave, transept and bell-turret. The living
is in the gift of the vicar of Bishop's Stortford.
ALL SAINTS, Hockerill, was built of stone in
1852. It consists of a chancel, nave, with bellcot
over north-east corner, baptistery, south porch, and
vestries. The living is in the gift of the Lord
Chancellor.
The church of Stortford was ap-
ADVOWSON propriated by the Bishops of London
to the precentorship of St. Paul's.
In 1243 the church was said to be in the gift of the
bishop,53 whereas in 1294 the precentor of St. Paul's
is called the parson,5' so that the appropriation may
have been between these two dates. In 1352 the
king gave licence for the appropriation of Stortford to
the bishop's table instead of to the chantership, as its
value was not great enough for an official of the
precentor's importance,40 but the change does not
seem to have been made, for the rectory and advowson
remained with the precentors until I 867, when they
passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The
advowson was made over by the Commissioners to
the Bishop of St. Albans on the creation of that
bishopric. Two endowments of great tithes have
been made by the precentors to the vicarage, viz the
tithes from the farm called Stortford Park, which at the
beginning of the 1 8th century was held on a lease
for lives of the Bishop of London by Dr. William
Stanley, precentor of St. Paul's, and a moiety of the
great tithes of a piece of land called by Salmon 'the
Earl of Essex Park,' which were given by Dr. Dibbing,
precentor when Salmon wrote in I728.5S The great
tithes of the rectory were leased out with the rectory
manor.57
The chantry of Baldwin Victor 5e was founded in
1485 by his widow Marjory Victor. The chantry
priest celebrated mass at the altar of St. John the
Baptist.59 The chantry was dissolved under Edward VI,
when its property was valued at £S.m In I 583 the
chantry priest's house and two messuages and land
in Stortford, which had belonged to it, were in the
possession of Oliver Godfrey and Elizabeth his wife,
who conveyed them in that year to Thomas Bowyer.61
He died seised of them in 1607, leaving a daughter
and heir Helen Bowyer, then aged two.62 The lands
included some of the meadows between the river and
a It cost £5 (sec Glasscock, Re,
St. MichaeTs, Bishop's Stortford, 76).
*Cal.P*t. 1232-47, p. 355-
0< Ibid. 1292-1301, p. 119.
55 Ibid. 1350-4, p. 239.
of 5G Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 271.
» Ibid.
58 He was of Stanstead Mountfitchet,
co. Essex.
304
59 Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 49S.
60 Chant. Cert. 20, no. 67.
61 Feet of F. Herts. East. 25 Eli:
02 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
the road to Manewden,63 a piece of land in ' Moche-
halfacres ' called Shortland alias Chantry Land alias
Walter Blanks and Twyford Mill (given by Richard
Wild)."
The house called the Chantry situated in the
Hadham Road at the end of North Street probably
marks the site of the priest's house.65 It is a two-
storied house of plastered timber with a tiled roof built
in the latter part of the 16th century. It is L-shaped
in plan with modern additions.
There were three gilds in the church of St. Michael,
called the gilds of St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, and
St. Michael. There are bequests to them in wills of
the late 15 th and early 1 6th centuries.66 The gild
of St. John the Baptist was connected with the chantry
of Baldwin Victor, the priest celebrating at the altar
of the gild chapel67 (see above). This must have
been at the east end either of the north or south
aisle, both of which evidently contained altars.68 In
1490 the collectors of the gild of St. Mary contributed
a sum of £3 zs. 6d. towards church bells.69 The latter
gild was probably dissolved about 1540, for in the
churchwardens' accounts for that year there is an
entry for $d. received for the stock of Our Lady
gild/0
The Poor's Estate which comprises
CHARITIES the charities mentioned below is
regulated by a scheme of the Court
of Chancery 17 January 1851 : namely, the charities
of:—
1. Richard Pilston, founded by deed 1572, con-
sisting of five almshouses at New Town, acquired by
exchange under the Inclosure Act 1 8 2 1 for two
tenements originally given, an acre of land at Thorley
let at £1 a year, and a rent-charge of 15/., portion of
a rent-charge of £3 3/. issuing out of ' The Reindeer,'
comprised in a decree made by a commissioner for
charitable uses 3 June 1692, and secured by deed
3 April 1766 (enrolled).
2. Robert Adison alias Lustybludd's Charity,
founded by will 1554, the bequest to be laid out in
land.
3. Margaret Dane, founded by will of 1579, a
legacy of £20 to be laid out in land.
4. Henry Harvey, LL.D., Master of Trinity Hall,
Cambridge, founded by will of 1 584, which consisted
of a rent-charge of £6 to be divided between the poor
of the parishes of Stortford and Littlebury, Essex.
5. John Dane, founded by deed of 1630, formerly
part of workhouse.
6. Rowland Elliott, founded by will, date unknown,
included in the inquisition of charitable uses above
referred to and consisting of a rent-charge of £2 out
of the manor of Walkers in Farnham, Essex.
7. William Ellis, founded by will of 1616, con-
sisting of a rent-charge of zos. out of premises in South
Street.
8. Thomas Hoy, included in inquisition above
referred to and consisting of a rent-charge of 6s. Sd.
out of a messuage in Windhill.
9. John Gace and Richard Kirby, founded by wills
BISHOP'S STORTFORD
recited in deed 11 April 1634, and now represented
by a portion of the stock mentioned below arising
from the sale of land in Common Down, awarded on
the inclosure in 1820 in respect of original gifts.
The endowment of the Poor's Estate now consists
of the five almshouses and land mentioned under
Pilston's Charity, and the several rent-charges, and of
a sum of £2,480 4/. 3^. consols with the official
trustees, producing £62 a year in annual dividends,
arising mainly from the sales of land from time to
time.
The income is applied in the upkeep of the alms-
houses, which are inhabited by poor aged women in
receipt of parochial relief, and in the distribution of
coal to the poor. The amount distributed in coal
averages about £50 a year.
The following charities are administered by the
vicar and churchwardens, namely : —
1. The Church Estate, the donors of which are
unknown, is regulated by a scheme of the High Court
of Chancery 1 7 January 1 8 5 1 . The property con-
sists of 1 a. 2 r. 27 p. of land called Little Field at
Collins Cross let for £7 zs. yearly ; the site of the
old National school let for £1 yearly ; a rent-charge
°f £3 out °f 'Half Acres' ; a rent-charge of £2 8s.
out of 'The Reindeer' at Windhill ; £1,584 Js. 6d.
consols in the High Court of Chancery and £2,742
4/. $d. consols in the name of the official trustees
arising out of sales of land producing in annual divi-
dends £108 3/. The income is applied in payment
of the salaries of the organist, verger, &c.,and insurance
premiums.
2. Elizabeth Jones, who died in 1827 and be-
queathed £500, the interest to be applied for the
purpose of ornamenting and repairing the parish
church. The endowment is now represented by a
sum of stock producing £12 16s. yearly.
3. The same testatrix bequeathed £250, the
interest to be distributed annually on New Year's
Day in coals and clothing to the poor. The endow-
ment is now represented by a sum of stock producing
£6 1 6s. \d. yearly.
4. Humphrey Hetherington, by his will without
date, gave £100, the interest to be applied in bread
for the poor. This sum was laid out in the purchase
of land in Bishop's Stortford. The land was sold in
1885 and the proceeds invested in £2 7 8 1 gs. $d. consols
with the official trustees, producing £6 I gs. \d. yearly.
5. William Gibbs, by will recited in deed 9 April
1630, devised a piece of land called Long Hedge
Piece, containing about 2 acres, the rent of which,
amounting to £9 10/. Sd. yearly, is distributed in
coal.
6. In 1862 John Baynes, by his will proved at
London 21 May, gave £300, the yearly income to
be applied towards repairing and ornamenting the
parish church. The endowment is now represented
by a sum of stock producing £7 1 8/. yearly in divi-
dends.
7. In 1866 William Wilby, by will proved at
London 23 June, gave £300, now represented by a
63 Salmon, op. cit. 271.
64 Glasscock, Rec. of St.
Bishop's Stortford, 68.
65 The old chantry-house u
as at North Gate (Rentals
R. 299).
66 P.C.C. 37 Milles, 16 Moone, 1 Bod-
MichaeFs, felde.
67 See account of papers relating to the
described ' chantry and gild of St. John the Baptist '
ind Surv. in Glasscock's Rec. of St. Michael's,
Bishop's Stortford, 1 1 8.
305
68 Only the piscina at the east end of
the south aisle now remains, but there
was formerly one in the north aisle.
69 Glasscock, op. cit. 22.
70 Ibid. 94. A rental of obit-lands and
light-lands belonging to the church is
printed by Mr. Glasscock (ibid. 48).
39
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
sum of £}0() 9/. \d. consols, producing £~ 14.1. 8^.
yearly, the interest to be applied in the purchase of
clothing for distribution to the poor at Christmas.
The apprenticing charity of the Rev. Thomas
Turner, founded by will 1706, consists of a close
of land called Dovelees of about 7 acres, producing
£ 1 1 4/. 6ti. yearly.
In 1730 John Sandford by deed gave a rent-charge
of £2 to the poor not in receipt of parochial relief.
This charge is received from an estate at Collins Cross
and appears to be distributed in money gifts.
The charity of Mrs. Anne Phillips, founded by
deed 1 744, towards the maintenance and support of
the minister of the Water Lane Meeting House,
consists of £610 $s. consols, in the name of the
official trustees, producing £15 5*. yearly, arising
from the sale in 1870 of land originally given.
The Educational Charities.71 — Comprising the
gifts of Margaret Dane, will 1579 ; the Rev. William
Polhill, will proved in 1722 ; Exton Sayer, will 1730 ;
and of the above-mentioned Elizabeth Jones. Also
the Nonconformist school.72
BRAUGHING
Brachinges (xi cent.) ; Bracking, Braughinge,
Brawyng (xiii cent.) ; Broughhynge (xvi cent.), and
many other variants.
Braughing is a parish of 4,368 acres, of which 15
acres are water. Rather less than three-quarters of
the area is arable land, about one-quarter grass, and a
small proportion, about 252 acres, woods and planta-
tions.1 The parish lies high, the level for the most
part being between 300 ft. and 400 ft. above the
ordnance datum, and the valleys of the rivers about
100 ft. lower. The country is undulating and well
wooded. The soil is mixed, the subsoil clay over
chalk and gravel. Here and there the sand outcrops
at the surface, and where this is the case springs of
good water exist.
In 1 8 1 2 an Act was passed for inclosing the common
lands, then estimated at 1,300 acres, and certain
Lammas lands consisting of 50 acres, also for freeing
all lands within the parish from tithes by allotments
to the rectors and vicar. Lammas Piece and Lammas
Mead, adjoining the vicarage, were allotted to the
vicar, whilst Lammas land in Langrey Mead and Sow
Mead was allotted to the lord of Hamels, to whom a
portion of the great tithes belonged.* The copyhold
land has now been nearly all enfranchised.
The River Quin joins the Rib a little to the south-
west of the village. To the north of this point the
road to Cambridge crosses the Quin by a brick bridge
of three arches, called Griggs Bridge,3 built in 1 769.
Further on the road crosses the Rib on Ford Bridge,
a county bridge, which in the 1 7th century was of
wood,4 was rebuilt in I 766 s probably in brick, repaired
in 1773,6 and now consists of two brick arches. The
New Bridge on the road to Buntingford crossing the
River Rib on the west of the parish is also a county
bridge.7
The Roman road called Stane Street, after passing
through Little Hadham and then forming for a little
way the boundary between Braughing and Standon,
comes to an abrupt end at Horse Cross* in this parish.
The course of the road, however, can be traced west-
ward along the parish boundary, which follows a
straight line as far as the River Rib. A little further
to the west it must have crossed Ermine Street.
There was a Roman settlement to the south-west of
the village.9 That Braughing was a place of im-
portance in Saxon times is evidenced by the fact that
it was the head of a hundred and also of a deanery.
The Domesday Survey shows that the greater part
of Braughing was held ' in alms ' by a man of King
Edward, and had been so held under his predecessors.
There is, therefore, some reason to think that it was
once royal domain, as the meeting-place of the hun-
dred court very often seems to have been.10 In the
10th century the church of Braughing is called
' monasterium,' " which possibly suggests a church of
unusual importance.
The village of Braughing is situated a little to the
east of Ermine Street in the valley of the River
Quin. It is built on both sides of the river in the
angle formed by the junction of the road to Cambridge
and a road running north-east towards Furneux
Pelham. The parish church of St. Mary stands
about midway between these two roads, along which
lie the two main streets of the village, Green End on
the Cambridge road and The Street on the Pelham
road. At the further end of The Street is a group of
houses called Powell's Green. Green End is the main
street of Braughing. At the south end of it is the
village smithy. Braughing Hall close by was built in
1889; it is attached to the Congregational chapel and
is used for social purposes. The rest of the village is
grouped irregularly round the church, and owing to
its trees and old houses and varying levels is very
picturesque. Between the two main streets run
three lanes, all of which cross the River Quin.
These are called Malting Lane or Bridge, Fleece
Lane or Bridge, and Ships Bridge.12 Malting Lane,
the southernmost, is so called from a malting at one
end of it, and is also called Bell Lane from the Bell
Inn at the other. The names of the other two lanes
evidently recall the sheep washing which took place
in the shallow part of the river here. Close to the
church on the north-west is Braughing Bury, the old
71 See article on the Herts. Schools,
V.C.H. Hens, ii, 81. "Ibid. 82.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190;).
1 Local and Personal Act, 52 Geo. Ill,
cap. clxi. Copy lent by Mr. C. J. Long-
man.
B The road here was formerly called
Grig's Case {Sess. R. [Herts. Co. Ret],
i, 40-
4 Ibid. 91. 5 Ibid. 103, 105.
6 Ibid. 127, 128, 132.
7 Ibid, passim. Called New Bridge as
early as 1667 (ibid, i, 201). Another
bridge called Jennings Bridge is men-
tioned in 1665 (ibid. 172). Thomas
Jennings had land in Braughing in the
1 6th century (Com. Pleas D. Enr. East.
6 Edw. VI, m. 5). See also will of
Henry Johnson, 1569 {Herts. Gen. i,
238), which mentions a 'Mr. Jenyngs.'
s Hoare's Cross is another spelling.
Hoare's Cross Field is close by. The
Tithe Allotment of Standon spells it
Whore's Cross.
3O6
9 For the account of this see V.C.H.
Herts, iv, * Roman Remains.*
10 Cf. Assize R. 6 Edw. I, Agard's
MS. index, fol. 98*, where the jurors
depose that it is ancient demesne.
11 Birch, Cart. Sax. ii, 571. This is a
bequest by a certain ^thelgiva of land
charged with a rent in kind to the monas-
terium of Braughing.
12 Shipes Bredg in 1 642 {Sets. R. [ Herts.
Co. Rec], i, 70).
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
manor-house, now divided into two houses. The
house is approached by a fine avenue of trees. A
moat to the east of it probably incloses the site of an
older house. The vicarage is situated to the north
of the church. Pentlows is a farm lying above it to
the south, which takes its name from a 14th-century
owner (see manor of Queenbury). To the west of
the church is a house now divided into two, which
was built about 1600, and was formerly the Rose and
Crown Inn. It is a rectangular timber-framed building
covered with plaster, with a projecting upper story
and three brick chimney stacks. The plaster in front is
divided into square and circular panels which are
decorated in low relief. Another house south of the
church, known as the ' Old Boys' School,' of similar
date, is rectangular in plan, with herringbone brick
BRAUGHING
of the church was used for a school,13 which was
carried on there until its removal to a building now
used as a bakehouse at the end of Fleece Lane. It
was again moved to the old house on the south of the
church described above, and remained there until
taken to its present site. There is a Congregational
chapel to the north-west of the church dating back in
origin to 1 691, when Robert Billio, preacher, certi-
fied a place for Divine worship. 13a There is also a
Wesleyan chapel to the south of the church. A fair
was held at Braughing within living memory, at which
earthenware was one of the commodities sold.
To the south The Street is continued as Ford
Street. Ford Street Farm is a 17th-century building,
altered in the 1 8th century, of timber and plaster,
the latter being decorated with comb-work. About
Rose and Crown, Braughing
nogging and tiled roof. It is gabled and the upper
story projects. In the lane called the Causeway, to
the south-west of the church, is another house of the
same date. It is of red brick and timber with a
plastered front with rusticated quoins in plaster, and
still has its original window frames and fastenings.
The church hall at the end of the Causeway is a
red brick building used for a men's club and similar
purposes. It was built by Mr. H. Shepherd Cross
in 1903 in place of a Memorial Hall which he
had built in Ford Street in 1893 and which is
now converted into cottages. The public elementary
school was built in 1877 on a piece of ground called
the Orchard (see under Charities). The north chapel
a quarter of a mile north of Green End, on the
Cambridge road, is the hamlet of Hay Street.14
Further north still lies the hamlet of Dassels. On
the east side of the road here is a farm-house, now
divided into three tenements, dating from the early
1 7th century. It is L-shaped in plan, and is built of
timber and plaster, the latter being decorated with
the usual combed pattern. The roofs are tiled, and
the shorter wing is gabled at both ends, while the
other is hipped. It has the remains of old chimney
stacks. A few of the original casements of the win-
dows remain. At Dassels there is a Methodist chapel.
Bozen Green, in the north-east of the parish, seems
to preserve the name of Bordesdene of the Domesday
18 Parish Bk., 1720. There was a school
before 1710 (see V.C.H. Herts, ii, 100).
18a Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 675,
" It is called Hay Street in the 17th
307
century (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], ccccix,
*5)-
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Survey, which lay for the most part within the parish
of Little Hormead in Edwinstree Hundred, but
which perhaps extended into Braughing. A little to
the east of Bozen Green is a farm-house called Rotten
Row. It is a two-storied building of timber and
plaster, and was probably built in the 1 6th century,16
but underwent considerable alteration in the 1 7th,
18th, and 19th centuries. It was apparently of the
half H -shaped plan with interior space inclosed.
The roof of the main block is covered with slate, and
the wings are tiled, with hipped ends. The entrance
passage and the parlour, with a 17th-century fire-
place, formed the original hall. There is some
17th-century oak panelling in one of the rooms
on the ground floor.
Place-names that occur in this parish are Nether-
stokkying, Aldithelee, Kingcsho or Kingshohull, Enne-
worth, Fordmad (xiii cent.) 16 ; Pumps Land and
but there was land for eleven ploughs. A mill is men-
tioned in the extent.1" The lands of the honour of
Boulogne came by inheritance to Queen Maud, wife of
Stephen, and the manor of Braughing was divided
among several grantees. Between 1 146 and 1 148
Stephen granted 100/. rent in the manor to the priory
of Holy Trinity, London, and at the same time he
granted them 6 librates of land there in exchange for
the mill and land which the queen had granted
them near the Tower of London, where she had
afterwards founded the hospital of St. Katherine ;
these 6 librates, as the charter explains, being that
part of the manor left over after the rest had
been granted away and including the site of the
church and the market.20 This charter was con-
firmed by the queen 21 and by her son Eustace
Count of Boulogne.22 Other 4 librates of land in
the manor were given to Holy Trinity by Hubert
The Maltings, Braughing
Sportlowfield (xvii cent.).17 Near Sportlowfield
was a loam-pit in the road to Furneux Pelham, for
which the inhabitants of Braughing were indicted in
1683.18
Before the Conquest Braughing was
MANORS held by two thegns ; one, a man of
King Edward, held 4 hides, and the
other, a man of Asgar the Staller, I hide. In 1086
these holdings were united in the hands of Count
Eustace of Boulogne. They were assessed at 5 hides,
the queen's chamberlain, to whom 16 librates had
been granted by the king and queen.23 The priory's
lands formed the manor of BRAUGHING or
BRAUGHINGBURT. The mill of Braughing was
also given to the canons by Henry de Furneaux and
Theobald de Braughing.24 In 1 291 their lands,
rent and mill at Braughing were taxed at
£37 6s. si^-"5 The prior had a grange there for
the management of his estates.26 By Stephen's
charter he claimed to have soc, sac, toll, team and
15 It is mentioned by its present name
in 1 6 10 (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], cccxxii,
174)-
16Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5794, 1049,
5+59. 545+, 5"°-
17 Sea. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 125.
18 Ibid. 328. W V.C.H. Herts, i, 322*.
80 Cart. Antiq. N. 21 ; Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), A 105 1.
81 Cart. Antiq. N. 22 ; Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), A 1050 ; Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
vi, 152.
82 Cart. Antiq. N. 23. In 1141
Stephen had granted 100 librates of land in
Anstey, Braughing and Ham to Geoffrey
de Mandeville to the use of Ernulf his
son (Round, Geoff, de Mandeville, 141).
This he probably forfeited in 1143, and
Ernulf was never restored to his
lands.
83 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1043,
84 Dugdale, Mon. Angl.vi, 153
D. (P.R.O.), A mo, 6101. He
Furneaux owned seven parts
mill.
85 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.),
86 Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I).
>f the
14*.
308
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
infangentheof over his tenants, and in that part of the
manor held of the honour of Boulogne he claimed
view of frankpledge ' by ancient custom of the
honour, without charter,' each view being attended
by the bailiff of the honour and the prior's bailiff,
the former receiving 4/. as the part of the profits
due to the royal officials. These liberties, together
with gallows and assize of bread and ale, were allowed
by the justices in 1278.27
In February 1531-2 the Prior of Holy Trinity
surrendered to the Crown,28 and in 1534 Braughing
was granted to Sir Thomas Audley the chancellor,29
afterwards Lord Audley of Walden.30 In 1585
the manor was conveyed by Thomas Howard,
second son of Lord Audley's daughter Margaret,
who married Thomas Duke of Norfolk,31 to John
Steward of Marham, co. Norfolk.32 John Steward
died seised of the manor, with a mill, dove-
cote, and several fishery in Braughing, in February
1 604-5. 33 John his son succeeded, but left no issue.34
The manor appears to have passed to his brothers
Humphrey and Francis Steward, and to have been
divided between their sons, for Hoo Steward, son of
Francis (who married Roberta Hoo), conveyed a
moiety in 1668 to John Spicer
and John Paltock.35 The
object of this conveyance is
not clear, but before 1695
the manor (for this moiety
seems to have included all
manorial rights) had been sold
to William Harvey of Chig-
well, co. Essex,36 M.P. for
Essex in 1722. It descended
to his son William, who died
in 1742, and to William, son
of William, who died in
1763.37 William the eldest
son of the last-named William
died single and the manor came to his brother Eliab
Harvey,33 afterwards Sir Eliab Harvey, G.C.B., of
the Royal Navy. He greatly distinguished himself
at the battle of Trafalgar, where he commanded the
Temeraire, celebrated in naval history and in art as
the ' fighting Temeraire.' For his services there he
was made a rear-admiral.39 He died in 1830, leaving
O0O
1AAAAAAI
Harvey. Or a chief
indented sable with three
crescents or therein.
BRAUGHING
four co-heirs, of whom Maria, the wife of the
Rev. William Tower, inherited the manor.40 Her
daughter and co-heir Maria Louisa married Col.
Edward Goulburn, and their son Col. Henry Goul-
burn is the present lord of the manor. There are
now no copyhold lands left.41
The other moiety of the manor seems to have
consisted of the capital messuage called Braughing
Bury which had been divided into two tenements.42
Humphrey Steward (see above) left a son Humphrey,43
and Francis Steward, apparently his son,44 sold it to
William Delawood.45 Part of the Bury came with
Hamells into the possession of Miss Mellish and was
sold with that manor to Mr. H. Shepherd Cross in
1884.46 the other part descended with Uphall and
Gatesbury and was bought by Mr. C. J. Longman in
1896.47 Both parts are now farms with barns and
other farm buildings attached, although Mr. Long-
man's part is now let as a private house. The whole
is a 17th-century plastered brick house. It contains
some old panelling in the south parlour and a good
oak staircase.
The manor of QUEEN BURT ^ seems to have
taken its name from Queen Maud and to have been
the 16 librates of land which Stephen and Maud
granted to Hubert de Anstey the queen's chamber-
lain.49 Four of these he gave to the priory of Holy
Trinity.50 Richard and John, sons of Hubert de
Anstey,51 seem to have died without issue,52 and his
lands to have descended to his daughter Denise, who
married Warin de Munchensey.53 From her grand-
daughter Denise, who married Hugh de Veer,54 the
fee in Braughing passed to the former's cousin and
heir Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, on whose
death in 1324 it was assigned to Elizabeth Comyn,
one of his co-heirs.55
Under Denise Munchensey this fee was held by
Matthew Furneaux and Henry Pentelow, who
were assessed for it in 1303.56 Matthew Furneaux
in Hilary term 1288-9 granted his 'manor of
Braughing ' to David le Grand for life.57 Henry
Pentelow seems to have been holding his part of the
fee as late as 1331,58 but Furneaux's moiety had
apparently passed before that date to John Peverel,59
and it was the latter which was known as the manor
of Queenbury. In 1324 John Peverel granted the
27 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
278.
28 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 125.
29 L. and P. Hen. VIII, vii, 16 10 (3;) ;
see ibid, xiii (2), 4.91 (6).
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxvi, 100.
31 Ibid, clxii, 167 ; clxi, 169.
32 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 27 & 28
Eliz.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxvii,
86 ; cccclxxx, 114.
34 Visit, of Htm. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 94.
He had no children in 1634, when he
was thirty-six years of age, and he was
succeeded by his brothers, so the pre-
sumption is he left no issue.
95 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 20 Chas. II.
According to Chauncy (op. cit. 223)
Humphrey and Francis held a court in
1610, but John was still living in 1634
{Visit, of Herts, loc. cit.).
36 Recov. R. East. 7 Will. Ill, rot. 200.
The conveyance of 1668 can scarcely
have been to William Harvey, for he
would have been very young at that date,
nor to his father Sir Eliab Harvey, for he
lived until 1698, so that William would
not have been holding in 1695.
37 Morant, Hist, of Essex, i, 167 ;
Recov. R. Trin. 24 Geo. II, rot. 280.
38 Recov. R. East. 20 Geo. Ill, rot. 385.
39 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 190.
40 See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 Will. IV.
41 Information from Mr. C. J. Long-
man.
42 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 3 1 Geo. II,
rot. 124.
43 Chauncy, Hist. Antij. of Herts. 223.
Chauncy says that this Humphrey sold to
William Delawood, but this seems to be
an error.
44 Called great-grandson of John.
45 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 3 1 Geo. II,
rot. 124.
46 Information from Mr. H. Shepherd
Cross.
47 Information from Mr. C. J. Longman.
48 Quinbury seems to be a modern
form, owing to a false derivation from
the River Quin.
49 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1043 ; Red
309
Ek. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 578. Mr.
Round points out that the Anstey family
held three knights' fees of the honour
of Boulogne in Anstey, Hormead and
Braughing, which must not be confused
with the further grant made to them out
of the demesne of the honour by Stephen
and Maud (see Anstey).
50 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1043 (8ee
above).
51 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1043.
52 Richard was a minor at the time of
his father's death (see Testa de Nevill
[Rec. Com.], 269*).
53 See V.C.H. Surr. iii, 222 ; Feud.
Aids, ii, 435.
54 Abbrcv. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 252.
55 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 272.
56 Feud. Aids, ii, 435.
57 De Banco R. 76, m. 21.
58 Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 199. The
holders given for fees in such cases are
not, however, always correct. Pente-
Iow's property seems to be represented
later by the estate called Pentlow's Farm.
59 Ibid. 1323-7, p. 265.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Trinity Hall, C/
idge. Sable t
a border enfr ailed
manor to John de Preston and his wife Joan and
Peter de Horseden for their lives.60 In 1448
William Bradbury and his
wife Margaret, holding in
right of Margaret, conveyed
it to Roger Ree and Thomas
Gryme.61 There seems to be
no further record of the
manor until 1527, when
Richard Bishop of Norwich
obtained licence to grant it to
Trinity Hall, Cambridge.62
The manor has since remained
in the possession of the college.
The house called Quinbury,
now a farm, is situated to the
south-east of Hay Street.
The manor of TURKS is first heard of at the
beginning of the 15th century when it was in the
possession of Robert Turk.63 His daughter Joan
married Roland Barley, who survived his wife and
died seised of it in 1448, leaving a son Thomas.64
Before 1527 this manor had come into the same
hands as Queenbury and was given with that manor
to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1527,65 in whose
possession it has since remained.
Turks Wood on the north-east of the parish marks
the site of this manor. Within the wood is a nearly
circular homestead moat with an entrance on the
south-west side.
In 1086 Count Eustace of Boulogne had an estate
at COCKHJMSTED which was held in the time
of Edward the Confessor by Gouti, one of Harold's
thegns, and was assessed at 2 hides, with land for six
ploughs. For a considerable time after this date
there seem to be no records relating to this manor, but
during this interval it was apparently granted to the
priory of Anglesey, co. Cambridge. In 1 29 1 the
prior was assessed at £6 for his property in Standon,
and, as the prior is not otherwise known to have held
land there, this entry may refer to Cockhamsted in
Braughing, which perhaps extended into Standon.66
In 1346 Thomas de Chedworth C7 by licence of the
Earl of Pembroke granted a messuage and 180 acres
of land, with meadow, pasture and wood, formerly
belonging to Sir Robert Scales, to the prior and
convent.68 Before this, however, the prior seems to
have sub-enfeofFed a tenant of his other lands there,
for the manor appears in the hands of lay lords who
held of the priory. In 13 19 Geoffrey de la Lee had
a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in
Braughing.69 John de la Lee his son 70 had a similar
grant in 1366 and also licence to inclose and impark
300 acres of land in Braughing and Albury.71 From
Sir Walter de la Lee, son of John, the manor of
Cockhamsted passed to one of his sisters, Joan, who
married John Barley,72 and in February 1445-6 their
son John Barley died seised of the manor held jointly
with his wife Katherine of the Prior of Anglesey.73
Henry his son was his heir. Henry was succeeded in
1475 by his son William Barley, who died seised of the
manor held as above in March I 52 1-2. ~4 It descended
to his son Henry, and in 1529 to the latter's son
William,75 whose daughter and co-heir Dorothy married
Thomas Leventhorpe of Sawbridgeworth,76 and they
levied a fine of it in 1570.77 Their son Thomas 78 died
before 1594, when the manor was divided between
his daughters and co-heirs.79 Of these Dorothy wife
of Simeon Brograve seems eventually to have inherited
the whole manor. In August 161 1 George and
Thomas Whitmore, who were the informers as to defec-
tive titles usually called ' fishing grantees,' obtained a
grant from the Crown of the manor as lately belong-
ing to the priory of Anglesey.80 They conveyed
their title to William Millett and Paul Mason, who
again conveyed it to Zachariah Blackstock of
London.81 Simeon Brograve and Dorothy his wife
seem, however, to have been able to show that the king
only had a rent issuing from the manor which had
formerly been paid to the Prior of Anglesey, who had
parted with the manor and land, and that the manor
was rightly theirs.82
The manor was settled on their fourth son Edward,
and he settled it on his third son Edward.83 The
latter died without issue, and his widow Susan con-
veyed the manor to the heir-at-law Thomas Brograve,84
who in 1 71 6 conveyed it to Robert Colman, appa-
rently in trust for Jacob Houblon M of Hallingbury
Place, co. Essex. The latter settled it in 1 75S on
his son Jacob.86 John Archer Houblon, son of the latter,
sold Cockhamsted to John Larken of Braughing,8'
who devised it to his nephew the Rev. William P.
Larken.88 It was bought from Mr. Larken's repre-
sentatives in 1894 by Mr. Robert Lanyon of Spits-
berg, Kansas, U.S.A., whose son now holds it.
The moated house called Cockhamsted, situated on
the east of the parish, is a farm occupied by Mr. Grigg.
G4TESBURV seems to have originally formed
part of the manor of Westmill 89 (q-v.), and to have
been held under the Montfitchets and their successors
by the family of Gatesbury. At the end of the
12th century it was held by John de Gatesbury,91
who gave lands there to the monastery of Holywell
in Middlesex.91 Sir Richard de Gatesbury was holding
60 Feet of F. Herts. 18 Edw. II,
no. 394. 61 Ibid. 26 Hen. VI, no. 144.
82 L. and P. Hen, Vlll, iv (2), 3213
(26) ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlvi, m.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Hen. VI, no. 5.
For an earlier Robert Turk (Turkys) see
Assize R. 318 (32 Hen. III).
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Hen. VI, no. 5.
65 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv (2), 32 1 3 (26).
66 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 14A.
67 In 1338 Thomas de Chedworth had
received from Simon de Shyringe, called
1 Cornmongere,' a messuage with a
meadow and land in the field called
Monecroft (Anct. D. [P.R.O.], A 5244).
68 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 975 ; Inq.
a.q.d. file 256, no. 2 ; Cal. Pat. 1345-8,
p. 203.
89 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 417.
70 See chart, quoted by Chauncy, Hut.
Antiq. of Herts. 147.
71 Chart. R. 39 & 40 Edw. Ill, m. 7,
no. 21.
71 Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 12, 9 ;
Morant, Hist, of Essex, i, 393, 570.
73 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Hen. VI, no. 29.
71 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxviii, 24.
76 Ibid. Ii, 5. 76 Ibid, ccxvii, 133.
77 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 12 Eliz.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxvii,
133 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 31 Eliz.
79 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 36 & 37
Eliz.; Hil. 38 Eliz.
80 Cal. S. P. Don. 161 1-18, p. 70.
sl Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 9 Jas. I,
m. 7 ; East. 10 Jas. I, m. 1.
82 Ibid. East. 10 Jas. I, m. 1 ; Cal.
S.P.Dom. 1611-18, p. 84.
3IO
83 Chauncy, op. cit. 227.
81 Ibid.
8i Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Geo. I ;
see Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 31 Geo. II,
m. 124.
86 Recov. R. East. 31 Geo. II, rot.
304; Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 31
Geo. II, m. 124.
87 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 152.
88 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 193.
89 See Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463.
90 For this John de Gatesbury as a
witness to deeds see Anct. D. (P.R.O.),
A 5823, 5824 ; B 1032 is a grant of
land in Gatesbury by a John de Gates
bury, but this may be another John.
91 Dugdale, Man. Angl. iv, 393. Not
the manor, as Chauncy says.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
about a century later.9' His son Richard de Gates-
bury95 received a grant of free warren in 1320.9' In
1323 he settled the manor on his son John and John's
wife Elizabeth and their issue with remainder to
John's brothers Adam, Ralph, and Roger.95 Richard
was living in 1324,96 but John had succeeded before
1328.9' A further settlement was made by John
on his brothers Adam and Roger, failing his own issue,
in Hilary term I33o-i.9S The manor seems to have
remained in this family until the beginning of the
1 5th century, when an Adam de Gatesbury appears
to have left two sisters and heirs, Joan, who married
John Elveden, and Elizabeth, who married John Tuwe.
He also left a widow Agnes, who married Thomas
Tuwe.99 In 1456 John Joskyn and Elizabeth his
wife, kinswoman and co-heir of Adam de Gatesbury
(and probably the above Elizabeth Tuwe or her
daughter), and Henry Elveden of Gyng Mounteney,
co. Essex, kinsman and another heir of the same
Adam,100 levied a fine of the manor of Maisters in
Westmill and of lands in Braughing.1 Henry Elveden
was outlawed for a murder in 1462, and in 1463 his
moiety was granted to John Sturgeon.' In 1472,
however, he received a general pardon,' and he died
seised of Gatesbury in 1498.4 His son Henry had
predeceased him in 1493,' leaving Denise his daughter
and heir, then aged one year. She was her grand-
father's heir, and in 1 5 1 5 was married to Humphrey
Fitz Herbert of Uphall.6
The tenure of the Fitz Herberts is marked by
a series of lawsuits resulting from quarrels among
themselves and with their neighbours. About 1535
Humphrey brought a suit in the Court of Requests
against Sir Henry Parker, lessee of the other half of
Gatesbury, for entering tenements belonging to
Uphall and for cutting down trees on his half of
Gatesbury.7 In 1520 the vicar took proceedings
in the court of Star Chamber against Humphrey
Fitz Herbert for an attack made upon him in
church, the immediate cause of quarrel being the
presence of John Fitz Herbert, a priest, the defendant's
brother, whom the defendant had brought to arbitrate
between the vicar and the parishioners, and on whom,
by the defendant's account, the vicar had laid violent
hands, the defendant retaliating by an attack on the
vicar.8 After the death of Humphrey several actions
were brought against Denise by copyholders of the
manor for her refusal to admit them to their lands,9
the reason given in one case being that the tenant's
predecessor had forfeited the land for not taking off
his cap when he met Humphrey in the streets of
London.10 In 1578 Denise, who was then about
eighty-four years of age, brought an action in the
same court against her eldest son John for evading
the settlements made by Humphrey on herself and
younger sons."
BRAUGHING
John son of Humphrey and Denise seems to have
left a son Thomas, who was holding this moiety
in 1589, and in that year conveyed it to Thomas
Hanchett, who was already seised of the other."
Thomas Hanchett conveyed it by fine of Hilary term
1608-9 to Sir Arthur Heveningham and two others,13
apparently in trust for John Stone, who died seised
of it in 1640, leaving a son and heir Richard.11 In
March 1656-7 Richard Stone, described as of Stuke-
ley, co. Hunts., and John Stone of Uphall, his son
and heir, sold the manor with lands called Gatesbury
Green, Broom Hill, Brickhill (now Brick Kiln Hill),
Sacombe, the Mawne (now the Malm), &c, a warren
in Braughing, a water-mill and fulling mill called
Gatesbury (Gaddesbury) Mill to Robert Dicer of
London.15 Through Dorothy, daughter and heir of
Robert Dicer,16 the manor passed to William Harvey,"
and thereafter descended with Braughing until about
1890, when it was bought from the executors of
Mrs. Tower by Mr. Robert Lanyon, a Cornishman
by birth, who emigrated to America and there made
a fortune. In 1 896 he sold Gatesbury Mill and
Farm to Mr. C. J. Longman, who resides at LTpp
Hall. Gatesbury Mill, on the River Rib, was pulled
down in 1906. The mill-house has been converted
into two cottages.18
The other half of the manor which descended to
John Joskyn was forfeited by him in 146 1 19 and
granted to Nicholas Harpisfield.'0 Later it was
restored to Edward Joskyn, son of John.21 Through
an heiress named Elizabeth, possibly daughter of
Edward, this half came to Richard Braughing, who
died seised of it in January 1 5 1 7-1 8, Richard his son
succeeding.'2 Richard seems to have left two co-
heiresses, for in 1559 Nicholas Fulham and Elizabeth
his wife conveyed a fourth part of the manor to
Thomas Hanchett.23 A certain Thomas Braughing
apparently also had some interest which he conveyed
at the same time to Andrew Gray." In 1583
Thomas Hanchett joined in a conveyance with
Sir Arthur Heveningham and his wife Mary and
Sir Thomas Barnardiston and his wife Elizabeth
(Mary and Elizabeth being presumably the Braughing
heiresses) and Andrew Gray to Andrew Paschall, sen.,
and Andrew Paschall, jun.25 This was probably for
assurance of title. Soon afterThomas Hanchett bought
the other half (see above) and re-united the manor.
The house called Gatesbury is situated a little to
the east of the Cambridge road where it branches off
at Puckeridge. A wood called Gatesbury Wood lies
to the north-east.
The manor of UPHALL first appears in the 15 th
century. Its name is probably derived from its
situation on the high land to the south-east of the
village. In 1461 it appears in the possession of
John Joskyn (see Gatesbury) and was forfeited by him
"See Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5460;
C 2034; Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463.
93 See Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 322.
94 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 431.
95 Feet of F. Herts. 17 Edw. II,
no. 367.
96 Cal. Clou, 1323-7, p. 330.
97 De Banco R. 272, m. 46.
"Feet of F. Herts. 5 Edw. Ill,
no. 117.
99 Cf. Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 5,
no. 128 ; Feet of F. Herts. 35 Hen. VI,
no. 1 80. Agnes Tuwe afterwards became
Agnes More.
100 This Henry was son of Thomas
Elveden (see Anct, D. [P.R.O.], A 1033).
I Feet of F. Herts. 3 5 Hen. VI, no. 1 80.
3 Cal. Pat. 146 1-7, p. 296.
5 Ibid. 1467-77, p. 369.
4 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 47.
5 Ibid, ix, 24. 6 Ibid, xxx, 47.
7 Ct. of Req. bdle. 3, no. 259.
8 Star Chamb. Proc. bdle. 19, no. 319,
316.
9 Ct. of Req. bdle. 20, no. 71, 67, 56.
10 Ibid. no. 71.
II Ibid. bdle. 74, no. 92.
12 Recov. R. Trin. 31 Eliz. rot. 31.
311
13 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 6 Jas. I.
14 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxcv, 85.
15 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 1657,
m. 6 d.
ls Morant, op. cit. 167.
17 Recov. R. Trin. 24 Geo. II, rot. 2S0.
18 Information from Mr. Longman.
19 Pari. R. v, 477*, 588a.
80 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 356.
21 Pari. R. vi, 33a.
22 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxix, 254.
83 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 & 2 Eliz.
'4 Recov. R. Trin. 1559, rot. 547.
,6 Feet of F. Herts. East. 25 Eliz.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and granted to Nicholas Harpisfield.26 Edward
Joskyn, who was reinstated, seems to have left one
heiress Elizabeth (see above) and may have left a
second Katherine, for by fine of Hilary term 1484-5
Thomas Grey and his wife
Katherine (who were holding
in her right) conveyed the
manor to Ralph Josselin and
others.27 This seems to have
been in trust for Robert Fitz
Herbert, for he died seised
in 1515.28 His son was
Humphrey Fitz Herbert,
who married Denise Elveden,
and Uphall then descended
with the first half of Gates-
bury (q.v.). With Gatesbury
it was bought in 1 896 by
Mr. C. J. Longman. Mr. Longman's estate includes
fields called the Malm, the Moad, Sibdale, Haven
End Pasture, Old Field, Brick Kiln Field,29 Hither
and Further Tunnocks, Windmill Ley, Great and
Little Readings and Hoare's Cross Field.30
vjy
Longman of Upp
Hall. Gules three hzengc-
shaped buckles or.
Brauchinc
Upp Hall
Ground Plan
Es3Early 172 Cxis Tiro
□Modern
Upp Hall, the residence of Mr. Longman, is
situated on high ground about a mile south-east of
the village, with which it is connected by a road.
A considerable part of the late 1 6th or early 1 7th-
century house still exists, although much added to and
modernized. The house is built of the early 2-in.
bricks, and a brick outside plinth runs round the
walls of the old house, appearing inside where modern
work has been added, making it possible to obtain an
accurate plan of the original house, so much of it, at
least, as has survived, as there are clear indications
that the principal or west front has been shortened.
The old part of the house consists of a long building
of the usual two stories with attics, running north and
south. At the south end is a wing projecting east-
wards, and near the north end is a smaller projection
which probably contained the staircase. The old
building to the north of this has been swept away,
and modern kitchen offices substituted.
The west front has two steep brick gables, with
copings above the roof, and connected at their bases
with a parapet ; there are gables, but no parapets, on
the south and east fronts. All the windows have
26 Cal. Pat. 1 46 1 -7, p. 356.
" Feet of F. Herts. 2 Ric. Ill, no. 4.
*8 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 95.
straight brick drips or hoods over them, and the wide
front windows are of six lights, and have the original
oak mullions and transoms. The window to the
drawing room is partly blocked by the large fireplace,
but, as both appear to belong to the same period, the
large window was probably inserted for the sake of
symmetry, as it comes in the centre of a gable. The
chimneys appear to have been rebuilt. The principal
entrance is on the west front, and retains the original
door, though the wooden portico is comparatively
modern. The head of the door is formed by a
four-centred arch, the door itself being made of two
thicknesses of oak planks, and on the outside are fixed
narrow fillet and cavetto mouldings dividing the door
into three vertical panels. Two plain iron strap
hinges appear on the outside.
On entering the house the old hall is on the right.
It is still used as a hall, but a modern screen takes
the place of the old one. The fireplace is 10 ft. wide,
and has a straight lintel. At the back, adjoining the
seats, are two small niches, probably made to hold
flagons. Similar niches in the ingle-nooks may be
found in many old houses and cottages in the county.
Beyond the hall is the drawing
room, with the library forming
the wing at the back. A modern
passage, with staircase, has been
formed behind the hall. To the
left of the entrance is the dining
room, in which is a very good
but simple example of a wood
chimney-piece of the time of
Queen Anne. It is flanked by
wide slightly-projecting plain
pilasters carried up to the ceiling.
The overmantel has a narrower
plain pilaster in the centre.
There is a moulded cornice at
the top, broken round the pilaster.
In the room over the dining
room is a stone fireplace of the
usual early 1 7th-century type.
The old gate piers which afforded entrance to the
forecourt still stand facing the west entrance door,
about I I I ft. west of the main building. The piers
are built of brick, and are square on plan. They have
stone cornices finished on the top with large stone
balls. The southern inclosure of the forecourt, whether
wall or buildings, has disappeared, and the modern
avenue comes in on that side, but the inclosing building
still remains on the north side. It is a very long and
lofty barn of ten bays, built of brick, running east
and west, the east end being within 50 ft. of the
house itself. There appear at one time to have been
two wide doorways with pointed arches on each side,
but only one of those on the south side is in its
original state, the others being built up in whole or
part. The old window openings, of which a good
number exist, are mere slits, 8 in. wide, splayed on the
inner side.
On the north wall, outside, near the centre of the
building, are two curious little aumbries, the use of
which has not been satisfactorily explained. One is
a plain sinking in the wall, about 1 3 in. wide and
1 5 in. deep, covered with a four-centred arch ; the
89 Bricks from this field are said to 30 Particulars for sale, 1890. Lent by
have been used for the foundations of Mr. C. J. Longman.
Old Hall.
312
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
other is a little larger and has a curious little side
cupboard or arm, 12 in. wide, running for about 2 ft.
behind the brickwork.
The west end of the barn seems to have had a
return building to
the south, as the
existing buttress has
a partly built up
narrow light in it,
and has evidently
been formed from
the remains of a
wall. Marks on the
south wall of the
barn show this re-
turned building to
have been 30 ft.
wide. The barn is
probably not earlier
than the first half of
the 17th century,
though the burned-
brick diapers in it
might suggest an
earlier date.
The house and
barn stand within a
moated inclosure. A
portion of the moat
on the east side of
the house is still filled
with water, and is about 25 ft. wide. In length it is
about z.4.5 ft., and it has a return westwards at its
north end. There are indications in the ground
that the moat extended to some 3 3 5 ft. in length on
the north side, then turned southward past the west
end of the barn. The west side seems not to run
parallel with the east side, and this probably accounts
for the skew end to the barn, which is parallel to
the sinking in the ground indicating the position of
the moat.
HAMELLS seems to have been part of the
manor of Milkley in Standon which extended into
Braughing, and does not appear as a separate estate
BRAUGHING
He served as custos rotuhrum for the county of
Hertford for thirty years. He died in 161 3 and
was buried at Braughing.32 His son Simeon Brograve,
who succeeded him, obtained a grant of free warren
w&mm$g
^
.■■.-vi;-\~:"~- ,:-•-', 1 -:-.v't1"
'",.. , «.. hi, Atig-iWt'i /'/, ,M, ,7
Upp Hall, Braughing : Old Barn from the South-west
for his several fisheries within his Hertfordshire lands in
1617.33 His brother John Brograve rebuilt the house
at Hamells for him at his own expense.34 Simeon
Brograve, who was also attorney for the duchy of
Lancaster and custos rotulorum for thirty-three years,
died in January 1638-9 seised of the manors of
Hamells alias Milkley Hamells and Cockhamsted.35
He was succeeded by his son John, who was one of
Cromwell's commissioners for the county of Hert-
ford.35" Thomas Brograve, son of John, was created
a baronet in Maroh 1662-3. He was Sheriff of
Hertfordshire from 1664 to 1665 and died in 1670
and was buried at Braughing. John his eldest son
Brauchinc Upp Hall
Plan of Old Barn
H C.1600
E3 Modern
until a house was built there by John Brograve,31 who died unmarried in 1 69 1 and was also buried at
was attorney for the duchy of Lancaster under Braughing, and Thomas brother of John died without
Elizabeth and James I and was knighted by James I. issue and was buried there in 1707.36
31 For a description of this house see
Chauncy, op. cit. 226.
32 Diet. Nat. Biog.
33 Pat. 15 Jas. I, pt. xv, no. 4.
34 M.I. at Braughing.
35 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxci, 18.
"a See Urwick, Nonconformity in Hern.
670.
»6 G.E.C. Baronetage, iii, 272 ; M.I.
at Braughing. See Recov. R. Mich.
1657, rot. 126.
40
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Brograve of Hamells,
baronet. Argent three
leopards gules.
The entail on the estates had been barred by
Sir Thomas Brograve in 1 69 1, and the manors had
been settled to the use of himself and his heirs.37
These heirs were his sisters
Jemima Brograve and Honoria
wife of John Stevenson.
Jemima died before 1 71 2.
In that year the manor of
Hamells with Masters,
Mentley alias Milkley, and
Westmillbury with Berkesdon,
the capital messuage called
Hamells with four pews in
the churches of Braughing
and Westmill, the water-mill
in Braughing and the tene-
ment called Pentlows there
were sold by order of the
Court of Chancery to Ralph Freeman, one of Sir
Thomas Brograve's creditors.38 Ralph Freeman,
who was M.P. for the county in 1722, made ex-
tensive additions to the house and grounds at
Hamells.39 In the latter he planted great numbers
of trees brought from Aspenden and other places ; he
made a bowling-green, fenced in a warren, built a
greenhouse, pigeon-house and beehouse, dug a pond
in the park, re-fronted the east side of the house,
set up iron gates before the west front, built a chapel,
set up a great gate and a hunting gate in Langram
Mead, and otherwise altered
and ' improved ' the estate.40
Ralph Freeman died in 1742.
His son William died in
1749, when the manors
passed to the latter's brother,
the Rev. Dr. Ralph Freeman,41
prebendary of Salisbury. He
devised them to his great-
nephew Philip Yorke, son of
Catherine daughter of William
Freeman, who had married
the Hon. Charles Yorke, for
three days Lord Chancellor
of England,42 and had died
in 1763. Philip Yorke, third
Earl of Hardwicke, sold the property in 1796 to
John Mellish of Albemarle Street,43 who two years
afterwards fell a victim to an assault by footpads on
Hounslow Heath.44 His daughter Catherine Martha
Mellish45 survived until 1880. She left the estate
to the Rt. Hon. C. P. Villiers with reversion to
Mr. H. F. Gladwin, and they in 1884 combined in
a sale of the manors of Hamells cum Masters, Milkley
and Westmill to Mr. H. Shepherd Cross, the present
owner, who resides at Hamells Park.46 The house
stands in a park of 200 acres, which lies partly in
Yorke, Earl of Hard-
eke. Argent a saltire
ure tuith a bezant
Westmill and partly in Braughing. The mill at
Braughing mentioned above as part of the estate is no
longer working.
The origin of the manor of FRIARSm Braughing
is obscure, as no continuity can be traced between it
and any monastic estate. It seems possible, however,
that it represents the land held by the Priory of
Haliwell in Braughing. Lands at Gatesbury were given
to the nuns there in the reign of Richard I by John
de Gatesbury,47 and by a deed witnessed by John de
Gatesbury Ralph de Langeford gave them all his
land lying in the field called Sibbedellersfield.48 In
1200 Henry Furneaux was in mercy for having
unjustly disseised the prioress of her free tenement in
Gatesbury.49 The prioress contributed icv. \\d.,
asses;ed on her goods at Braughing, towards a lay
subsidy in 1307.50 At the time of the Dissolution
the convent had property at Braughing assessed at
/4.51 There seems to be no grant of this estate by
Henry VIII, but if it may be identified with the manor
of Friars 52 it had come by the end of the 1 6th
century into the possession of the Newport family.
Robert Newport suffered a recovery of Friars in
1580 s3 and Edward Newport in 1586. 54 In 1603
Thomas Hanchett of Uphall was holding it and
mortgaged it in that year to William Whettell of
Thetford, co. Norfolk.55 It is then described as the
manor of Friars in Braughing and Albury, and as
including a water corn-mill with the stream belonging
to it in Braughing and inter alia I \ acres in a field
named Sibdale. The latter is evidently the ' Sibbe-
dellersfield ' of the grant mentioned above, which
forms one link in the identification of Friars with
the land held by Haliwell. The manor seems to
have been conveyed by Thomas Hanchett to John
Stone together with Gatesbury, for John Stone died
seised of it in 1640,56 and it then descended with
Gatesbury (q.v.). The house called Braughing Friars
is situated on the south-east of the parish.
The manor of HOTOFTS was the holding of the
family of Hotoft, who had lands in Braughing in the
13th and 14th centuries.57 In the 1 6th century it
was held by a family named Greene. Richard Greene,
son and heir of a John Greene, died in 1 561 and
was buried in the church.58 Richard Greene, also
buried in the church, died in 1 610 seised of the
manor of Hotofts, a capital messuage called Hotofts
and another called Rotten Row, and 200 acres of land.59
He was a bachelor, aged seventy-eight at the time of
his death, and had bequeathed his property to his
brother Henry Greene, with remainder to Ralph his
brother and Francis Harvey, Justice of the King's
Bench, his kinsman. These were both dead before
the death of Henry in 1635, and Sir Stephen Harvey,
son of Francis, had also died in 1630, so that the
title descended to Francis son of Sir Stephen Harvey,
37 Close, 3 Will, and Mary, pt. ix,
no. 22 ; Recov. R. Hil. 3 Will, and
Mary, rot. 43.
3sChan. Deer. R. 1335, no. 6.
39 For drawings of it see Add. MS.
32348, fol. 170.
40 See Hardwicke Papers, vols, dcccxci-
iii (Add. MS. 36239-41).
" Sec Recov. R. East. 23 Geo. II,
rot. 323.
42 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Hardwicke.
13 Close, 36 Geo. Ill, pt. xxiii, no. 6.
" M.I. in Braughing Church.
45 See Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich.
7 Geo. IV, m. 20.
46 Information from Mr. H. Shepherd
Cross.
47 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 391.
■"OHarl. Chart. 52 I. 12. The grant
was made for his soul and the soul of his
lord William Foliot.
49 Dugdale, Man. Angl. iv, 391.
50 Lay Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
51 J'alor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 394.
52 The fact that this manor was called
Friars would probably be no argument
3H
against its having been owned by a
nunnery. ' Friars ' seems to have been
a generic name applied to any monastic
estate.
53 Recov. R. Hil. 1580, rot. 459.
54 Ibid. Trin. 1586, rot. 9.
" Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 1 Jas. I,
m. 16.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxcv, 85.
57 Cal. Close, 1339-41, p. 85; Harl.
Chart. 52 I. 12.
58 M.I. in the church.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii, 1 74.
Braughing : Upp Hall from the West
^^JBOM i^iPHLM
^533**
^»'
i r
M
P
i
|p
Iff1 1
-;
i
i:-j «ii vJfty .-
!
.
Braughing Church from the South
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
then aged seven.60 Francis died seised in 1 644, when
the manor passed to his brother Richard.61 It was
sold soon afterwards to Sir Hoo Steward, who was
holding it in l668,6aand remained with the Stewards
until 1704, when Francis Steward conveyed it to
Samuel Mason.63 In 1733 John Mason conveyed it
to Margaret Long, widow,61 but possibly for life
only, for in the settlement by Jacob Houblon of his
property in Braughing on his son Jacob in 1758
Hotofts is included and is said to have been purchased
of John Mason.65 It then descended with Cockham-
sted.
The church of ST. MART consists of
CHURCH chancel 34 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in., small
north chapel now used as an organ
chamber and vestry, nave 63 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.,
north aisle 63 ft. by 12 ft. 6 in., south aisle 64 ft. by
15 ft., large south porch, west tower 14 ft. square,
all internal dimensions. The walls are of flint, with
stone dressings ; the porch and tower are covered with
cement, and the north chapel is built of red brick.
The walls of the nave and south porch are embattled.
The chancel belongs to the early part of the 13 th
century, about 1220 ; the nave with its aisles and
porch and the west tower were rebuilt about 141666
and the north chapel was added early in the 1 7 th cen-
tury. In 1888 the church was thoroughly restored,
the stonework of most of the windows having been
renewed, and in 1 90 1 the chancel was repaired.
The window in the east wall of the chancel is
modern, but in the north wall are two 13th-century
lancet windows, repaired ; one is open, the other is
blocked, but can be seen in the vestry. The windows
and blocked doorway in the south wall are mostly of
modern stonework ; there is a low-side window near
the chancel arch. The chancel arch is of 1 5th-century
work, and has two splayed orders, the outer order being
continuous ; the inner has jambs with modern moulded
capitals and bases. The roof is chiefly modern,
but contains some old trussed rafters.
The eastern and larger part of the north chapel
has its floor raised to cover a vault ; it is now used as
a vestry ; the western portion contains the organ.
The windows are modern, but some old timbers
remain in the flat roof. A painted inscription on the
wall plate records the erection of the chapel by
Simeon Brograve, who died in 1639.
The nave has arcades of four bays of the 15th
century. The arches are of two orders ; the piers
have four engaged shafts separated by hollow chamfers,
and have moulded capitals and bases. In the small
portion of wall at the east end of the north arcade is
a small trefoiled opening, about 5 ft. from the floor,
with splayed jambs next the nave. In the south-east
angle of the nave is the stair turret to the rood-loft
and to the roof above ; the doorway is in the south
aisle ; the doorway to the rood-loft is blocked, and
there is an upper one on to the roof, the turret
being carried some height above the nave wall and
embattled round the top ; a quatrefoil opening in
the aisle to light the stair is now blocked. The
three-light clearstory windows are of modern stone-
work, all but their inner jambs, which are original.
BRAUGHING
The 15th-century roof has moulded ribs with carved
bosses, and figures of angels at the feet of the inter-
mediate trusses ; the panels are plastered. The
eastern bay is more richly treated and with painted
decorations ; the painting, however, has been renewed.
The eastern part of the north aisle is raised 6 in.
above the nave floor. In the east wall is a three-
light window, unglazed, opening into the north
chapel ; the jambs are original but the tracery is
modern. The three windows in the north wall and
one in the west wall are of three lights, with modern
tracery under four-centred arches ; the jambs are
original. The north doorway, now blocked, has an
arch of two moulded orders, and label with grotesque
heads, all much worn.
The windows in the south aisle are similar to
those in the north aisle. The south doorway has
a moulded arch under a square head with traceried
spandrels, and a label with defaced head stops. The
I 5th-century roofs over the aisles are of similar detail
to the nave roof and rest on stone corbels carved with
angels bearing shields.
The south porch has a parvise over it, and is a lofty
structure, standing well above the aisle roof ; at each
of its southern angles are two buttresses with cusped
gablets, and at each of its four angles is a crocketed
pinnacle ; the walls are embattled. The doorway
has a two-centred moulded arch under a square
head, with traceried spandrels ; the side windows in
the porch are of two lights with traceried heads. In
the south-east corner is a stoup with 'a round basin,
slightly broken. The inner door is not central with
the porch ; the greater wall space is on the east side,
which was possibly the position of the ladder to the
room above, there being no trace of a stone stair.
The room over, the floor of which has been removed,
was lighted by a large two-light traceried window
with a square head, flanked on either side by a niche
with cusped arch under a square head.
The west tower is of four stages with embattled
parapet, and a slight timber spire, covered with lead.
The tower a*rch is of three moulded orders, the two
outer orders being continuous, the inner resting on
jambs with moulded capitals and bases. It is of
early 15th-century date. The west doorway has
a two-centred arch under a square head ; the arch
mouldings are continuous and die on the tower base-
course ; the spandrels are traceried. The doorway is
flanked on either side by a niche for an image having
a cusped and ribbed canopy with a carved finial.
These are somewhat unusual features beside west
doorways of Hertfordshire churches.67 The corbels
which supported the figures show remains of tracery.
The three-light window above has modern tracery.
The third stage has a quatrefoil opening in each of
its north, west and south walls. The belfry has on
each side a window of two cinquefoiled lights, with
a quatrefoil in its head. These have all been repaired.
The font is modern, but the old one stands at the
east end of the north aisle, and is of early 14th-
century date. The sides of the octagonal basin have
cusped panels, all much mutilated ; the flat oak cover
belongs to the early part of the 1 7th century.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxx,
4; Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxxiii, ;o.
62 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 20 Chas. II.
63 Ibid. Trin. 3 Anne.
64 Ibid. 6 & 7 Geo. II.
05 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 31 Gee
rot. 124.
6G In 1416 John Kyllum or
Stephen's, Walbrook, left £5 to
315
work of the body of the church (Will,
II, P.C.C. Marche 33).
67 The neighbouring church of West-
St. mill has niches set in the jamb of the
the west doorway.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In the nave are some 16th-century seats with
buttressed bench ends.
On the east wall of the south aisle are brases of a
civilian and his wife, without inscription, but of about
1485 ; on the floor is a brass inscription to Richard
Grene, died I 5 6 1 ; another, with arms, to Richard
Grene, died 1610; an inscription to Barbara
Hanchett, died 1561, and the lower part of a lady's
figure, probably of the late I 5th century. On the north
side of the chancel is a large monument to John
Brograve, who died in 1625, and his younger brother
Charles, who died in 1602. The monument is of
marble and alabaster ; on the panelled tomb, under
a canopy supported by Corinthian columns, lie the
two effigies in armour ; on the cornice above is a
cartouche bearing their arms, and behind the figures
is an inscription. On the same side of the chance' is
a mural monument to Simeon Brograve, who died in
1639, and his wife Dorothy, who died in 1645. On
the south side of the chancel are mural monuments
to Augustin Steward, with his bust in armour, with
his arms above, who died in 1597, and to Sir John
Brograve, who died in I 593, with arms above.
In the north aisle is a large painting of the
Resurrection, probably of I 7th-century work ; it has
only been recently discovered, and may have formed
part of an altar-piece.
There are eight bells : the first three by Robert
Catlin, 1745, presented by William Freman ; the
fourth by William Hnrbert, 1628 ; the fifth inscribed
' Deus in adiutorium meum intende I C,' I 562 ; the
sixth, seventh and tenor by Miles Graye, 161 5, 1653
and 163 I respectively.
The communion plate consists of cup, large paten,
and flagon, 171 8, and modern paten.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials
begin in 1563.
The church was granted to the
ADVOIVSO'N priory of Holy Trinity by Queen
Maud about the same time as the
manor.68 In 1217 the legate Gualo signified the
approval of the Holy See for the papal sympathies
shown by the priory during the Barons' War by
confirming the church of Braughing,69 and this was
followed by a confirmation of William Bishop of
London, whose charter reserved a vicarial portion
for a priest, who was to be presented by the canons
and to serve the parish with the help of a chaplain.™
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson
descended with the manor of Braughing. On the
division of the manor between Humphrey and
Francis Steward, one-half descended with the manor
of Braughing. The other half was sold by Francis
Steward, grandson probably of Humphrey, to
William Delawood,71 who presented in 1680." He
bequeathed his property to Isaac and Abraham
Houblon of London, merchants." The families of
these two brothers died out before 1758, when this
moiety of the rectory and advowson had come to
Jacob Houblon, grandson of their brother Jacob,
who in that year made a settlement on his son
Jacob.74 The presentations were made by the
Harveys and Houblons alternately until 1832, when
the Rev. William Tower (see Braughing) bought the
second moiety of the advowson.75
The chapel of ST. JAMES, GATESBURT, was
probably founded by one of the Gatesbury family.
It was granted by Richard de Gatesbury to the
canons of Holy Trinity with its tithes and appur-
tenances, except the tithes of land called ' Little
Reding ' held by the nuns of Haliwell,76 on condition
that the canons celebrated four masses weekly in the
chapel.77 In 1487 Henry Elveden, successor of
Richard de Gatesbury, commuted the masses to two,
to be celebrated weekly in the chapel of Holy
Trinity within the nave of the conventual church.78
Probably the chapel fell into decay after this. The
advowson was still menti< ned in an inquisition on
Henry Elveden in 1515."
The charity of Thomas Jenyns,
CHARITIES founded by will, 1579, is regulated
by scheme of the Charity Com-
missioners a April 1867. The endowment con-
sists of a yearly pajment of £8 13/. \d. by the
Fishmongers' Company, a rent-charge of £3 issuing
out of Ford Street Farm, and a piece of land called
' The Orchard ' with the school thereon. By an
order of the Charity Commissioners 30 September
1904 it was determined that the Orchard and
school together with a yearly sum of £3 1 5/. should
form the endowment of 'Jenyns School Foundation.'
The residue of the income is applied as follows :
£2 12s. in bread to twelve poor widows, £1 to
the parish council towards the repair of bridges,
£1 to poor girls getting married, and the remainder
in small sums to the poor on Old Christmas Day.
Thomas Blossom, as stated in the Parliamentary
returns of 1786, gave a rent-charge of 10/. to the
poor. This sum is paid out of land called Austen
Wells and distributed in small sums to the poor on
Old Christmas Day.
In 1595 Matthew Wall by his will gave a rent-
charge of 20s. out of a house and about 12 acres of
land at Green End in Braughing. This turn is
applied as follows : 3^. 6d. to poor, 6s. Sd. to
twenty school children, 4/. lod. to sexton and
clerk, and 5/. to the vicar and churchwardens for
their trouble.
In 161 2 William Bonest by will devised his tene-
ment in Overbury to the churchwardens upon trust
that they should place not more than four widows
to dwell there rent free ; and he also gave £1 yearly
out of a field called Dassel Field to be distributed
equally among the four poor widows.
In 1663 Edward Younge, D.D., by his will gave a
yearly sum of 40/. to the poor. The annuity was
redeemed in 1869 by the transfer to the official
trustees of stock, now £67 consols, producing
<* Cott.
69 Ibid.
70 Cott.
Fitzjames
wardens ;
against th
court for n
Epis. Reg.
71 Com.
rot. 124.
R. xiii, ,8 (,).
(2) ; Cal. Papal Letters, i, 52.
R. xiii (3) ; Lond. Epis. Reg.
, fol. 55. In 14.32 the church-
md parishioners brought a suit
e Ticar in the London consistory
ot maintaining a chaplain (Lond.
Fitz James, tbl. 126, 127).
Pleas D. Enr. East. 21 Geo. II,
'2 Inst. Bks. P.R.O.
73 Se_- his will quoted by Clutterbuck,
op. cit. iii, 60.
74 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 21 Geo. II,
m. 324. The Henry Houblon mentioned
in the deed must have been son of Isaac.
Abraham had a son Richard and a daughter
Anne, who married Henry first Viscount
Palmerston (Berry, Essex Gen. 164;
Visa. Essex fHarl. Soc. xiv], 633;
Morant, op. cit. ii, 513). Abraham and
Henry were holding the property jointly
in 1703 (Recov. R. Trin. 2 Anne,
rot. 134).
75 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 19S.
76 Anct. D. (P.R.O. ), A 1 1 1 1.
" Ibid. A 1033.
78 Ibid.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 47.
3l6
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
£\ 13/. a\d. yearly, which is distributed to the poor
in the same manner as Blossom's Charity.
In 1694 William Delawood by his will gave £$
yearly to the poor. The annuity is paid out of an
estate called Hormead Hall, and is distributed to
the poor in the same manner as Blossom's Charity.
By an award made in pursuance of an inclosure in
181280 a piece of land containing 2 a. 36 p. was
allotted for a public stone and gravel-pit. The land
was sold in 1854 and the proceeds invested in
£109 14.J. consols in the names of four trustees.
EASTWICK
The annual dividends, amounting to £2 14;. Sd.,
are applied towards the repair of the roads.
In 1 7 10 Marmaduke Tenant, by his will dated
7 February, gave £\ yearly out of a farm called High
Street Farm for instructing eight poor boys. This
sum is received by the school managers.
The Congregational Chapel Manse and Trust
Property comprised in indentures of 18 May 1803
and 13 November 1844, and indenture of 21 June
1888, is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Com-
missioners dated 3 June 1908.
EASTWICK
Esteuiche (xi cent.) ; Estuic (xii cent.) ; Estuick,
Estwyk, Estwyke (xiii cent.) ; Estwyk atte Flore
(xiv cent.) ; Eastuick (xvi cent.).
The parish of Eastwick is a narrow strip of land of
840 acres lying between the parishes of Gilston and
Hunsdon. On the south it is bounded by the stream
called Canons Brook, which here divides Hertfordshire
from Essex. The height above sea level is greatest in
the north, where it attains about 260 ft. in Eastwick
Wood. The village stands about I 35 ft. above ordnance
datum and from it the land slopes still further to the
banks of the Stort Navigation and Canons Brook, a
district much liable to floods. In 1905 there were
422! acres of arable land, 152J of permanent grass
and 118 of woods and plantations in this parish.1
The geological formation is London Clay.
There is no line of railway within the parish.
The chief road is a branch road from the main road
to Newmarket, w'hich enters the parish at Eastwick
village and thence runs westward along the valley of
the Stort Navigation, to enter the parish of Hunsdon
at its south-eastern corner. The village, which with
the church is situated in the south of the parish near
the Stort, is very small. The rectory stands close by
the church ; the manor-house of Eastwick Hall is
considerably to the north. A road leads to it from
the village and continues under the name of Cock-
robin Lane to Eastwick Wood in the extreme north
of this parish, and thence into Sawbridgeworth. In
Eastwick Wood is the fragment of a homestead moat.
At the time of the Domesday Survey
MANOR the manor of EASTIFICK was held by
Geoffrey de Bech, successor to Ilbert, the
first Norman sheriff of the county.' It is not known
who was the heir or successor of Geoffrey de Bech,
but in 1 138 Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare gave
the church of Eastwick to the abbey of Bourne in
Lincolnshire, by his foundation charter to that monas-
tery.3 It seems reasonable to suppose that Eastwick
Manor was also in his hands at that date, for early in
the 13th century it is found forming part of the
honour of Bourne (Brunne),4 held by the Wakes, the
Wake. Or two bars
gules -with three roundels
gules in the chief.
descendants of the foun.Ier of Bourne Abbey through
the marriage of Baldwin's daughter Emma to Hugh
Wake.s Baldwin Wake, lord
of Liddell in Cumb.rland and
descendant of this Hugh," was
holding Eastwick in chief of
the king at the time of the
Testa de Nevil/,1 and died
seised of it in 1 282.' The
overlordship descended with
the barony of Wake9 till the
death of Edmund Earl of
Kent in 1 408 without issue,
when the rights of overlord-
ship in Eastwick, if not already
lapsed, are no longer traceable.
In 1086 the tenant in demesne at Eastwick under
Geoffrey de Bech was Rainald,10 of whom, however,
nothing further is known. In the 12th century it
was held by the family of Tany, of whom Ascolf de
Tany is found holding land ' in Es:ex and Herts.' as
eirly as 1131," and various
other members of the Tany
family occur frequently with
such holdings on the 12th-
century Pipe Rolls and in the
Red Book of the Exchequer.™
The earliest specific mention
of a Tany at Eastwick is,
however, in ii94> when
Richard de Tany, son of
Reginald de Tany,13 sued the
Abbot of Bourne in Lincoln-
shire for the right of pre-
sentation to the church of
Eastwick." Early in the 13th century Richard de
Tany held ' two fees in Eastwick and Bengeo of
the honour of Bourne,' u and later in the century
another Richard son of Peter was holding,16 to
whom Henry III made grants of free warren, a
weekly market on Tuesday and a fair on the vigil,
feast and morrow of St. Botolph, in 1253.17 This
10 Local and Personal Act, 52 Geo. Ill,
.. clxi.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, 3354, 273, 282.
1 Dugdale, Men. vi, 370.
1 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 505.
e date given of this charter is 1210-12.
! J. H. Round, Peerage Studies, 75 ;
itfrey de Mande-ville, 1 60.
' Dugdale, Baronage, i, 539.
' Testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com.), 269, 280.
* Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 £dw. I, no. 439.
9 Inq. a.q.d. file 25, no. 13; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, no. 38511 Edw. II,
no. 3 8 ; 1 5 Edw. Ill, no. 40 ; 2 3 Edw. Ill,
no. 75 ; 26 Edw. Ill, no. 54 ; 20 Ric. II,
no. 30 ; 1 Hen. IV, file 14, no. 56 ; see
G.E.C. Peerage, viii, 35.
10 V.C.Hf Herts, i, 3354.
11 Hunter, Mag. Rot. Scacc. de 3 I Hen. I
(Rec. Com.), 53. Eastwick was less
than 10 miles as the crow flics from the
manor of Stapleford Tawney in Essex.
12 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 174,
317
319, 498, 507; Hunter, Gt. R. of the
Pipe 2-4 Hen. II (Rec. Com.), 132;
I Ric. I, 22, 24, 227.
13 For Reginald see Bengeo in Hert-
ford Hundred.
14 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 4, 7,
69. See above on overlordship of East-
wick, also below on advowson of Eastwick.
« Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 50;.
16 See Feet of F. Herts. 53 Hen. Ill,
no. 615 (Temple Chelsen in Bengeo).
17 Cat. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 429.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Richard took a prominent part in the Barons' Wars.
In 1266 we hear of him 'coming to the King's Court
to treat of his peace with him.' '" By the close of the
year I 270 he had been succeeded by his son Richard,19
of whom it was reported in 1274 that he 'held
assize of bread and ale and view of frankpledge in
Eastwick.' 2J He is almost certainly identical with
the Richard de Tany who in 1295 was holding the
manor of Eastwick, value ,£40, by the service of two
knights' fees.21 He was succeeded by his son Roger,
who died seised of Eastwick Manor in 1 30 1, leaving
an infant son Lawrence to succeed him.22 Lawrence
was only nineteen when he died in I 3 17, leaving as
heir to Eastwick his sister Margaret, then aged sixteen.23
She married John de Drokensford, and they in 1329
received a quitclaim of the third of the manor held in
dower by Margaret widow of Laurence de Tany,
then wife of Thomas de Weston.24 Margaret pre-
deceased her husband, who held Eastwick ' by courtesy '
until his death in 1 341." His son Thomas de
Drokenslord, who is styled 'knight' in 1346, in that
year granted the manor to Nicholas le Blake of Ware
and his wife Margery, to hold for life.26
Thomas de Drokensford died in I 36 1, leaving an
only daughter and heir Anne, then aged four, who sub-
sequently married Thomas Mandeville, son of Walter
Mandeville of Black Notley in Essex.27 Thomas son
and heir of Thomas Mandeville died, seised of East-
wick in I400,28 leaving as heirs his two sisters, Joan the
wife of John Barry and Alice wife of Helmyngus
Leget, both of full age. Eastwick fell to the share of
Alice, on whom and her first husband (Leget) the
manor was settled in 1408," and on her and her
second husband (Roger Spice) in 141 3. 30 Alice sur-
vived her second husband, who seems to have been
succeeded in the tenure of Eastwick Manor by Clement
Spice, who was holding in 1428,31 and after him by
Roger Spice. The latter, in Michaelmas 1447, sold
the manor of Eastwick to William Oldhall, kt.32
William Oldhall purchased the neighbouring manor
of Hunsdon either at or about this date, and for
nearly two hundred years after this the two manors
followed exactly the same descent.33 Hunsdon being
the larger and more important of the two, the East-
wick tenants attended the Hunsdon courts, the last
separate court known to have been held for Eastwick
being in 1527.3' When Hunsdon Manor in 1 5 32
became Hunsdon Honour, Eastwick formed part of that
honour. 7 he two properties are last found in the
same hands in 1637, in which year Henry Earl of
Dover, lord of Hunsdon, conveyed Eastwick to
trustees,35 and it was shortly afterwards sold to Sir
John Gore of Gilston, kt.,36 probably in order to raise
money for the Royalist cause. It then descended with
the manors in Gilston (q.v.) to Mr. A. S. Bowlby,
the present lord of the manor.
A mill worth 5/. is recorded in the Domesday
Survey, but there is no mention again of a mill in
Eastwick until 1607, when it may be concluded that
of the two mills owned by the lord of Hunsdon
and Eastwick one was an Eastwick mill.37 Both the
mills were acquired by Sir John Gore in l64l,3S but
only Hunsdon Mill is mentioned in the sale to John
Plumer in I 70 1.39
The church of ST. BOTOLPH was
CHURCH rebuilt, all but the west tower, in 1872,
some of the old material being re- used ;
the stonework of the tower has been renewed. It
consists of chancel, north organ chamber, nave with
north porch, and west tower ; all the walls are faced
with flint and have stone dressings ; the roofs are tiled.
The original 1 3th-century chancel arch has been
re-erected in the church; it is of two richly-moulded
orders, with three detached Purbeck marble shaits in
the jambs, with moulded capitals and bases. On the
sill of one of the north windows of the chancel is the
bowl of a piscina, without sufficient detail to deter-
mine its date. The tower is of three stages, unbut-
tressed, with embattled parapet, but has been re- faced.
Under the tower is the recumbent effigy in stone
of a knight with crossed legs ; he is clad in chain mail
and a long surcoat ; on his left arm is a long shield.
The plinth below the slab on which the effigy lies is
modern. The figure belongs to the middle of the
13th century, and may be of Richard de Tany who
died about 1270. It is in a very good state of
preservation.
On the tower wall is a brass figure of a lady in
Elizabethan costume, a shield and part of an inscrip-
tion ; the figure is that of Joan wife of Robert Lee,
whose figure has disappeared. The remaining part of
the inscription reads: 'which Robert died ye 23
day of January 1564 and the sayd Joan died the . . .
day of ... ' Salmon also states that the brass is a
palimpsest and gives the inscription.
There are three bells : the treble bears an inscrip-
tion in English, illegible ; the second is inscribed
' Vox Augustini sonet in aure dei,' without date ; the
third is by John Clark, 1601.
The communion plate consists of cup, 1719 ; one
paten, 1705 ; another, 1735, and a modern flagon.
The registers of baptisms and burials begin in
1555, those of marriages in 1556.
A priest is included among the
ADVOWSON tenants of Eastwick Manor at the
time of the Domesday Survey.40
In 1 1 38 Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare (see the
manor) granted the church of Eastwick to Bourne
Abbey, Lincolnshire, a house of his own foundation.41
In 1 1 94 a dispute arose between the Abbot of
Bourne and Richard de Tany, lord of the manor
of Eastwick, concerning the right of presentation,
18 Cal. Pat. 1258-66, p. 575.
19 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Corr
528.
■0 HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i,
Assize R. 323 (6 Edw. I).
21 Inq. a.q.d. file 25, no. 13.
22 Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, no
23 Ibid. 11 Edw. II, no. 38.
24 Feet of F. Herts. 3 Edw.
no. 32.
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. I 5 Edw. Ill, n
26 Cal. Close, 1346-99, p. 71.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw.
no. 74; Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 179,
.), ii, 443.
35 Chan. Inq. p.m. I Hen. IV, no. 56.
191 ; According to Morant this Thomas was a
grandson of Anne, but this is impossible.
2'FeetofF. Div.Co. Mich. 10Hen.IV,
. 38. no. 43.
30 Ibid. Hil. 14 Hen. IV, no. 93 ;
III, Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 22, no. 136.
31 Feud. Aids, ii, 451.
i. 40. s2 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 26 Hen. VI,
no. 139 ; Close, 37 Hen. VI, m. 9.
Ill, 33Forthisdescc;itseemanorof Hunsdon.
318
31 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 44, 45. There are no Court Rolls
in the P.R.O. for either manor after their
separation in the 17th century.
35 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 13 Chas. I.
36 Close, 17 Chas. I, pt. xxiii, no. 20.
37 Recov. R. Mich. 5 Jas. I, rot. 1S7.
ss Clos;-, 17 Chas. I, pt. xxiii, no. 20.
39 Ibid. 13 Will. Ill, pt.viii, no. 11.
40 r.C.H. Herts, i, 335*.
41 DugJale, Mors, vi, 370. This grant
was coniirmed in 1327 (Chart. R. 1
Edw. HI, m. 24, no. 41).
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Richard de Tany claiming that such right had been
exercised by his father Reginald de Tany, whose
nominee had been forcibly ousted by the abbot."
The lord of Eastwick must have won his suit, for
the advowson is included in an extent of the manor
in 1300.43 The living is given as a vicarage in
1535," but seems to have been endowed with the
tithes later. The advowson subsequently passed with
the manor " until the purchase of the latter by Mr.
Hodgson from Mr. Plumer-Ward in 1850, when
the presentation to the living was retained by Mr.
Plumer-Ward, who presented in 1852 and 1 866.
The advowson was purchased in 1870 by the incum-
bent, the Rev. J. R. Pursell,46 who apparently sold it
to Mr. John Hodgson, who presented in 1874."
It has since descended with the manor.
GILSTON
In 1599 S'r George Carey, K.G.,
CHARITIES Lord Hunsdon, by his will proved in
the P.C.C. 27 September 1603, gave
a sum of money, which was afterwards invested in
land situate in Great Parndon in Essex, to the poor
of Eastwick and Hunsdon. The land was sold in
1906 and the proceeds invested in North-Eastern
Railway 4 per cent. Guaranteed Stock in the name of
the official trustees, and the parish of Eastwick
receives the dividends, £6 1 2s. 1 od. yearly, on a
sum of £166, being a moiety of the stock. The
charity is distributed to poor widows.
See also under the parish of Hunsdon.
In the Parliamentary Returns of 1786 it is stated
that a donor unknown gave a house to the poor
which was occupied by two poor families rent free.
GILSTON
Gedeleston (xii cent.) ; Godeleston, Gedelston
(xiv cent.) ; Godulston (xv cent.) ; Gelston (xvi
cent.) ; Gilston (xvii cent.).
Gilston is a small parish of 984 acres, of which 10
are water. On the south-east it is bounded by the
River Stort, which divides it from the county of
Essex. It adjoins Sawbridgeworth on the east and
there is a detached part of Sawbridgeworth on the
south-west, whilst cut out from this on the extreme
south is a small detached part of Gilston.1 The
parish is low lying, for the most part less than 200 ft.
above the ordnance datum, and slopes down from
north to south.
Of the total extent of Gilston about 330 acres are
permanent grass, 260 acres arable land, and 70 acres
woods and plantations.8 The chief woods are Golden
Grove on the north, Home Wood and Gibson's Shaw
on the west, whilst Gilston Park occupies a large space
on the south-west. Ditchingford, Solsden, Dunstalls,
Start, Oxstid, Long Mead and Full Mead were common
fields, but no inclosure award has been made.2* A
stream called Fiddler's Brook runs south through the
parish and joins the River Stort. The road from
Eastwick runs in an easterly direction through the
parish, ultimately joining the road from London to
Sawbridgeworth. From this road another branches
off at Pye Corner, and runs north past the church
and Overhall Farm towards the parish of Widford.
Gilston is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey
and was probably part of the vill of Sawbridgeworth.
Besides the tenure of the manors, evidence of this is
seen in the intermingling of the boundaries. The
church of St. Mary and the manor-house of Overhall
lie together on the high ground in the north of the
parish ; the village is at Pye Corner on the high road
in the south of the parish. The Plume of Feathers
Inn,3 which stands here, is a 1 7th-century house of
two stories. It is timber-framed and plastered out-
side with a central porch and a chimney stack with
diagonal shafts. The rectory lies near the park, and
the schools built in 1856 are close by. There was a
fulling-mill in Gilston in the 13th century.3*
The Gilston and Eastwick Working Men's Club
was built by Mr. A. S. Bowlby in 1908, in memory
of his father Mr. E. S. Bowlby. To the south of
the village is Terlings Park, the residence of Mr.
R. E. Johnston. This estate takes its name from a
family of Terling who had land in Gilston in the 15th
century.4 In 1602 the messuage called Terlings was
sold by Robert Stephyn to John Howe.5 From 1683
to 1 847 it was in the possession of the family of
Turvin.5a
There is no mention of Gilston in
MANORS the Domesday Survey, and it seems to
have formed part of the manor of
Sawbridgeworth held by Geoffrey de Mandeville.
Before the end of the 12 th century the Mandevilles
had subinfeudated,6 and Gilston was held as one
knight's fee of the barony of Mandeville.7 The
overlordship passed through Beatrice, aunt and heir
of William de Mandeville, to the Say family, and
through Beatrice de Say, granddaughter of the elder
Beatrice, to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, created Earl of Essex
in 1 1 99, and through their daughter Maud to
Humphrey de Bohun. It descended with the
Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and Essex,8 until the
marriage of Eleanor de Bohun brought it to
Thomas Duke of Gloucester. His daughter and
ultimate heir Anne married Edward Earl of Stafford.
In 1420 Gilston was said to be held of the Countess
of Stafford,9 but after her death in 1438 its tenure
seems to have been lost, for in 1444 it is returned as
held of the king as of the duchy of Lancaster.10
Under the Mandevilles and their successors Gilston
was held in two moieties as the manors of Overhall
and Netherhall, the names corresponding apparently
" Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 4, 7, 69.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, no. 38.
44 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 452.
43 See references under manor, also
Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
46 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 66. * Clergy Lht.
1 This part of Gilston is within the
union of Ware, the rest is in the union
Of Bishop's Stortford.
3 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
"a Tithe Bk. of 17th cent, in parish
chest, communicated by Mr. C. E. John-
ston.
3 In 1697 the justices refused to renew
the licence of this house (Scss. R. [Herts.
Co. Rec], i, 427).
3» Assize R. 323, m. 35 (6-7 Edw. I).
4 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 56, no. 150 ;
see also a Subsidy Roll of 1545 printed
in Herts. Gen. ii, 273.
5 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 44 Eliz.
319
5a Their tomb is in Gilston churchyard
(see C. E. Johnston, 'Gilston Church,'
East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii, 57).
6 See Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i,
167 and below.
7 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 269.
s Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 58; 47 Edw. Ill,
no. 30.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V, no. 19.
»» Ibid. 22 Hen. VI, no. 28.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
with their geographical position, Overhall occupying
the higher ground in the north of the parish, Nether-
hall the lower ground further south.
The manor of OVERHALL was held in the 1 3th
century by the family of Ros11 In 1287 Alice de
Ros claimed view of frankpledge in the vill ol
Gilston,12 and she was assessed for half a fee there in
1303.13 She was presumably holding in dower, for a
Robert de Ros is returned as holder of the fee in
Gilston in the inquisition on Humphrey de Bohun in
1302," and was among the tenants in Gilston assessed
for a lay subsidy in 1 307. ]i A John de Ros, probably
son of Robert, succeeded, and died seised of the manor
held jointly with his wife Alice in 1373, his heir
being his grandson John, son of John de Ros,
deceased.16 Alice died two years afterwards ; the
inquisition taken at her death is unfortunately missing,
but Morant, apparently quoting from it, says that
the younger John died without issue and that his
aunt Ellen, wife of Sir Geoffrey de Brockholes, was
the heir." Geoffrey de Brockholes was holding this
half-fee under the Duke of Gloucester in I 397-La In
141 9 Ellen Brockholes, his wife, died seised of the
manor, leaving as heirs her daughter Joan, widow of
Thomas Aspall, and her grandson John, son of John
Sumpter and her daughter Mary.19 Joan married
as her third husband Robert Armeburgh.20 John
Sumpter, who died in 1420, left two sisters and heirs,
and the other feoffees.28 In 1 45 3 Ralph Holt and
Ellen conveyed their moiety of the manor and the
reversion of the other after the death of Robert
Armeburgh to Thomas Ardern and others,29 evidently
in trust for Sir Peter Ardern. He left the manor by
will for the endowment of a chantry in the church
of Latton, co. Essex.30 Licence was given to his
executors to carry out the bequest in 1477.31 The
manor remained attached to the chantry until its
dissolution in the reign of Edward VI. It was then
granted to John Perient.32 Elizabeth, Perient's widow,
married Henry Poole, and they in 1567 had licence
to alienate Overhall to John Chauncy.33 John
Chauncy appears in possession in I 568," but the final
conveyance by Henry and Elizabeth Poole does not
seem to have been made until i57o.3s In 1572
John Chauncy sold the manor to William Parker.36
Parker conveyed it in 1577 to Humphrey Corbett,37
who died seised at Newington, co. Middlesex, in
1609.38 His kinsman and heir Rowland Corbett
succeeded. He settled the manor on his son Richard
on his marriage with Jane Fowler in 1624.39 Row-
land died at Grantham in 1634.40 Before 1657 the
manor had been sold to Sir John Gore,41 and then
descended with Netherhall (q.v.).
The old manor-house of Overhall is now a farm.
The manor of NETHERHALL was held under
the Earls of Essex by the family of Goldington.
Ellen wife of James Bellers and Christina wife of There seems to have been a Thomas de Goldington
Thomas Bernard.21 His moiety seems to have been
settled on Ellen Bellers.22 Ellen survived her husband
and married secondly Ralph Holt,23 with whom she
brought a suit in Chancery against her father-in-law
Ralph Bellers for the recovery of the manor, which
had been sett'ed on Ralph Bellers for payment of his
son's debts.2,1
In 1444 Joan Armeburgh died seised of the
other moiety of the manor,25 held with Robert
her husband under settlement26 for their lives, with
remainder to a certain John Palmer and his issue, and
contingent remainder first to Palmer's sister Joan,
then to Philip Thornbury and others in trust appa-
rently for Ralph and Ellen Holt.27 The Palmers'
interest seems to have devolved on the Holts before
1453 or thereabouts, when they brought a suit in
Chancery to recover the manor against Thornbury
holding about the middle of the 12th century, who
was succeeded before 1199 by his son Peter de
Goldington.42 In 1287 Peter, son of a Peter de
Goldington, claimed view of frankpledge in Gilston,43
and he with Alice de Ros was assessed for half a
knight's fee there held of the Earl of Hereford in
1303.44 Goldington's interest passed to John Dyer,
who was contemporary with John de Ros of Overhall
(see above).45 In the next century the manor was
acquired by Sir William Estfield, kt., a citizen of
London and lord mayor in 1429 and 1437.46 His
will is dated February 1446-7, and in it he makes a
bequest to the church of Gilston.47 His heir was his
grandson John Bohun, son of his daughter Margaret
wife of Humphrey Bohun,43 to whom the manor of
Netherhall passed.49 Ursula daughter of John Bohun
married Sir Robert Southwell, and they in 1494
11 The subinfeudation probably took
place considerably before this. The
church was in existence in the first half
of the 1 2th century and would probably
not have been built until the manor was
occupied by a tenant.
12 Assize R. 325.
13 Feud. Aids, ii, 439.
14 Chan. Misc. file 61, no. I. See
also Rooshall in Sarratt ; V.C.H. Hern, ii,
439-
16 Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill, no. 30.
17 Morant, Hist, of Eaex, ii, 536;
Visit. Eaex (Harl. Soc. xiv), 591.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Ric. II, no. 29
(on Thomas Duke of Gloucester).
19 Ibid. 7 Hen. V, no. 1 9.
40 Vhit. Eaex (Harl. Soc. xiv), 591 ;
Morant, op. cit. ii, 536.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. VI, no. 6,
and see below.
82 See Close, 1 5 Hen. VI, m. 6 d.,
where property in Essex only is mentioned
as held by Thomas Bernard for life after
the death of his wife Christina with
reversion to James Bellers and Ellen.
23 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 9, no. 356.
24 Ibid.
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI, no. 28.
26 Feet of F. Div. Co. 22 Hen. VI,
no. 13.
27 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI, no. 28 ;
Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 205, no. 94.
28 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 205, no. 94 ;
Close, 31 Hen. VI, m. 4d.
39 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Hen. VI,
no. 169. 30 Inq. a.q.d. file 454, no. 6.
31 Ibid.
32 Pat. 3 Edw. VI, pt. vii, m. 8.
33 Ibid. 9 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 38.
34 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 10 & 11
Eliz.
36 Ibid. Trin. 12 Eliz. ; see Chan.
Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 215, no. 32.
With the present amount of evidence it
is quite impossible to explain satisfactorily
the deeds quoted by Clutterbuck (op. cit.
ii,404) and Chauncy (op. cit. 187), which
show various members of the family of
Chauncy making settlements of the manor
of Overhall whilst it was apparently in
the possession of Latton Chantry. It is
just possible that after Giffords (which
320
belonged to the Chauncys at this date)
was divided between two heiresses the
two moieties were known as Overhall
and Netherhall.
36 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 14 & 15
Eliz.
87 Ibid. East. 20 Eliz. ; Recov. R. Hil.
1577, rot. 752; Pat. 20 Eliz. pt. viii,
m. 2;.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxiv,
129.
39 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 22 Jas. I ;
Recov. R. Trin. 22 Jas. I, rot. 37.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxvi,
10S.
41 See Netherhall ; see also Recov. R.
Mich. 32 Chas. II, rot.127.
42 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 167.
43 Assize R. 325, m. 25.
44 Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; see also Chan.
Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 58.
45 Feud. Aidi, ii, 451.
46 Johnston, ' Parish of Gilston,' Home
Co!. Mag. iii, 193.
47 Sharpe, Calendar of Wills enrolled in
Court ofHusting, ii, 509. 48 Ibid.
49 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 27, no. 37.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Chaunct. Gules a
cross paty argent and a
chief azure 'with a lion
passant or therein.
conveyed the manor to John Chauncy and William
Colt, clerk.50 John Chauncy died in 1510.51 In
1533 his son John Chauncy received a quitclaim from
Giles Heron and his wife Cicely,52 but it is not clear
what interest they had in the manor.
John Chauncy, who died in 1 54.7, seems to have
settled Netherhall on his second son Henry,53 to
whom a further quitclaim was
made by Leonard Skillingham
and Griselda his wife, James
Frauncys and Alice his wife,
and John Whypall and Wini-
fred his wife in 1549.54
Henry Chauncy (father of the
John Chauncy who held Over-
hall) built the capital messuage
of New Place in Gilston,
having, it is said, been forced
to leave Pishobury in Saw-
bridgeworth, which he held
on lease and used as a resi-
dence, by a sale over his head
to Walter Mildmay.55 He
attached to his new house 40 acres of land, part of
the manor of Netherhall, and 80 acres of land, part
of GifFords.56 The manor of Netherhall was settled
on his son Edward, but Edward never appears in
possession, and immediately after the death of Henry
in 1587 William his grandson and heir (son of John
Chauncy) conveyed the manor to his uncle George
Chauncy.57 In 161 5 George Chauncy sold it to
Alexander Williams of the Pipe Office,58 who married
Elizabeth sister of Sir Dudley Carleton, ambassador
at the Hague.59 Their son Anthony died in 1632,
and shortly afterwards his father sold Netherhall to
John Gore,60 Lord Mayor of London in 1624 and
knighted in 1626, who died seised of it in 1636.61
His son John Gore of Sacombe was Sheriff of Hert-
fordshire in 1639, and was knighted by Charles I in
1641. He fought on the king's side during the
Civil War, but later he made his peace with the
dominant party. He died in 1659,62 having in
1657 settled the messuage or farm called Upper-
hall, a mill in Hunsdon, and the manors of Overhall,
Netherhall and Giffords on his son Humphrey Gore,
on the occasion of his marriage with Persis English.63
Humphrey Gore, who was knighted in 1660,
inclosed the park at New Place.64 He made a settle-
ment on his son John in 1 69 1,65 but John died in his
GILSTON
father's lifetime, and Humphrey was succeeded at his
death in 1699 by his son Henry Gore.66 In 170 1
Henry Gore sold the manors to John Plumer of Blakes-
ware.67 He died in March 1718-19, and was buried
at Eastwick. His second son William, who married
Elizabeth Byde of Ware Park and was M.P. for
Herts, in 1754, succeeded him here and at Blakes-
ware,68 and in 1760 settled the manors on his son
William Plumer the younger,69 who succeeded at his
father's death in 1767 and lived at New Place. He
was M.P. for Hertfordshire from 1768 to 1806.
He died in 1822 and was buried at Eastwick, having
left New Place to his widow Jane. The old house at
Blakesware (q.v.) was then pulled down, and its most
valuable contents brought to Gilston.70 Mrs. Plumer
(Lewin) married as her third husband Robert Ward,
who assumed the name of Plumer. The latter, by
profession a barrister, was also a novelist and politician
of some note. After his marriage he lived at Gilston
Park and acted as sheriff of the county in 1832.
His wife died in 1831 ; he survived until 1846.71
After Mrs. Ward's death Gilston Park had been left
unoccupied and in 1 85 1 the house was dismantled
and the pictures and old furniture (including the
marble busts of the Caesars
immortalized by Lamb) were
offered for sale. The old
house was situated nearer the
lake than the present one ;
the porch still remains on the
lawn.71a Henry George Ward,
only son of Robert Ward by a
previous marriage, sold Gilston
Park to John Hodgson, who
built a new house there.72 His
brother William Hodgson suc-
ceeded in 1882, and died in
I 8 8 6,73 when the manor passed
to his nephew Mr. Edward
Salvin Bowlby. His son Mr.
Arthur Salvin Bowlby suc-
ceeded in 1902, and is the
present lord of the manor. The courts leet and baron
for the manor were held in 1702 at New Place, but
generally afterwards at the Plume and Feathers Inn.74
The manor of GIFFORDS was the holding of a
family named Giffard or Gifford who appear in
Gilston at the end of the 12th century, when
Giffard de Gilston called Peter de Goldington to
Bowlby of Gilston.
Six pieces party /esse-
•wise 'wavy sable and
argent 'with three hinds1
heads raxed in the sable
and three rings in the
argent all counter coloured.
50 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 644. Accord-
ing to a deed quoted by Clutterbuck (op.
cit. ii, 404) a moiety of the manor was
conveyed to John Chauncy in 1480 by
Joan and Robert Horncliff. These pro-
bably represent a co-heiress either of Sir
William Estfield or of John Bohun. The
difficulty in the descent of Overhall ex-
plained in note 35 applies also to Nether-
hall as far as a deed quoted by Clutter-
buck (loc. cit.) is concerned, whereby John
Chauncy settled (inter alia) the manor of
Netherhall on his son John in 1478.
51 Chauncy, Hist. Antia. of Herts.
187.
52 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 25 Hen. VIII.
53 Chauncy, loc. cit. The eldest son
Maurice became a monk at the Charter-
house, London (see ' Dom. Maurice
Chauncy* by E. Burton, East Herts. Arch.
Soc. Trans, iv [1], 105). Henry Chauncy
and his sons Edward and George were in
1581 accused of 'seditious practices in
favouring popery' (Cal. S. P. Dom, 1581-
90, p. 36).
bi Feet of F. Herts. East. 3 Edw. VI.
55 Chauncy, loc. cit.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxiv, 159.
In 1574 he conveyed 'the site of the
manor of Netherhall ' to John Peter and
Francis Wyndham (Feet of F. Herts.
East. 17 Eliz.). This was perhaps a sale
of the old house.
57 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 30 & 31
Eliz. ; Recov. R. Mich. 29 Eliz. rot. 130 ;
Chauncy, op. cit. 1 90.
58 Feet of F. Herts. East. 13 Jas. I.
59 Johnston, op. cit. A letter from
Elizabeth to her brother written in 1 6 16
and giving a description of Gilston (S. P.
Dom. Jas. I, lxxxviii, 2) is printed here.
60 Johnston, op. cit.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi,
3»-
321
62 M. I. ; Le Neve, Pedigrees of the
Knights (Harl. Soc. viii), 100.
63 Close, 3 Will, and Mary, pt. xvii,
no. 5.
64 Ibid. 9 Will. Ill, pt. v, no. 4.
65 Recov. R. Trin. 3 Will, and Mary,
rot. 177 ; Close, 3 Will, and Mary,
pt. xvii, no. 5.
66 Chauncy, op. cit 189 ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Trin. 6 Will, and Mary;
Recov. R. Mich. 9 Will. Ill, rot. 271.
67 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 13 Will. Ill ;
Close, 13 Will. Ill, pt, viii, no. 11.
68 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 256.
69 Recov. R. East. 33 Geo. II, rot. 271.
70 Johnston, loc. cit.
71 Diet. Nat. Biog.
7,a See Illus. Land. News, 26 Apr. 1 8 5 1 ;
information from Mr. C. E. Johnston.
72 Johnston, loc. cit.
78 M. I.
74 Johnston, loc. cit.
4.1
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
warrant to him a quarter of a virgate of land in
Gilston which he had by charter of Thomas his
father.75 In 1307 Ralph Giffard was among the
tenants at Gilston assessed for a lay subsidy,76 and in
1324 this Ralph was in debt to Hugh le Despenser,
jun., for £40, which were to be levied on his lands in
Essex and Hertfordshire.77 John GifFord made a
settlement of two messuages, two mills, 240 acres of
land with appurtenances in Gilston, Sawbridgeworth
and Eastwick on himself and his wife Margaret in
1341.78 William GifFord, possibly son of John, left
a daughter and heir Margaret, who married John
Chauncy, and in 14 1 8 a quitclaim of a moiety of
the estate above mentioned was made to John and
Margaret by William Johan of Hatfield Broadoak,
co. Essex, and his wife Joan, who was presumably
another heiress.78a John Chauncy, son of John and
Margaret, died in 1479 seised of a messuage called
coated with cement ; the tower is of brick ; the
roofs over nave and chancel, which are continuous,
are tiled, those over the aisles being slated.
The church appears to have been rebuilt late in
the 13th century, an early 13th-century doorway
from the former church, which was probably without
aisles, having been re-set in the north wall ; the
tower is mainly of late 16th-century work, and was
probably rebuilt then. The church was thoroughly
restored during the 19th century, the south aisle
rebuilt, a north vestry added to the chancel, a new
east window1 inserted and the stonework of most of
the others renewed, a south porch erected, and the
nave and chancel and aisles re-roofed.
The east window is modern ; a single lancet in
the north wall and two in the south wall belong to
the 13th century ; the westernmost windows on the
south and north sides have low sills, about 2 ft. 8 in.
Gilston Church from the South-east
GifFords in Gilston and Sawbridgeworth held of the
manors of Overhall and Pishobury.78b He was suc-
ceeded by his son John, who acquired Netherhall,
and the two manors then descend together.
The farm-house of GifFords was situated at the
lower end of the lake. It was pulled down in the
19th century.780
The church of ST. MARY consists of
CHURCH chancel 25 ft. by 12ft. 6 in., north
vestry, nave 46 ft. by 12 ft. 6 in.,
north and south aisles 6 ft. wide, south porch,
west tower 1 2 ft. by II ft. ; all dimensions taken
internally. The walls of the nave and chancel are
of flint with stone dressings, the chancel walls being
from the ground, but the heads of all the windows
are on the same level. In the south wall is a piscina
and credence combined; it has two moulded 13th-
century arches, having shafted jambs with moulded
capitals and bases ; the central shaft is of Purbeck
marble; in the eastern opening is a nine-foiled bowl,
the other being plain as a credence. At some
later period, probably the 1 6th century, the two
arches have been united under a pointed arch with a
star-shaped ornament and a rose in the centre, all of
plaster. There is no chancel arch.
The nave has north and south arcades of four
bays ; the arches are of two hollow-chamfered orders
with moulded labels, with piers of four clustered
75 Rot. Cur. Ret;. (Rec. Com.), i, 167.
76 Subs. R. bdle. 1 20, no. 8. For
Ralph Gifford see also Feet of F. Herts.
19 Edw. II, no. 431; 20 Edw. II,
no. 438. " Cat. Close, 1323-7, p. 171.
78 Feet of F. Herts. 15 Edw. Ill, 78t> Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV,
no. 236. no. 32.
78a Ibid. 6 Hen. V, no. 37; sec charters 78c Information from Mr. C. E. John-
given by Clutterbuck, op. cit. 11,404, and 6ton.
Chauncy, op. cit. 187.
322
Gilston Church : Piscina and Credence
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
columns having moulded capitals and bases of the
latter part of the 13 th century.
The east window in the north aisle is modern. In
the north wall is a two-light window of late 13th-
century date ; the other windows are of modern
stonework. The north doorway, which is blocked,
is a good example of early 13th-century work; it
has a moulded arch and label and detached shafts in
the jambs ; the capitals have moulded abaci and
bells carved with early leaf ornament ; the bases are
gone. The south aisle is modern.
The west tower has a modern embattled parapet
and a small octagonal timber spire covered with
lead ; on the south side is an octagonal projecting
turret stair, which is finished at the belfry stage
with a brick roof. The tower arch is of late 16th-
century date ; the arch is of two splayed orders ; the
jambs are shafted and the capitals and bases roughly
executed. The west doorway has a pointed arch of
four moulded orders and shafted jambs ; it is of
late 13th-century work much worn. The west
window is of two lights with old splayed jambs and
a modern traceried head. In its head is a 15th-
century painted glass shield with the arms of Sir
William Estfield, Sheriff of London in 1422 : Sable,
a cheveron ermine between three maidens' heads cut
off at the shoulders argent with hair dishevelled or,
and the inscription ' Orate p [ ] Willi Estfeld,
militis.' The belfry windows are of two trefoiled
lights with cusped opening in the heads ; they have
been repaired with cement and may be of 14th-century
date.
The bowl of the font is of the 12th century ; it is
hexagonal and on each face are three shallow sunk
plain panels ; the bowl rests upon a 14th-century
stem with moulded cap and base.
The oak chancel screen is of special interest, as it
has incorporated with it remains of a late 13th-
century screen. The old work consists of arches with
trefoiled heads under pointed arches, with rosettes
carved in the spandrels between the arches ; the shafts
are an inch in diameter and have moulded capitals
and bases and central bands.
On the floor of the north aisle are two stone coffin
lids, probably of 14th-century date ; one bears a
HUNSDON
floreated cross in relief on its face with an illegible
inscription ; the cross of the other stone has been
almost obliterated. On the north chancel wall is a
large mural monument of marble to Sir John Gore,
who died in 1659 > on l^e soutn waU is another to
Bridget Gore, his daughter, who died in 16575 a slab
on the floor marks the place of her burial.
There are two bells ; the treble by Anthony
Bartlett, 1663; the tenor, inscribed ' Jesvs be ovr
spede,' by Robert Oldfeild, 1628.
The communion plate consists of cup, 1562, and
cover paten, the marks of which are erased ; flagon,
1697, and paten of the 17th century.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials
begin in 1558.
Geoffrey de Mandeville, lord of
JDrOffSON Gilston and founder of the abbey of
Walden in Essex, who died in I 144,
included the church of Gilston in his foundation
charter to that monastery.79 It remained with
Walden until the first half of the 13th century, when
the right of the abbey was contested by the Bishop
of London, and the arbitrators appointed to decide
on the rival claims assigned the patronage to the
Bishop of London and his successors.80 The
advowson remained vested in the see until 1852,
when it was transferred to Rochester.81 In 1874
it was transferred to St. Albans.82
In the Parliamentary Returns of
CHARITIES 1786 it is stated that the following
donations were given for bread to
the poor and for teaching poor girls, viz. : — Thomas
Gore, Sir John Gore, £50 ; Lady Tyrrell, £60.
The Gilston estate was charged in respect of these
gifts with annuities of £2 12s. for bread and £3 for
catechizing children. These charges were redeemed
in 1869 by the transfer of stock to the official trus-
tees, which with accumulated income now amounts
to X243 1 3s. $d. consols, producing £6 is. Sd.
yearly.
By an Order of the Charity Commissioners 1 5 July
1904 the sum of X120 cons°ls was assigned to 'The
Gore and Tyrrell Educational Foundation,' and
£123 13/. $d. consols to 'The Gore and Tyrrell
Eleemosynary Charity.'
HUNSDON
Hunesdone (xi cent.) ; Honesdon, Hamesdun,
Hunnesdon (xiii cent.) ; Hunsdon (xiv cent.).
Hunsdon parish lies on the high ground which
divides the valleys of the Rivers Ash and Stort, having
a southward slope from a height of about 266 ft. in
the extreme north of the parish down to the latter
valley, where the land is little more than 1 00 ft.
above sea level. The area of the parish is 1,971 acres,
nearly half of which is arable, about a third pasture
and only a small portion woodland.1 The soil is very
varied, the subsoil chalk or gravelly loam. There is
no line of railway in the parish, the nearest station
being Roydon in Essex, on the Great Eastern
railway, rather less than a quarter of a mile from
the south-western boundary of Hunsdon parish.
The church lies close to Hunsdon House and the
village is about a mile to the north on the road to
Widford. There are a few houses along the road
between the church and the village called Acorn
Street, one of which is Nine Ashes, the property and
residence of Mr. Samuel Shott Death. In the village
are several 1 7th-century cottages of timber and plaster
with tiled roofs. The Wheatsheaf Inn, now converted
into two cottages, is an interesting timber and plaster
gabled building with a tiled roof. Within there is a
large fireplace bearing the date 168 1 or 1687. The
79 Harl. MS. 3697, fol. 18. these is an inspeximus by Geoffrey, Dean
80 Ibid. fol. 45 d. ; London Epis. Reg. of St. Paul's, who held that office from
Stokesley, fol. lxxxvi or 121 ; Hut. MSS. 123 1 to 1241.
Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 36a. The second of
323
81 Lond. Gaz. 4 June 1852, p. 1578.
82 Ibid. 13 July 1877, p. 4126.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
pound is at the cross roads near to Hunsdon Mill,
which is on the River Stort in the south of the parish.
Hunsdon House, which is possibly on the site of
the earlier manor-house, is said to have been built by
Sir William Oldhall in 144.7. In 1447, however,
the Duke of York seems to have been holding
the manor, and in May of that year received
licence ' to build within his manor of Hunsdon a
tower of stones, with lime and sand, and to embattle
the same.' - Oldhall is not known to have been
in possession until February 1448. He may have
begun building directly after that date, but the
house was apparently unfinished in 1453, for
Oldhall having forfeited, a certain Walter Burgh, a
servant of the king, then received a grant of ' stones
called brick in Hunsdon and Eastwick late pertaining
to William Oldhall,' 3 which looks as if the latter had
been in the midst of building. The house seems to
have come into the possession of Henry VIII with
the manor before 1527, when hegranted the custody
of it to Henry Norris, squire of the body.4 The
merry since he came to this house, for there was none
fell sick of the sweat since he came hither, and ever
after dinner he shooteth to supper time ' ; but the
postscript adds : ' This night as the King went to
bed, word came of the death of William Carey.' 6
After the divorce of Katherine of Aragon, the Princess
Mary was sent to Hunsdon (February 1536), and
there are a number of letters of hers extant written
from Hunsdon, both to her father and to Cromwell,
on the subject of her reconciliation with the king.7
Writing to Charles V on the subject of the princess's
escape, Chapuys says of Hunsdon : 'The house where
she is at present is much more inconvenient for the
enterprise . . . there are a great many houses and
people in the village where she now is.' 8 It was
while in the service of the princess at Hunsdon
(1538-40) that Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald — 'the
fair Geraldine' — first met her admirer Henry Howard
Earl of Surrey.8a Prince Edward also spent much of
his infancy and youth at Hunsdon, whence it was
written of him on one occasion : ' My lord Prince is
•1M6deknBay\
Cellar
/faoDEIBJBAV \
Modern Cellars
iModern Extension
l IP 5 o
Scale of Feet
Plan of Hunsdon House
I— .
ifStMMERlL.
': House;!""
BI6B Century
Hi Modern
Outline Plan or
House
Domestic
Offices
e
place was a favourite one with Henry VIII, who
carried on extensive buildings here. In February
1534 the 'master surveyor of the King's works at
Hunsdon' reported on the expenditure of £2,900
applied to this purpose : ' for " parelles " of freestone
for the chimneys in the King's watching chamber,
palett chamber, privy chamber, and in the other
chamber beneath the same ; for lime, plaster, " rigge
tyles," corner tiles, paving tiles and plain tiles ; for
timber, and for wood bought by the acre ; for wains-
coats, laths, pails, tile pins, hooks, hinges, locks,
clasps, keys . . . new glass bought of Galyon Hone
and "sett with symond," etc.'6 In June 1528 the
king appears to have fled here from the sweating
sickness. Thomas Hennege writes from Hunsdon
to Wolsey : ' Laud be Jesu, the King's grace is very
in good health and merry. Would to God the
king . . . had seen him last night. The minstrels
played, and his Grace danced and played so wantonly
that he could not stand still.' 9 After the accession
of the prince to the throne as Edward VI the
Princess Mary spent much of her time here. In
1559, however, Hunsdon House ceased to be a royal
residence, for Queen Elizabeth granted it with the
manor (q.v.) to Sir Henry Carey. In 1576 Queen
Elizabeth and the Countess of Warwick stood god-
mothers to Elizabeth daughter of Sir George Carey,
who was baptized at Hunsdon on 7 June. When
Emmanuel son of Thomas Scrope (afterwards Lord
Scrope) was baptized there on 26 August 1584 the
queen again stood godmother. Henceforward manor
and house followed the same descent, both being
* Pat. 25 Hen. VI, pt. ii, m. 10.
* Cal. Pat. 1452-61, p. 34.
* L. and P? Hen. VIII, iv, g. 3622 (27).
6 Ibid, vii, 250.
s Ibid, iv, 4403, 4408. He was father
of Sir Henry Carey, to whom Elizabeth
granted Hunsdon Manor in 1559.
7 Ibid, i, 199, 307, 968, 991, 1022,
1083, 1108, 1109, 1129, 1133, 1 1 36,
1 186, 1203; see also vii, 1036.
324
8 Ibid, x, 307.
8a Diet. Nat. Biog.
8 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), App. 9 i
1 755 i viii, 20.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
purchased by James S. Walker of Hunsdonbury in
1858. Mr. Walker then sold the manor to Mr.
Charles Phelips, but the house (in 1861) to Mr.
James Wyllie, in whose family it remained until
1882, when it was purchased by Mr. Spencer
Charrington. It is now the property of the latter's
son, Mr. Edmund Knowles Charrington, and is the
residence of his sister Mrs. Montgomerie.
The house consists of a large rectangular block with
a low modern wing at the west end containing the
domestic offices. The house is built of brick with
embattled parapet and a flat roof. Judging from the
dimensions given by William of Worcester,9" the
original building must have been a very extensive
structure ; none of these dimensions, however, agree
with the present house. After the
manor came to the Crown (see below)
Henry VIII made considerable addi-
tions95; about 1743 the wings are
said to have been pulled down,10 and
in 1805 Mr. Nicolson Calvert pulled
a great part of the old house down
and reconstructed most of what re-
mained.103 Mrs. Calvert writes
16 April i8o610b: 'I hear there is
hardly a bit of old Hunsdon House
left standing ... it will be nearly a
new house.'
The oldest parts of the existing
house are the cellars under the east
end ; they probably date from the
1 6th century. The largest cellar,
which measures 48 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft.
6 in., runs transversely across the
building, and appears to have formed
a wing of a former house, as it projects
northwards 8 ft. beyond the original
north wall, which still remains visible
in the basement, the present north
wall standing about 9 ft. outside it ;
the lower part of a small hexagonal
turret or closet still remains at the angle
of the old walls. The cellar itself has
a barrel vault of brick ; the walls and
vault are constructed of thin bricks.
The turret, which has no trace of a
stair, is entered by a low doorway
with a four-centred arch. The adjoin-
ing cellars on the west are of the same
date ; one has a doorway with a four-
centred arch, and in the original
north wall is a window, now blocked.
All the cellarage at the west end has
been rebuilt with modern bricks. Mrs. Calvert
writes 6 August 180511 : 'We have completed cellars
and we think of adding to and repairing the old
building ' ; this, she writes later, was eventually
done.
The interior of the ground and upper stories is
entirely a reconstruction of 1805, the only evidence
of an earlier date being a 17th-century carved oak
mantelpiece in the entrance hall ; a stone fireplace
with a four-centred arch and three blank shields under
a carved wood mantel are probably all of 1805. The
HUNSDON
external walls are built chiefly of old thin bricks, but
a large part appears to have been rebuilt and an
embattled front added to the attic story in 1805 ;
all the windows are modern. At each of the four
angles of the house is a large diagonal buttress with
keel-shaped face, carried up above the parapet and
finished with a slated pinnacle ; the upper parts are
modern, but the buttresses are built of thin bricks ;
some of them have probably been rebuilt. The whole
of the external brickwork has been covered with a
thick coat of red colour-wash and ' tuck-pointed.'
The main entrance is in a projection at the east end ;
the doorway, which has wide moulded jambs and four-
centred arch, all executed in cement, is probably
modern. In the garden wall to the west of the house
Hunsdon House from the South-east
is an octagonal summer-house, all of modern brickwork.
West of the house are modern stables and a large
brick gateway with embattled parapet, which forms
the entrance to the courtyard of the house ; the gate-
way is modern, but some old bricks have been re-used
in the upper part. A wooden lintel, now built in
over the gateway between the garden and the stable
yard, is inscribed 'H.H. 1593.' A moat which
formerly surrounded the old house has been filled up.
In 1728 Salmon wrote that 'Robert Chester hath
within a few years built a seat in this parish, and
9^ Itin. Will, de Wore. (ed. Nasmyth), l0 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing Beauty of the Regency (Hon. Mrs.
9. Himd. 46. Calvert), p. 50.
»>Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 197. 10a Mrs. Warcnne Blake, An Irish 10b Ibid. 66. " Ibid. 49.
325
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
inclosed it with a park."5 This was Briggens Park,
situated in the south-western corner of the parish, on
the banks of the River Stort, which Robert Chester
had bought from the Feildes of Stanstead Abbots.12
The house built by Chester occupied the site of two
older messuages called Over Bredons and Nether
Bredons or Great Briggens and Little Briggens."
Robert Chester died in 1732," having left Briggens
Park to his sister Jane Chester provided that she kept
up the park, gardens and deer. Jane Chester died in
1736,15 and was succeeded by her brother Henry (or
by his son Henry), who in 1 740 sold the property to
Hunsdon House krom the North-east
Thomas Blackmore of Covent Garden.16 He was
succeeded in 1763 by his nephew Thomas Blackmore,
who left a son Thomas and several daughters, one of
whom, Mary, in 1792 married Rev. Charles Phelips,
fourth son of Edward Phelips of Montacute. The
death of Thomas Blackmore in 1824 resulted in
Briggens Park passing into the hands of their son
Charles Phelips. The latter died in 1870, when the
estate was inherited by his son Charles James Phelips.
Charles James Phelips died without issue in 1903,
and Briggens Park fell to his nephew Gerald Edward
Farquharson Phelips, whose trustees sold it with the
manor in 1907 to the Hon. Herbert Cokayne Gibbs,
the present owner, who resides there.17 The house
built by Chester forms the centre of the present house,
nnd some of the 2-in. brick foundations of the older
houses have recently been discovered.18
Hunsdonbury is now the property
of Mr. E. Thomas, who bought it from
Mr. John Henry Buxton in 191 I.
The latter purchased it hi 1889 from
Mr. Salisbury Baxendale.19 It originally
formed part of the estate of the
Calverts, who resided there after 1840,
and later passed to Mr. Walker/" who
also lived there.21 About half a mile
south of the church is Brickhouse Farm,
a 17th-century house built of 2-in.
bricks.
Olives Farm is a moated house on
the extreme west of the parish. It is
of timber and plaster, with tiled roofs,
and dates back to the 1 7th century,
though it has considerable later addi-
tions.
Fillett's Farm, situated in the north-
west o! the parish, was in the 1 6th cen-
tury in the possession of Sir Wimund
Carew, whose son Thomas Carew sold
it in 1 55 1 to William Grave22 of
Stanstead Abbots. In 1575 Thomas
Grave conveyed it to Edward Baesh.23
Caddingtons is the name of another
old house, which in the 15 th cen-
tury belonged to the Shelley family of
Hunsdon.2'1 In 1542 the king made
John Carey keeper of the messuage
called Caryngtons alias Cadyngtons.'0
At the time of the
MANOR Domesday Survey the
manor of HUNSDON
formed part of the lands of Hugh de
Beauchamp, who had succeeded Ralph
Taillebois (Tulgebos or Tailgebosch)
in estates both in Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire. The manor comprised
4 hides, of which 1 had been taken
by Ralph from the manor of Stan-
stead Abbots and attached to Huns-
don.26 The Beauchamps continued to
hold Hunsdon as part of their Bedford barony, Simon
de Beauchamp in the 12th century granting certain
tithes of this manor to Newnham Priory." John de
Beauchamp, the last feudal baron of Bedford, fell
fighting against the king at the battle of Evesham
lla Salmon, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
5 3-
12 Information from Hon. H. C. Gibbs.
13 In 1696 William Crowley of Briggens
as buried at Hunsdon (ibid.).
14 M.I.
15 Ibid.
lc Information from Hon. H. C. Gibbs.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Information supplied by Mr. J. H.
Buxton.
20 See below on Hunsdon Manor.
21 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 46.
22 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 4 Edw. VI,
m. 10 d.
of F. Herts. Tri
326
17 Eli:
2i Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 70, no. 34 ;
Cal.Pat. 1476-85^.243; Add. MS. 32490,
Q 44 ; Cal. Ino. p.m. Hen. VII, 204.
Gilbert Shelley was buried at Hunsdon in
154S. (Information from Hon. H. Gibbs.)
" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xviii (i), 545.
26 V.C.H. Herts, i, 3441, 283, 284.
27 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 358.
Confirmation of this grant in 13 17.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
(1265), and Hunsdon went to Maud, one of his
sisters and co-heirs, wife of Roger de Mowbray.28
Her great-grandson John, third Lord Mowbray, is
Beauchamp of Bed-
ford. Quarterly or and
gules a bend sable.
lion argent.
found as overlord of Hunsdon in 1358," and the
fourth Lord Mowbray is similarly described in I 367.3'1
John, eighth Lord Mowbray, is so found in 1419
under his title of Earl Marshal of England.3' Anne,
only daughter and heir of the tenth Lord Mowbray,
married Richard, younger brother of Edward V.
Richard was murdered in the Tower in 1483, his
child-wife having died some three years previously,
and such rights of overlordship in Hunsdon as sur-
vived fell to the Crown.
The tenant in demesne at the time of the Domes-
day Survey was the daughter of Ralph Taillebois,
who had succeeded Lewin, a thegn of Earl Harold,
at the Conquest.35 No under-tenant is known after
this date until 1248, in which year Vitalis Engayne
died seised of this manor,
holding of the Beauchamps.33
This Vitalis, son of Richard
Engayne, is found earlier in
the century holding the manor
of Upminster in Essex.34 His
son and heir Henry35 received
a grant of free warren in the
demesne lands of Hunsdon in
I253,36 and died seised of the
manor in 1 27 1.37 Henry's
brother and heir John died
similarly seised in 1296. 38
John Engayne, his son and
heir, is found holding Hunsdon
in the early years of the 14th century,39 and Nicholas
his son and successor made a settlement of the manor
in 1 3 1 8.*° Nicholas Engayne was succeeded by his
son John, a knight, who married Joan the daughter
of Robert Peverel and died in 1358.41 Thomas, their
son and heir, died ' in parts beyond the sea ' about
w
Engayne. Gules a
Jesse dancetty between six
crosslets or.
HUNSDON
1367, when the Engayne inheritance was divided
amongst his three sisters and co-heirs.12
Hunsdon fell to Joyce the wife of John Goldington,
the latter dying some time previous to 1383," when
she was still living. John Goldington, son of Joyce
and John, died seised of this manor in 1419, leaving
Thomas his son and heir a minor." Thomas must
have died very shortly after, for in 1423 John
Hinxworth of Ashwell was holding Hunsdon as the
kinsman and heir of John Goldington, when he
released all right in it to John Tyrell of Essex and
others.15 John Tyrell was still holding in 1428,46 after
which the immediate descent is not clear.
In 1445 view of frankpledge, waifs and strays, and
other rights within the manorof Hunsdon were granted
to William Estfeld, kt.47 Possibly he was a trustee for
Richard Duke of York, who was evidently lord of
this manor in the autumn of 1445,48 and who in
May 1447 received royal licence to hold it to himself
and heirs.49 It was probably from him that Sir
William Oldhall, kt., his chamberlain, obtained
Hunsdon, either by grant or by purchase. Oldhall
is described as ' of Hunsdon ' in February I448,50and
' late of Hunsdon ' in April 1450.5' He forfeited for
complicity in the rebellion of Jack Cade, which took
place in that year, and was formally attainted in
^-Parliament in June 1453. K In May 1453 the
manor of Hunsdon, with all appurtenances, was
granted by the king to York's rival, Edmund Duke
of Somerset.03 In 1454 the York party returned to
power and Somerset was imprisoned. It was not,
however, until after the complete triumph of the
Yorkists at the first battle of St. Albans, when
Somerset was slain (May 1455), that Oldhall's
attainder was reversed in Parliament (November
1455). M The fortunes of the Wars of the Roses
brought about a second attainder for Oldhall in the
autumn of 1459. In January 1459-60 his possessions
were granted to Humphrey Duke of Buckingham,55
but in February they were taken into the king's
hands.56 The accession of Edward IV a year later
nullified this attainder, and Oldhall presumably held
Hunsdon until his death, which took place before
the end of 1460.57 In his will, dated 15 November
1460, Oldhall left Hunsdon to his executors, to be
sold by them for the payment of legacies.55 The
Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the executors,
transferred the manor to trustees, who conveyed it
to Laurence, Bishop of Durham, and others.59 It
seems that the latter were acting for the king,
Edward IV, who was clearly in possession by 1476.60
Richard III, at some time during his brief reign
(June 1483-August 1485) granted Hunsdon to Sir
28 Feud. Aids, ii, 435 ; G.E.C. Peerage,
v, 410.
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. Ill,
no. 27.
30 Ibid. 41 Edw. Ill, no. 25.
31 Ibid. 7 Hen. V, no. 7.
33 V.C.H. Herts, i, 344a.
"Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. Ill,
no. 70.
34 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
6 ; Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea
Rolls, 478, 490.
85 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii,
46.
36 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-59, P- *t-23-
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. 56 Hen. Ill, no. 33,
38 Ibid. 25 Edw. I, no. 46.
89 Inq. a.q.d. file 40, no. 17 ;
0. 6 ; cf. Feud. Aids, ii, 435.
4 ° Feet of F. Herts. 12 Edv
126,
II.
no. 303.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. Ill, no. 27
42 Ibid. 41 Edw. Ill, no. 25; Add
Chart. 19979.
43 Close, 7 Ric. II, m. 29 d.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V, no. 7.
45 Close, 2 Hen. VI, m. 15 d.
46 Feud. Aids, ii, 451.
47 Chart. R. 23 Hen. VI, no. 25.
46 Inq. a.q.d. file 450, no. 32.
49 Cal. Pat. 1446-52, p. 77.
50 Ibid. 233. He purchased the neigh-
of 1447 (si
r of Eastwick in the
Eastwick Parish).
51 Cal. Pat. 1446-52, p. 324.
52 Diet. Nat. Biog.
53 Cal. Pat. 1452-61, p. 103; Pari.
R. v, 266a. A general grant of Oldhall's
lands to Jasper Earl of Pembroke in June
1452 {Cat. Pat. 1446-52, p. 557) did not
take effect in regard to Hunsdon.
54 Pari. R. v, 451 ; Cal. Pat. 1452-61,
p. 282.
55 Cal. Pat. 1452-61, pp. 282, 535.
56 Ibid. 562, 572.
67 C. E. Johnston, ' Sir Wm. Oldhall,'
Engl. Hist. Rev. xxv, 715.
58 Will, P.C.C. 21 Stokton.
*» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5235 ; Close,
15 Edw. IV, m. 1 d.
60 Cal. Pat. n6j-yj, p. 596.
327
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
William Stanley, kt., whose wavering support to the
throne he was most anxious to secure.61 Stanley
afterwards maintained that Richard's substantial grants
to him had been in exchange for ' other manors, lands
and tenements of great value,' but the truth of this
statement remains unproved. His execution in 1495
for complicity in the rising of Perkin Warbeck caused
Hunsdon once more to revert to the Crown. In
1503 Henry VII made a life grant of this manor to his
mother Margaret Countess of Richmond and her
husband the Earl of Derby, elder brother of the late
Sir William Stanley.62 The earl died in 1504 and
the countess in 1509.63 On I February 1 5 14
Hunsdon was granted to Thomas Howard, Earl of
Surrey and Treasurer of England, on his creation
as Duke of Norfolk.64 The duke died in 1524.
His son and heir Thomas Duke of Norfolk con-
veyed the manor in 1526 to Sir Henry Wyatt
and others65 evidently in trust for the king, who in
1529 granted it to Henry Norris, reserving the
house and parks.66 In 1531 the grant to Thomas Duke
of Norfolk was recited and the manor was confirmed
to the duke, his successor,67 but this was probably
only a formality, as in 1532 the manor was still in the
king's hands.68 On 15 January 1532 an Act of
Parliament was passed whereby the manor became the
honour of Hunsdon, to which various lands in Hert-
fordshire were attached.69 In the same year Henry VIII
granted an annuity out of this honour to Anne Boleyn
on her creation as Marchioness of Pembroke,70 but
the manor remained under the control of his bailiff's or
stewards.71 In 1548 Edward VI granted Hunsdon
Manor to the Princess Mary 'for her life, or until she
is otherwise provided for,' this being in accordance
with the will of their late father Henry VIII.72
Mary, after she became queen, annexed the honour
in 1558 to the duchy of Lancaster.73
In March 1558-9 (six months after her accession)
Queen Elizabeth granted this manor, with house and
lands, &c, to her cousin Sir Henry Carey, kt., and
his heirs male,74 she having already (January 1558-9)
created him Lord Hunsdon. Carey died in 1596,75
and was succeeded by his son George Lord Hunsdon,
who died in 1603, leaving as heir his brother John,
then over fifty years of age.76 A neighbour wrote in
Cariy, Lord Hunsdon.
Argent a bend sable tvitk
three roses argent thereon.
1 6 16: 'Seven men are to be hanged for a robbery
of £700 in the house of Lord Hunsdon, who is
building a monument in Hunsdon Church for him-
self and family.' 77 John, third
Lord Hunsdon, died in 161 7,78
and the manor was inherited
by his son Henry, the fourth
baron,79 created Viscount
Rochford in 1 62 1 and Earl
of Dover in 1628. He was
Speaker of the House of Lords
in 1 64 1, and played a promi-
nent part on the Royalist side
in the Great Civil War. On
the triumph of the Parliamen-
tarians, Carey was accounted
a ' delinquent, or malignant,
or cavalier,' and his estates
sequestrated.80 He must have compounded for them
before the sale of Hunsdon by him in March 1653 to
William Willoughby, afterwards sixth LordWilloughby
of Parham.81 Lord Willoughby made a settlement
of Hunsdon Manor on himself and his wife Anne in
1666.82 In 167 I he sold Hunsdon Manor to Matthew
Bluck,83 who was succeeded by his son and heir of the
same name.84 He was still holding in 1728,85 and in
1743 a Matthew Bluck suffered a recovery of this
manor.86 Clutterbuck, writing in 1823, says that
this was the occasion of the purchase of Hunsdon
by Mr. Josias Nicolson of Clapham.87 The latter's
daughter and heir Christian married Felix Calvert of
Furneux Pelham, their son Nicolson Calvert inherit-
ing Hunsdon at his mother's death in 1759. He
suffered a recovery of this manor in 1789,88 and died
in 1793. His nephew and heir Nicolson Calvert
made a settlement of Hunsdon in 1806,89 and was
holding in 1823.90 In 1858 Edmund Calvert, son
of Nicolson, sold the manor to James S. Walker, who
in turn sold it to Charles Phelips of Briggens Park in
this parish.91 On the latter's death in 1870 Hunsdon
Manor descended to his son Charles James Phelips.
He died in 1903, when his nephew Mr. Gerald F.
Phelips succeeded, who in 1907 transferred the manor
with the Briggens estate to the Hon. H. C. Gibbs.
The existing rolls of the manor date from 1675.
61 See Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, 204 ;
Pari. R. vi, 316&. There are two inqui-
sitions, dated respectively June 148 1 and
Nov. 1483, in which it is stated that
the manor of Bengeo was then held of
William Hussey 'as of his manor of
Hunsdon' (Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. IV,
no. 46 ; 1 Ric. Ill, no. 38). This is
explained by a conveyance from the Bishop
of Durham and other trustees to William
Hussey (Anct. D. [P.R.O.], A 979),
who held for the king (cf. Cal. Pat.
1471-85, p. 247).
62 Close, 18 Hen. VII,no. 28.
63 A mortgage of the manor by John
Lord Berners to Sir William Capell in
1508 (Close, 23 Hen. VII, pt. ii, no. 9),
is difficult to explain. Possibly Berners
was a lessee.
64 L. and P. Hen. VII I, i, 4694. His
father had been created Duke of Norfolk
in 1483, but the title had been forfeited
in 1485.
65 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 8 Hen. VIII.
66 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv (3), 5336
(10). The Duke of Norfolk was at
Hunsdon in July 1527, but he was pro-
bably in the train of the king, who was
also there at that date (ibid. 3276, 3277,
3302).
67 Pat. 22 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 17.
68 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 730. See
also 916. Probably the king came to
some arrangement with the duke, for in
1538 the manor is mentioned among the
lands which he sold to the king (ibid,
xiii [2], 1 21 5). Norris was probably
compensated with lands elsewhere.
69 Ibid, v, 720.
70 Ibid. g. 1370 (3); 1274; g. 1499
" Ibid, xiii (1), p. 582 ; xv, p. 539.
7! Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. v, m. 32.
73 Orig. R. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary,
pt. ii, rot. 4.
74 Pat. I Eliz. pt. ix ; Duchy of Lane.
Misc. Bks. xxiii, 240. Sir Henry's
mother Mary was the sister of Anne
Boleyn.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi,
111.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), eclxxxvi,
170 ; Memo. R. Mich. 2 Jas. I, rot. 80.
77 Cal. S. P. Dom. 161 1-18, p. 378.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxiv, 95.
He was buried at Hunsdon 7 April 1617
and his wife on 7 April 1627 (notes from
par. reg. supplied by the Hon. H. C.
Gibbs).
79 Pat. 10 Chas. I, pt. ii.
wExch. Dep. Mixed Co. Mich. 36
Chas. II, no. 22. The Careys were cer-
tainly still at Hunsdon in 1644 (Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. App. vi, 39).
81 G.E.C. Peerage, iv, 279.
82 Feet of F. Herts. Div. Co. Hil. 18
& 19 Chas. II.
83 Feet of F. Herts. East. 23 Chas. II.
81 Recov. R. East. 12 Anne, rot. 158 ;
Exch. Dep. Mich. 36 Chas. II, no. 22.
85 Salmon, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 253.
86 Recov. R.Mich. 17 Geo. II, rot. 379.
87 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 182.
88 Recov. R. Hil. 29 Geo. Ill, rot. 23.
89 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 46 Geo. III.
90 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
81 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 44. Cussans does not give the
date of the second sale, but Mr. Phelips
was patron of Hunsdon living in 1859.
328
Hunsdon Church : I 7th-century Oak Screen to South Chapel
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Henry Engayne, lord of the manor of
PARKS Hunsdon, received a grant of free warren
in the demesne lands of the manor in
I 2 5 3 .92 A park was inclosed shortly afterwards, for
in 1296 a commission was appointed 'touching the
persons who entered the park of John Engayne at
Hunsdon, hunted therein, and carried away deer.' 93
In 1445 it was reported that Richard Duke of York
might safely ' inclose a way (100 virgates long and
1 6 ft. wide) called Jermynslane leading from East-
wick to Hunsdon, in his park of Hunsdon, making
another road on the south of the park.' 94 The park
also occurs in the life-grant of Hunsdon to the
Countess of Richmond in 1 503. It was, however,
not included in the grant in tail-male to the Duke of
Norfolk in 1514,95 but was retained by the Crown.
In 1529 there were three royal parks at Hunsdon :
the ' old,' the ' new,' and ' Goodmanneshyde.' 96 Prob-
ably one of these was the same as ' Wyntrey Park,'
where the king killed two stags in July 1532.97 In
the following month Stephen Gardiner wrote to
Wolsey from Hunsdon : ' I have been hunting from
morn till night by the king's commandment.' 98 The
three parks of Hunsdon were granted with the
manor to Sir Henry Carey in 1559 and continued
with his successors. Henry Earl of Dover enlarged
the park by the purchase of certain lands called the
Spring, formerly Chauncy's Lands, in the parish of
Eastwick. Other lands within the parks were the
Brick Hills, the Nursery, Eastwick Lawn and
Edward's Downs. The parks were disparked before
1684, when the boundaries were given as follows :
Eastwick Hall and lands called Germans on the
north-west, Hunsdon Mill Lane on the south,
Hunsdon House on the south-west, Eastwick Woods
on the north-east.99
A mill is included in the description of Hunsdon
given in the Domesday Survey and ' a water mill
worth zos.' in an extent of 1297. 10° In 1508 the
mill conveyed with the manor is called Wadesmill,1
and another reference also occurs to ' Wardes Mill' in
Hunsdon.2 In 1607 two mills are included in the
manor.3 Probably one of these was in the parish of
Eastwick, as the two properties were in the same
hands at this date. Subsequently the Hunsdon Mill
passed to the owners of Eastwick, and was sold with
that estate by Henry Gore to John Plumer in 1 70 1.4
Situated in the south of the parish on the River Stort,
it stands within a quarter of a mile of the boundary
between Hunsdon and Eastwick parishes. The mill
has been destroyed, but the house now forms part of
the Briggens estate.
The church stands close to Hunsdon
CHURCH House, nearly a mile south of the village.
Its dedication is uncertain, but is attri-
buted to ST. DUN STAN. It consists of chancel
43 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in., north chapel 22 ft. 6 in. by
13 ft. 6 in., nave 48 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. 6 in.,
south transept or chapel 23 ft. by 22 ft. 6 in., west
HUNSDON
tower 1 2 ft. 9 in. by 1 1 ft., timber north porch ;
all the dimensions taken internally. The walls are
of flint rubble with stone dressings, the south chapel
being built of brick ; the roofs are tiled ; much of
the stonework has been renewed and the building
generally repaired. This church possesses some ex-
ceptionally good details of fittings of the 1 6th and
1 7th centuries.
The walling of the nave belongs probably to an
earlier period than the rest of the building, but the
indications are too slight to fix the date ; the west
tower and north porch belong to the early part of the
15th century ; the chancel was rebuilt in the latter
part of the 15th century; the north chapel was
added about the middle of the 1 6th century, and
the south chapel was built by Lord Hunsdon about
1616.
The chancel has a large five-light window in the
east wall, one two-light window in the north, and
two with a doorway between in the south wall ;
some of the jamb stones in the windows are original,
the rest is modern stonework. The north doorway
into the chapel has a four-centred arch with splayed
jambs ; the arch opening into this chapel, which is
used as an organ chamber and vestry, is modern. In
the south chancel wall is a piscina with hollow splayed
jambs and pointed arch ; adjoining it is a plain recess
with a wooden seat. The chancel arch of two plain
chamfered orders dates from the latter part of the
15 th century.
The floor of the north chapel was raised about
4 ft. 8 in. in the 1 8th century for the construction
of a vault beneath, and a small gabled projection at
the east end was built to contain the short stair up
from the chancel. The east window is of two
cinquefoiled lights with a sexfoil opening in the head,
and is of late 14th-century date, reset in this wall ;
the jambs have been repaired with cement. In the
north wall is a window of two cinquefoiled lights
chiefly of modern stonework. The plain collar-
beam roof is probably original.
In the north wall of the nave are two three-light
windows with cinquefoiled arches and tracery above,
also a door with moulded arch and jambs and traceried
spandrels ; all these are of the 15th century, but the
stonework has been much renewed. At the east end
of the north wall are the lower and upper doors to
the rood-loft set in a projecting portion of the wall.
In the south wall is a wide arch of three moulded
orders plastered, opening into the south transept or
chapel. West of it are two three-light windows of
modern stonework, the westernmost of which occupies
the position of the old south doorway, done away
with about 1830.5 There are some old moulded
timbers in the roof.
In the east and west walls of the south chapel is a
five-light mullioned and traceried window of plastered
brickwork and a four-centred doorway in the east ;
in the south wall are two single-light windows with
92 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-59, p. 423.
93 Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 220.
94 Inq. a.q.d. file 450, no. 32.
95 See Manor.
96 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, g. 5336
(10). A field called ' Godmundeshyde '
in this manor occurs as early as 1297.
It was then held by the lord of the manor
of Humphrey Earl of Hereford (Chan.
Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, file 80, no. 2).
97 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 1206.
'"Ibid, iv, 5831.
99 Exch. Dep. Mixed Co. Mich. 36
Chas. II, no. 22.
100 Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. 46.
1 Close, 23 Hen. VII, pt. ii, no. 9.
2 Rentals and Surv. portf. 8, no. 30.
This took its name from the Warde family.
John Warde had two mills in Hunsdon
a little earlier (Chan. Proc. [Ser. 2],
329
xlii, 53). In the conveyance of 1508,
which mentions Wadesmill as belonging
to the manor of Hunsdon, appurtenances
are given in Standon and Wadesmill.
The latter is another Wadesmill, a hamlet
in the parishes of Standon and Thundridge.
3 Recov. R. Mich. 5 Jas. I, rot. 187.
4 Close, 13 Will. Ill, pt. viii, no. 11.
See Eastwick and Gilston.
6 East Herts. Arch. Soe. Trans, ii, 50.
42
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
four-centred arches ; they are all of early 17th-
century date.
The upper part of the north porch is of open
timber-work ; the entrance has a pointed-arched open-
ing flanked on either side by an opening with a
cusped head ; the barge-board has plain cuspings ;
the open sides have square bars at short intervals set
diagonally ; it is of early 15th-century work.
The early 15th-century tower, which is unbut-
tressed, is in three stages ; the tower arch is of two
orders, the inner order resting upon jambs with
capitals and bases ; above the arch may be seen the
line of an earlier steep roof to the nave ; the west
doorway is of two moulded orders, the inner order
forming a pointed arch, the outer being carried
square over it ; in the spandrels are shields, all re-
paired ; above is a window of two cinquefoiled lights
with cusped opening in the head. On the north
and west faces of the second stage are two-light
windows, and at the belfry stage on each face is a
The pulpit is hexagonal and of small dimensions ;
it has two tiers of plain moulded panels with a
carved frieze above and a carved sounding-board
over ; it is of early 17th-century date.
In the chancel windows and in some of the nave
windows are fragments of 15th-century glass, con-
taining figures of six of the Apostles, white rose of
York, fetterlocks, and Bowyers' flotes.
On the north side of the char.cel is a recess with a
depressed arch, having cusped and panelled sides and
arch, and shields of arms to Francis Poynz, 1528.
On the same side is a large canopied tomb to Sir
Thomas Foster, with a recumbent effigy clothed in
the judges' robes ; he died in 161 2. In front of the
tomb is a richly worked railing of wrought-iron. 1 he
Fosters were a branch of the Northumberland family.
On the south side of the south chapel is a large
monument to John Carey, third Lord Hunsdon, and
his wife, the founder of the chapel erected by him
during their lives about 1616 ; it is of marble and
12,UCENT
14'hCENT
15'hCENT
16'bCENT
□ Modern
Plan of Hunsdon Church
window of two trefoiled lights with cusped opening
above. Above the embattled parapet is a slender spire
covered with shingles. In the south-west angle of the
tower is the circular newel stair to the belfry. The
font, of clunch, is the original one recut,and is probably
of 15th-century date. Under the chancel arch is
the lower part only of the 15th-century rood screen
with traceried panels.
Under the arch to the south chapel is a fine
oak screen of about 1610. The lower part has
moulded panels separated by fluted pilasters above
which is a rail of richly carved arabesque patterns ; the
upper part consists of a series of open panels with
round arches set in square frames separated by Ionic
carved and fluted pillars, and having a moulded
entablature with richly carved frieze ; over the cornice,
in the centre, in an open scroll-work setting is a
shield containing the arms of the Careys and allied
families.
The communion table and rails in the chancel are
of early 1 7th-century date, and near the door is a
plain 17th-century poor-box.
alabaster, with Corinthian columns and moulded
entablature supporting an arched canopy, under which
are the recumbent effigies of the knight and his wile ;
the dates of their death are omitted.
Two large early 18th-century monuments to the
Calverts of Hunsdon House and to Robert Chester
of Briggens were moved from the north wall of the
chancel to the north chapel, and thence in 191 I to
the nave.
In the nave is a brass to James Gray, park-keeper,
who died I 5 9 1 . The figures represent a hunter
who has just shot an arrow into a stag, being himself
killed by an arrow in the hand of Death, represented
by a skeleton. Another brass on the north wall of
the chancel is to Margaret Shelley, 1495 ; the figure
is dressed in a shroud, and above is a representation
of the Holy Trinity ; portions of the brass are
missing.
There are eight bells : the treble, second and
third by Mears & Stainbank, 1883 ; the fourth
inscribed 'Jesus be our spede, 1630,' by Robert
Oldfeild ; the fifth recast in 1883; the sixth, by
33°
Hunsdon Church : Tomb of Sir Thomas Foster
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
J. Briant, 1787 ; the seventh, dated 1668, and the
eighth, 1652, both by Anthony Bartlett.
The communion plate consists of cup and cover
paten, 1660, and modern chalice, paten and flagon.
The registers are in five books, as follows : (i)
baptisms 1546 to 1675, burials 1546 to 1679,
marriages 154610 1674; (ii) baptisms and burials
1679 to 1730, marriages 1680 to 1729 ; (iii)
baptisms and burials 173410 1 8 12, marriages 1734
to 1753 ; (iv) and (v) marriages 1 754 to 1 772 and
1772 to 1812.
A priest is included among the
JDFOIVSON tenants of Hunsdon Manor recorded
in the Domesday Survey, and the
church is mentioned in the taxation of Pope Nicholas
(1291).6 At this date Merton Priory possessed an
HUNSDON
with the manor,10 and henceforward followed the
same descent.11 After the death of Mr. Charles
James Phelips in 1903 Hunsdon advowson was sold
to Mr. John Henry Buxton, the present patron.
The Poor's Land and Stock
CHARITIES Charities are regulated by a scheme
of the Charity Commissioners 17
January 1906. They comprise the charities of:
1. George, Lord Hunsdon, founded by will
proved in P.C.C. 27 September 1603, under which
he gave a sum of money which was invested in
land for the benefit of the poor of Eastwick and
Hunsdon.
2. Henry, Lord Hunsdon, founded by indenture
dated I February 1 61 5. The endowment of these
two charities originally consisted of four pieces of land
Hunsdon Church from the North-west
annual pension of £8 from Hunsdon Church,7 and in
1350 we find the lord of Hunsdon Mansr (John
Engayne) suing the Prior of Merton for the right of
presentation to the living.8 There is no record of
the termination of the suit, but Merton continued to
present until the Dissolution. The copy of a patent
granting the advowson of Hunsdon Church to the
Prior and convent of Merton Abbey is said to have
been in the possession of Thomas Cromwell,9 but no
further trace of this patent has been found. The
advowson seems to have passed to Sir Henry Carey
known respectively as Godfrey's Piece, Puke's Piece,
the Town Lands and Oldburys, which were sold in
1905 and the proceeds invested in stock. The en-
dowment for the parish of Hunsdon consists of £448
North-Eastern Railway 4 per cent. Guaranteed Stock,
producing £17 18/. \d. yearly, and £30 \y. lid.
consols, producing 1 $s. \d. yearly. (See also under
parish of Eastwick.)
3. Robert Chester, founded by will dated in 1 730.
The endowment originally consisted of land called
Mallons, containing about 1 2 acres, which was sold
6 Pope Nkh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 18.
7 He still held this pension in 1428
(Feud. Aids, ii, 466), but there is no record
of it at the Dissolution.
8 De Banco R. 362,01. 39 d.; 363,10. 56.
9 L. and P. Hen. Fill, vii, 923 (v).
10 See Memo. R. Mich. 2 Jas. I, rot. 80 ;
Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii, 240.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi,
III ; eclxxrvi, 170 ; ccclxxiv, 95 ; Feet
331
of F. Div. Co. Hil. 18 & 19 Chas. II;
Herts. East, 23 Chas. II ; Recov. R.
Mich. 17 Geo. II, rot. 379; Hil. 29
Geo. Ill, rot. 23 ; Feet of F. Herts.
Trin. 46 Geo. Ill ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in 1900 and the proceeds invested in £190 \s. id.
consols, producing £4. I 5/. yearly.
4. The Pound Piece, containing about 30 poles,
which was sold in 1902 and the proceeds invested in
£14 "]t. 6d. consols, producing 7/. yearly.
The net income of the united charities is applied
in pensions for the aged poor.
The several suras of stock are held by the official
trustees, who also hold ^163 6s. yd. consols arising
from sale of glebe lands.
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
Sabrixteworda (xi cent.) ; Sebrichworde, Sebriste-
worda, Sabrytesworth (xii cent.) ; Sabrithtesworth
(xiii cent.) ; Sabrisceworth, Sabrettesworth (xiv
cent.) ; Sabresford or Sabrisworth (xv cent.) ; Sabridge-
worth (xvi cent.) ; Sawbridgeworth (xviii cent.).
Sawbridgeworth is a large parish of about 6,638
acres in extent, divided from the county of Essex on
the south and east by the River Stort, except for a
projecting tongue of land forming the Hyde Hall
estate which lies on the east of the river. On the
the south and east. From the main road here a view
is obtained over the river into Essex. The chief crops
are wheat, barley .md beans, about half the area con-
sisting of arable land. Large quantities of saffron
were once grown in Sawbridgeworth, but cornfields
had replaced the saffron fields before the 1 5th century.4
Saffron Field on Great Beazleys Farm and Saffron
Garden, south-west of Spelbrook, now both arable,
preserve the name of this ancient industry. No
inclosure award has been made for Sawbridgeworth,
^ - {pfrul kSck. ■!»}-: "
Three Mile Pond Farm, Sawbridgeworth
west the boundary is formed by a small stream called
Fiddler's Brook. The road from London to New-
market passes through the parish in a north-easterly
direction. To the south of the village it is known as
the London Road, to the north as the Stortford Road.
At Spelbrook in the north of the parish stood a
turnpike gate where tolls were collected for the
Hockerill trustees.1 The road crosses the river
and at the same time passes from Essex to Hertford-
shire by the High Bridge, which is maintained by the
county.2 The old wooden bridge here was ruinous
in 1 77 1, and was replaced by one of brick.3 A little
to the east of the town is a railway station on the
Cambridge line of the Great Eastern railway.
Sawbridgeworth lies on the London Clay. The
ground reaches an altitude of about 300 ft. in the
north, sloping down towards the valley of the Rib on
but there were a great number of common fields in
the parish. Townfield lay within the quadrangle
formed by the four main streets of the town, North
Field was on the north-west of the town, East Field
on the south-east and on the east of the main road,
Mill Fen was on the east of North Field, with the
mill at its southern extremity, Eden Common adjoined
the western side of the quadrangle, whilst White Post
Field, Great Sayes Field, Manfield, Hoestock, Claveley,
Bean Field, Brick Field, Belcomstead, Writhingales,
Henley Hearn, Great Hollingson, Sidcup, Kingsey,
and many other commons appurtenant to the numerous
manors covered the greater part of the parish.5 All
these fields are now in separate ownership. Other
field-names in Sawbridgeworth mentioned in 1 838
are Goggles and Further and Hither Glices on
Stonard's Farm, Numums Field on Redrick's Farm,
Scss. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 240.
1 Ibid. 44, 45, 99, 109, 233, 238, 280,
Ibid. 1 19, 1 20, 271.
See advowson.
Apportionment of rent-charge in lieu
332
of tithes, 1838.
Bd. of Afrric.
Returns and ma
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Rainbow Field and Parrot's Field on Rowney Farm,
White Moor, White Field, and Mountain Mead on
Blunt's Farm, Great and Little Battles (arable) and
Battle Wood, part of Gilston Glebe.6 Beanfield,
now called Bell Mead, was left to the church for the
purpose of growing beans to be strewn on the floor
of the church.
An interesting agricultural enterprise was begun
here by the late Mr. John Prout. In 1861 he
acquired Blunt's or Blount's Farm, consisting of about
450 acres on the chalky boulder clay, and there applied
the results obtained from the Rothamsted experiments
to practical farming. The farm was laid out for the
production of a continuous series of corn crops, and
for this purpose was divided into fields of about 50
acres, each of which was dressed with chemical
manures and cultivated by steam ploughs. Mr. John
Prout carried on the farm until 1894, when he was
succeeded by his son Mr. Will m Prout.7 The
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
as it is now generally called) running at right angles to
the London Road (here called the Cambridge Road)
and Knight Street forming the fourth side of the
figure. The Newtown lies along Barker Lane, which
is the north side of the parallelogram. The names
Knight Street and Cock Street are as old at least as
the 1 6th century.8 A cross called Knight's Cross
was apparently situated in the former street, whilst
from it a road led to the Two Crosses (Le Too-
crowches) which were in Sayesfield.9 Church Street,
a continuation of Cock Street, leads to the parish
church of St. Mary. To the south-west of the
church is the Square, which was once the market-place.
There is now no market, but two fairs are still held
on the Fair Green, one in April and the other in
October. The vicarage lies to the south of the
church. In the London Road is a Congregational
chapel representing a dissenting community dating
back as far as 1669. In 1 8 14 a chapel for Indepen-
SaWB RIDGE WORTH : HaND AND CROWN Inn
nursery gardens of Messrs. Rivers & Sons date back
to about 1720, when they were established by John
Rivers, a native of Berkshire. Mr. Thomas Rivers,
who succeeded to the business in 1827, formed his
famous collection of roses here. He also introduced
the 'Early Rivers' plum, which has done good service
to English gardeners by extending the native fruit
season. His son, Mr. T. A. H. Rivers, is the present
head of the firm.
The town of Sawbridgeworth lies on the east of
the parish near the Stort and on the London Road.
It forms a parallelogram in shape, Barkers Lane (now
called Station Road) and Cock Street (or Bell Street,
dents and Baptists was certified at Sawbridgeworth ;
this was superseded by a new chapel built in 1862.10
There are two elementary schools, one to the north
and the other to the south of the church. To the
north of the town is a corn-mill, probably occupying
the site of the mill mentioned in the Domesday
Survey. The eastern part of the town is for the
most part occupied by malt-houses, malt-making being
the chief industry.
A number of old houses still remain in and about
the town. The Church House, situated at the
churchyard gates, is an old building with good
beams. This was formerly church property, and
6 Apportionment of rent-charge in lieu
of tithes, 1838. Returns and map at
Bd. of Agric.
7 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 138; Diet. Nat.
Biog. s.v. John Prout.
8 Ct. R. (Duchy of Lane), bdle. 77,
no. 1000. Cherchegate Street, which occurs
in 137S, is perhaps an earlier name for Cock
Street, or may correspond with the present
Church Street (Subs. R. bdle. 242, no. 19).
• Ct. R. (Duchy of Lane), bdle. 77,
no. 1000.
333
10 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts.
686-7. One place of meeting for Presby-
terians at the beginning of the 18 th century
was Hyde Hall, certified by Strange
Jocelyn in 171 5-16 (ibid.).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
was used as a workhouse and afterwards as a school.
It has lately been bought and given for a church house
(see Charities, no. l).1Ua On both sides of Bell Street
are several 17th-century cottages built of timber and
brick coated with cement and having projecting upper
stories. A cottage on the south side has its original
brick chimneys. There are also some pleasing 18th-
century houses in the town. On the road to High
Wych is the Hand and Crown Inn, a 16th-century
gabled building of two stories which has been added
to in the last century It is of timber and plaster
with a projecting upper story and a porch. There is
an original window on the south side. On the Stort-
ford Road, a little way past North End, is Three Mile
Pond Farm, a 1 7th-century pargeted house. Clay
Lane (now called West Road), leading west from the
town, has also several old farm-houses. Great Beazleys,
on the north of it, is now a small cottage, but incor-
porates a fragment of an earlier 17th-century timber-
framed farm-house of two stories. On an interior
Successive grants of market (see manor) have
never resulted in making Sawbridgeworth a com-
mercial centre. Probably the neighbourhood of a
flourishing market at Bishop's Stortford interfered
with the success of the Sawbridgeworth market. From
the number of inhabitants who contributed to the
various local assessments, however, it would seem
that the town has always been a thriving one, and in
the 15th century there is record of burgage tenure
there (see manor). In the 14th century the parish
was divided for fiscal purposes into the districts of
Cherchegate Street, Pyshoo Street, Nethynhoo, West-
wood Street, Frere Street, Mynton Street, Smith
Street, Chames Well Street, Haleynes Grene (Allen's
Green), Brod Street, Spelbrok and Northende.
Clutterbuck, writing in 1827, mentions that the
parish contained three hamlets, Town Quarter,
Spelbrook Quarter and Highway Quarter. In 1 901
part of the parish of Sawbridgeworth was made into
a new civil parish and urban district. The town is
Tharbies, Sawbridgeworth
beam is cut I.R. 161 2. To the east of the house is
an old barn built of sun-dried mud bricks. Crump's
Farm, on the same side of the road, is a red brick
building of two stories and attics, with the inscription
j\ 1628 over the front door. Little Beazleys, on
the south side, is a two-storied building with thatched
roof and the date 1662 on the north front. Due
north of Great Beazleys is Tharbies, now a modern
farm-house occupied by Mr. J. L. Kirkby. Close to
the house is a small square dove-house, timber-
framed. The lower part is weather-boarded and
the upper part covered with lath and plaster and
ornamented with square flush panels. The pyramidal
roof is tiled and has two small gables at the apex.
About half a mile north of Tharbies there was an
old moat marked on the ordnance map. This has
been recently filled up by Mr. Kirkby and ploughed
over.
now governed by an urban district council of twelve
members.
The hamlet of High Wych lies on the road from
Sawbridgeworth to Gilston, about half a mile south-
west of Sawbridgeworth. It was formed into an
ecclesiastical district in 1862.11 St. James's Church
stands on the north of the road. To the south of
the church is the school, and on the other side of the
road is the vicarage. Spelbrook 12 is another hamlet
on the main road to the north of Sawbridgeworth.
The school, which was built in 1 891, is used for
services on Sunday.
There is little of antiquarian interest in the history
of the parish of Sawbridgeworth. Only one dis-
covery of prehistoric remains has been made, that of
two cinerary urns containing ashes or calcined bones
found about 300 yards north of the Stort and
1 70 yards east of the high road from Sawbridgeworth
1Ua Information from Rev. H. A. Lips- " Lond. Gax. 25 Mar. 1S62, p. 1605.
comb. ™ The name is found in the 13th cen-
334
tury(see Assize R. 32; [15 Edw. I], which
mentions 'Richard Faber de Spelebrok').
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
to Harlow and fragments of pottery of the Romano-
British period.13 Historically Sawbridgeworth owes
its interest to its manors, which furnish an unusually
complete example of the processes of subinfeudation
(see below).
The manor of SJIFBRIDGE-
MJNORS IVOR 77/, assessed in 1086 at 24^ hides
and consisting of land for forty ploughs,
meadow for twenty plough-teams, pasture for the
live stock, woodland for 300 swine and a mill then
held by a tenant, must have comprised the whole of
the present parish. In the reign of Edward the
Confessor it had been held by Asgar the Stallcr, and
after the Conquest it was
acquired by Geoffrey de Man-
deville, who held in 1086.14
William de Mandeville, son
and successor of Geoffrey,
mortgaged the manor to the
Crown, and it was granted by
Henry I to Eudo Dapifer.16
Geoffrey de Mandeville the
younger, however, on obtain-
ing a renewed grant of the
earldom of Essex (conferred
originally on his father
Geoffrey de Mandeville, son
of William, in 1 1 56), also
received all the lands held by
Geoffrey his great-grandfather, including Sawbridge-
worth, with a release of the mortgage held by Henry I
on the manor.16 The lands were to be held with
soc, sac, toll, team and infangentheof. Geoffrey the
second Earl of Essex died in 1 166, when he was
succeeded by his brother William de Mandeville,
third Earl of Essex. He died in 1 1 89, leaving no
issue, and Sawbridgeworth passed to his aunt Beatrice
de Say, daughter of William de Mandeville, and on
her death to her younger son Geoffrey de Say. From
this family the manor (reduced by 74 librates from
its extent in 1086, see below under Pishobury) took
the name oiSJrESBURY.
In 1222 Geoffrey de Say, son of the last-mentioned
Geoffrey, received the grant of a market to be held at
Sawbridgeworth on Saturday.17 By another grant
the following year the day was changed to Friday.18
William de Say, son and successor of Geoffrey,
probably inclosed the park, for in 1237 he was allowed
ten bucks from the king's forest of Essex to place in
his park of Sawbridgeworth.19 In I 245 he obtained
a licence for free warren in his manor.20 The extent
taken at his death in 1272 mentions the park and
warren.21 William de Say, his son and successor, was
Mandeville, Earl of
Essex. Quarterly or and
gules which arms were
assumed and borne by
the Says.
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
presented before the commissioners of Edward I for
having appropriated free warren on alien fees and
on the lands of his tenants.22 He claimed the liberties
of gallows, view of frankpledge, assize of bread and
ale, pillory, tumbrel and prison at Sawbridgeworth as
belonging to the honour of Mandeville and exercised
by his ancestors. These were allowed him.23 William
de Say died in 1295.24 Geoffrey de Say, his son,
was summoned to Parliament as Lord Say from
131 3. In 1306 he obtained a renewal of the Friday
market granted in 1 2 23 and a grant of a yearly
fair on the vigil and f_ast of the Nativity of the
Virgin Mary (8 September).25 He died in 132226;
his wife Idonia survived him and received a grant of
the manor for life from her son Geoffrey.27 Geoffrey
the younger died in 135928 and was succeeded by
his son William de Say. The extent of the manor
taken at his death in 1375 gives a messuage with
garden, 500 acres of arable land, 15 acres of meadow,
20 acres of pasture and 1 00 acres of wood. The rents
from customary tenants included I lb. of wax and
3 gross of arrows.29 John son and heir of William
died a minor in 1382.30 The manor passed to his sister
Elizabeth, who made a settlement on herself and her first
husband, Sir John de Falwesle, in 1388,31 and on her-
self and second husband, Sir William Heron, in 1396.32
Elizabeth Lady Say died without issue in 1399.
Heron, who was summoned to Parliament as Lord
Heron from 1393, and is generally considered to have
been styled Lord Say,33 obtained many of his wife's
estates, including Sawbridgeworth. Maud Bosenho,
daughter of Elizabeth de Alden, one of the co-heirs of
Elizabeth de Say, quitclaimed her right in the manor
to him in 1401.34 He died seised in 1404,35 his
nephew John, son of his brother John, being his heir.
The extent taken at his death mentions that the
capital messuage was then ruinous. Sir John Heron
died in 1420 and was succeeded by his son John,36
who in 1460— I settled Sawbridgeworth on himself
and his wife Agnes in tail with contingent remainder
to Brian Rowcliff and other feoffees.37 John Heron
died in 1468 without issue.38 A few months after-
wards the feoffees conveyed the manor to Sir John
Say, who died seised of it in 1478.39 His son Sir
William Say died in 1529, leaving two daughters, of
whom Mary wife of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex,
inherited Sawbridgeworth.40 Their daughter and
heir Anne, wife of William Lord Parr, had livery of
Sawbridgeworth on her father's death in March
1539-40.41 Lord Parr, who was created Earl of
Essex in 1543 and Marquess of Northampton in
1547, was attainted in 155342 and Sawbridgeworth
came to the Crown.
13 Eait Herts. Arch. Soc. Tram, i, 191.
14 V.C.H. Herts, i, 332a.
13 Colchester Cartulary (Roxburghe
Club), 22. There may have been a former
grant of the manor, as well as of the church,
to Otwel Fitz Count (see advowson).
16 See charter printed by Mr. J. H.
Round in Geoff, de Mandeville, 235. See
also article by Mr. Round in Essex Arch.
Soc. Trans. (New Ser.), v, 245.
17 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 514.
18 Ibid. 54.0*.
19 Cal. Close, 1234-7, P- 445-
,0 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 28z ;
Abbre-u. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 7.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 56 Hen. Ill, no. 37.
22 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188.
83 Assize R. 323 (Mich. 6 Edw. I).
24 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I, no. 49 ;
Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 188 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. 10.
25 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 73. An
exemplification of this charter and of
the grant of free warren were obtained by
the lord in 1531 (L. and P. Hen. VU1, v,
559 [?•])•
26 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. II, no. 41.
87 Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 310.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill, no. 37.
29 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. ii (1st nos.),
no. 44 (file 251).
3° Ibid. 6 Ric. II, no. 67.
31 Cal Pat. 1385-9, p. 407; Feet of
F. Div. Co. II Ric. II, no. 93.
335
32 Cal. Pat. 1 39 1-6, p. 339; Feet of
F. Div. Co. 19 Ric. II, no. no.
33 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Say.
34 Close, 2 Hen. IV, pt. ii, m. 19 d.
35 Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. IV, no. 21.
36 Ibid. 8 Hen. V, no. 17.
37 Feet of F. Div. Co. 39 Hen. VI,
no. 457.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. IV, no. 33.
The heir was unknown. Agnes married
David Malpas (Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 1 16).
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 43.
« Ibid. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
41 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. dlxxviii, fol.
372 d. ; see L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, 1 308
(16) ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33 Hen. VIII.
42 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Northampton.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1556 a lease of the manor for forty years was
made to trustees for the benefit of Anne Lady
Bourchier, whom Lord Parr had repudiated as his
wife in 1 543. 43 During her tenure a suit in Chancery
was brought against her by copyholders of the manor
whom she had turned out of their tenements on the
plea that the lands had been granted by her father,
who held the manor for life only. Judgement was
given for the plaintiffs in 1565.44 Anne died in 1571
without legitimate issue and the manor escheated to
the Crown. In January 1572-3 the farm called Sayes
Park was leased to William Lord Burghley,45 and in
1609 a lease was made to Robert Earl of Salisbury
(son of Lord Burghley) for the lives of himself, his
son William Cecil and his daughter Frances Cecil.40
The earl died in 1612 and his son in 1668. In
February 161 3-14 the manor and park were granted
in fee to Lionel Cranfield,47a son of Thomas Cranfield
of London. He filled successively the offices of
Master of the Requests, Keeper of the Great Ward-
robe and Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries,
and in 1621 was made Lord Cranfield of Cranfield,
co. Bedford. From 1621 to 1624 he was Lord
High Treasurer and was created Earl of Middlesex in
1622. In May 1624, however, he was convicted of
mismanagement and sentenced to lose all his offices
and fined ^5o,ooo.48 He seems to have surrendered
the manor to the king, who in 1632 granted it with
Sayes Park, the manor of Pishobury (except the
park), Sawbridgeworth Mills and the rents of land
called Alexander, late of Edward Leventhorpe, and
of the manor of Glasmonhall, co. Cambridge (viz.
I lb. of pepper and I lb. of corn from the first and
1 red sparrow-hawk from the second) to Arthur Brett
and Nicholas Harman.49 They in 1635 joined with
the earl in conveying the manors to Thomas Hewett,50
created a baronet in 1 660, who resided at Pishobury.51
He died in 1662 and was succeeded by his son
Sir George Hewett of Pishobury, who for his services
in Ireland was made Baron of Jamestown, co.
Longford, and Viscount Hewett of Gowran, co.
Kilkenny, in 1689. He died without issue in
1689.52 His heirs were his four surviving sisters,
Elizabeth wife of Sir Richard Anderson, bart., Arabella
wife of Sir William Wiseman, Margaret wife of Sir
Edward Farmer, and Mary wife of Sir Charles Crofts
Read.63
In the same year Sir Charles and Lady Read settled
their quarter of the manor of Sayesbury, of the farm
called Sayes Park, closes called Church Close and
Sayes Garden, a coppice called Sayes Coppice, the
two water-mills called Sawbridgeworth Mills, one a
corn-mill and the other a fulling-mill, and the manor
of Pishobury on their three youngest children, Jane
wife of Anthony Wroth, Bridget afterwards wife of
Thomas Tarver, and Thomas.54 In the division of
Lord Hewett's lands made in 1691 the whole of the
Sawbridgeworth estate seems to have been settled on
Lady Read 55 and to have descended to her three
younger children. Jane and Anthony Wroth con-
veyed their third about 1 700 to William Betts,56 and
Bridget and Thomas Tarver their share some years
later to Thomas Betts.57 In 1709 Thomas and
Bridget conveyed a sixth (their share after the death
of Bridget's brother Thomas) to Robert Colman.58
Each of the first two of these conveyances, and
possibly the third, was in trust for Ralph Freeman.69
Whether he acquired the remaining sixth of the
lands is uncertain, as in 1 709 Anthony Wroth settled
it to his own use.60
The manors descended with Hamells in Braughing
(q.v.) to Philip Yorke, third Earl of Hardwicke,61 who,
according to Clutterbuck, sold them in 1823 to
Rowland Alston of Harrold House, co. Beds.62 In
185 1 they were purchased by John Hodgson of
Gilston,63 since which date they have descended
with Gilston (q.v.), Mr. A. S. Bowlby being the
present lord of the manors.
The manor-house of Sayesbury was long ago pulled
down, and the demesne lands have been for the most
part divided up into farms.64 Sayes Park Farm, Park
Field a large field to the west of Sayes Park Farm,
Corn Park to the south of this and Grass Park to the
north of it preserve the name of the ancient manorial
park, and Dovehouse Field of the manorial dovecote.65
Some accounts for the manor at the end of the
13th century show that there were 8 virgates which
paid ox-silver and sheep-silver to the lord (cf. Pisho-
bury). The ' gavelerth,' of which each acre paid 6d.,
is also mentioned.66 Burgage tenure is mentioned
in a rental of 1433 of the lands of John Heron
(15th century), where the rent of assize within the
borough of Sawbridgeworth is said to amount to
£4 9*. 6d. and the rent within the ' patria ' to
£3 1 1$. 9c/.67 A pedigree of the villeins of the
manor taken by inquisition apparently in the 13th
century 68 is printed by Professor Vinogradoff.69
The manor called SAWBRIDGEWORTH down
to the end of the 1 3th century, and after that
P1SHO or PISHOBURT (Peyshoo, Pyssoubery,
xiii cent. ; Pyshobury, Spisshou, xiv cent. ; Pisshou,
Pyshowe, xv cent. ; Pyssowe, Pisshebury, Pishoo,
xvi cent. ; Pishebury, xvii cent.), originated in a
grant of 74 librates of land at Sawbridgeworth,
which Geoffrey de Mandeville the elder (ob. 1 144)
made to Warin and Henry Fitz Gerold, to hold by
43 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Northampton ;
Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. xii, m. 42.
He had apparently kept her lands.
44 Chan. Proc. (Scr. 2), bdle. 139,
no. 31 ; bdle. 136, no. 7 ; Chan. Deer.
R. 30, no. 4.
45 Pat. 15 Eliz. pt. i, m. 9.
46 Ibid. 7 Jas. I, pt. iii, no. 9.
47Ibid. 11 Jas. I, pt. xiii.
48 G.E.C. Parage, s.v. Middlesex.
49 Pat. 8 Chas. I, pt. ix, no. 20. This
grant may have been in trust for the Earl
of Middlesex, for his wife was Anne
daughter of James Brett of Hoby, co.
Lincoln.
50 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 1 Chas. I.
51 See Cal. S. P. Doni. 1638-9, p. 586.
52 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Hewett.
53 Add. Chart. 44867 ; Feet of F. Div.
Co. Trin. 5 Will, and Mary. Arabella
and Mary were widows by the latter date
(.693).
54 Add. Chart. 44869 ; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Hil. 1 Will, and Mary.
55 See Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 5
Will, and Mary ; Chauncy, Hist. Antif.
of Herts. 172.
« Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 12 Will. Ill ;
Mich. 13 Will. III.
57 Ibid. Div. Co. Trin. 6 Anne ; Recov.
R. Mich. 6 Anne, rot. 77.
s8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 8 Anne ;
Recov. R. Hil. 8 Anne, rot. 124,
<33-
336
s' See Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 8 Anne,
m. 5.
6U Ibid.
61 See Recov. R. Hil. 4 Geo. II, rot.
254; Trin. 16 Geo. II, rot. 26; Com.
Pleas D. Enr. East. 39 Geo. Ill, m. 42.
62 Clutterbuck, hist, and Anna, of Herts.
iii, 196.
63 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 78.
64 See apportionment of rent-charge,
1838. 65 Ibid.
66 Mins. Accts. bdle. 868, no. 6.
67 Ibid. no. 9 ; Rentals and Surv. R.
295.
68 Ibid, portf. 8, no. 42.
« Villeinag. in Engl 143.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
the service of one knight for each 20 librates.70
Grants were made by Warin and Henry to Bury
St. Edmunds and Reading Abbey (see Tednambury
and Groves) ; the remainder of the land formed the
manor of Pishobury. Henry, who survived his
brother, left two sons, Warin
and Henry. Margaret,
daughter and heir of Warin,
married Baldwin de Redvers,
Earl of Devon, whom she
survived, and secondly Falkes
de Breaute, who forfeited in
1224. The manor was
granted to Margaret during
the king's pleasure.71 In 1248
Margaret levied a fine with
William de Say, by which it
was agreed that William and
his heirs were to have free
warren throughout the vill of Sawbridgeworth includ-
ing Margaret's demesnes, the warren to be kept by
William's warrener, whilst Margaret and her heirs
were to have free chase in her fee with dogs, birds
or nets, and free fishery in the river where it adjoined
her lands.72 Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon,
son and heir of Margaret, died in February 1 244—5 73
and his son Baldwin in 1262,74 leaving no issue.
His widow Margaret had seisin of the manor.75 She
married Roger Aguilon,76 and held the manor until
her death in 1292.77 It then passed to Isabella
Countess of Albemarle, sister of Baldwin,78 who died
in 1293, having survived her only daughter Avelina,
wife of Edmund Earl of Lancaster. Her cousin
Hugh de Courtenay, great-grandson of Mary daughter
of William de Redvers (father of the first-mentioned
Baldwin), was her heir, but Warin Lisle (de Insula)
had a grant of the issues of the manor in 1 294 to
hold until Hugh came of age,79 and in 13 10 his son
Robert successfully claimed the manor against Hugh
de Courtenay by descent from Henry the brother of
Warin above mentioned (son of Henry Fitz Gerold),
whose daughter Alice married Robert Lisle of Rouge-
mont and was father of Robert, father of Warin,
father of the plaintiff.80
Robert Lisle was summoned to Parliament as
Lord Lisle from 1 31 1. Shortly before his death (in
January 1342-3) he took religious orders, having
previously in 1339 granted Pishobury with other
manors to his daughters Alice, wife of Sir Thomas
Seymour, and Elizabeth Peverel for life, with re-
mainder to his son John, who quitclaimed to his
79 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 356 ;
iii, 731.
71 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i,
617A.
78 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Hen. Ill,
DO. 385.
73 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Devon.
74 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4.7 Hen. Ill, no. 3 jb.
75 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii,
38+.
76 See Assize R. 323 (Mich. 6 Edw. I),
where Roger de Aguilon is said to hold
three and a quarter knights' fees in Saw-
bridgeworth.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. I, no. 139.
78 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 236.
79 Ibid. p. 357. A rental of the manor
at this date shows that there were a capital
messuage, 242 acres of arable land, 29 acres
of meadow, 27 acres of several pasture, an
inclosed wood of I 56 acres called the Park,
Lisle, Gules a leopard
argent crowned or.
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
sisters.81 This grant was apparently made by Robert
for the performance of certain alms.82 In 1343,
however, John obtained from
Alice and Elizabeth a release
of the manor for thirty years,
with the exception of certain
premises — viz. the house on
the left-hand side within the
second gate, which contained
two chambers for habitation,
and the park of Gedelesho,
which belonged to the manor,
John retaining 1 2 acres of
underwood yearly with profits
from the land called Vodeleye
and housbote and heybote for
the manor, the keeper of Gedelesho Wood to be
chosen with the assent of both parties and to have
his robe from Alice and his livery of corn, &c, from
John.83 John Lord Lisle died seised of the lease in
1356.84 After his death Alice Seymour surrendered
Pishobury to his son Robert, who was to assist her
in the foundation of charities begun by Sir John
Lisle for the soul of his father.85 In 1368 Robert
Lisle granted his knights' fees and the courts held for
his tenants at Walbrook and Farningho, co. Essex, to
the king.86 This transaction has led to the inference
that he had no legitimate issue, but one pedigree gives
him a son William,87 and a William Lisle granted
Pishobury in March 1392-3 to Richard first Lord
Scrope of Bolton,88 this transaction being followed in
1394 by a quitclaim from Sir Robert Lisle.89
In 1393 Lord Scrope had licence to endow a
chantry in his chapel in
Bolton Castle with a rent of
£33 6s. Sd. from the manor.90
He died in 1403, his will
being dated at Pishobury in
1400.91 His son and heir
Roger second Lord Scrope
died in the same year.
Richard third Lord Scrope,
son of Roger, mortgaged the
manor, and it was held by
mortgagees at the time of his
death in 1420. 92 His son
Henry fourth Lord Scrope
died seised in January 145 8— g,92a and the manor was
held successively by his son John fifth Lord Scrope,
who died in 1498,93 and by Henry sixth Lord Scrope,
son of John, who died in 1506. Henry, the seventh
Scrope of Bolton.
Izure a bend or.
where was both several and common
pasture, and a water-mill. The rents
from the customary tenants included two
called ox-silver and sheep-silver (Anct.
Extents Exch. K..R. no. 81 [1]).
80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. II, no. 60 ;
file 27, no. 5 ; Cal. Close, 1307-13,
pp. 273, 284. An extent of the manor
of about this date is in Rentals and Surv.
portf. 8, no. 43. The manorial buildings
consisted of an outer court with barn,
grange, dovecot, &c, and an inner court
with hall and chapel and rooms built
over them.
81 Feet of F. Div. Co. 13 Edw. Ill,
no. 70; Cal. Close, 1339-41, pp. 274,
332> 635> 647-
82 See Cal. Close, 1343-6, p. 1 19.
83 Ibid.
84 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. Ill, no. 40 ;
Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 255.
337
85 Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 630.
86 Ibid. 1364-S, p. 494.
87 G. F. Beltz, Mem. of Order of Garter,
44 ; see G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Lisle ;
Baker, Northants, i, 620.
* Close, 16 Ric. II, m. 16 d. This
William may have been Robert's brother
Sir William Lisle, who is said to have
died without issue.
89 Ibid. 18 Ric. II, m. 29 a.
90 Cal. Pat. 1 391-6, p. 224.
91 G.E.C. Peerage, ».v. Scrope.
92 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. V, no. 27.
Accounts for the manor at this date exist
at the Record Office. Among the tenants
of the manor were seven molemen who
did works amounting to 55. \od. and paid
rents of assize (Mins. Accts. bdle. 839,
no. .6).
92a Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Hen. VI, no. 31.
93 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xiii, 138.
43
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
lord, received an intimation through Cromwell in
1532 that the king wished to have the manor to
annex it to the honour of Hunsdon.94 Negotiations
were begun, but the transaction was not completed
when Lord Scrope died in December 1533. The
exchange was effected by his son John eighth Lord
Scrope in March 1533-4.96 An extent of the manor
of about this date, probably when it came into the
king's hands, describes a park nearly 2 miles in cir-
cumference, well wooded, with game, deer and coneys,
and a lodge on one side for the keeper, a moated
house within the park, then somewhat fallen into
decay, and a stable in good repair, with room for
twenty horses.96
In 1534 Henry VIII granted the manor to his
queen Anne Boleyn.97 The Sawbridgeworth mills,
which had been leased by Henry Lord Scrope
to Robert Noddes, were in 1544 leased to Oliver
Rigbye of Waltham Holy Cross.98 In 1547
Edward VI granted the manor with Sawbridgeworth
Mill and Pishoo Park to Sir Thomas Cawarden,
Gentleman of the Privy Ch,imber,r'9 who a few months
later alienated it to Sir Wimund Carew of Bleching-
ley.100 Thomas son of the latter conveyed it in 1555
to Thomas Mildmay,1 from whom it descended to his
second son Walter Mildmay,-' who was holding in
1 576. 3 Rather later (about 1598) the manor was
seized into the hands of the queen in satisfaction of a
sum of £2,232 for which Sir Wimund Carew had
been in debt to the Crown,4 and was leased to
Thomas Monke.6 Mildmay died in February
1606-7, when ^e debt was still unliquidated, but
Sir Thomas Mildmay, his son, was holding in 1610,6
and in 161 I conveyed the manor, with the two mills
and other appurtenances, to Lionel Cnmfield,7 who
also acquired Sayesbury. The rest of the descent of
the two manors is treated under S.iyesbury (q.v.).
After the death of George Lord Hewett in 1 689
the capital messuage of Pisho-
bury was limited to his sister
Lady Arabella Wiseman for a
thousand years.8 She sold it,
according to Clutterbuck, to
William Gardiner,9 from
whom it came to Edward
Gardiner and then descended
with Shingehall and Matham;
(q.v.) to Rowland Alston. He
sold it in I 847 to Francis Ede,
after whose death in 1849 it
was acquired by Mr. B. B.
Colvin of Waltham, and his
executors conveyed it in 1865
to Andrew Caldecott. It was
gton. Gules
head
between ttuo crosses forrny
•with fzuo fiaunches
ry or and azure.
Buxton, who sold it later to Col. F. Charrington,
C.M.G., the present owner and occupier.10
The house, which lies within Pishobury Park
immediately to the south of the town, is said to have
been built in 1585 by Sir Walter Mildmay. Chauncy
describes it as having 20 acres of ground on the east
side then used as a paddock for deer, a bowling green
in front raised 5 ft. high and inclosed with a brick
wall, and two avenues about 4 furlongs in length from
the house to the road.11 Two of the avenues were
removed and the third destroyed by Jeremiah Mills
under the advice of ' Capability Brown,' who
superintended the making of an ornamental lake.12
The house was destroyed by fire and practically
rebuilt by James Wyatt in 1782, who utilized some
of the old material. It is a square brick building of
three stories with embattled parapet, and a central
courtyard, which is now roofed ins In the entrance
hall is some 16th-century oak panelling. The dining
room is panelled and has a carved stone fireplace
with an iron fireback bearing the Stuart royal arms
and dated 1635. Above is a carved oak overmantel
of about the same date. In the servants' hall are a
1 6th-century fireplace and panelling. The stables and
barnson the south of the house date from about 1600.
The manor of TEDNAMBURK, TEDENHAM-
BURT, or TEDENHOEBURT (Tydenham,13 xiv
cent. ; Tydenhoubery, Tuddenhoburye, xvi cent. ;
Tuddinghoebury, xvii cent.), which lies on the
north-east of the parish, was
formed by 6 librates of land
given to the monastery of
Bury St. Edmunds (of which
the name seems to be a cor-
ruption) by Warin Fitz Gerold
(see under Pishobury) in the
first half of the I 2th century.14
In the reign of Edward I the
Abbot of St. Edmund's claimed
gallows, view of frankpledge,
and assize of bread and ale
at Sawbridgeworth as among
the liberties conferred on the
abbey by Canute.15 These
were allowed him. The manor
remained with St. Edmund's until the Dissolution,
when the farm was worth £\\ io/.16
In 1544 the manor was granted to Sir Henry
Parker, Lord Morley, together with woods of 94 acres
called Sperthes Grove, Walters Grove and Patmore's
Grove.17 Lord Morley was succeeded in 1555 by his
grandson Henry, who died seised in 1577,18 when it
descended to his son Edward Lord Morley, and at his
death in 161 8 to his son William Lord Morley and
Bury St. Edmund's
Abbey. Azure three
crowns or each thrust
through with a pair of
arrows or talrirewise.
bought from Caldecott by the late Mr. Francis W. Mounteagle of Gunpowder Plot fame.19 He died in
91 L. and P. Hen. Fill, v, 916 ; vi,
43, 348, 383.
95 Stat, of Realm, iii, 488.
96 Rentals and Surv. portf. 8, no. 3;.
97 L. and P. Hen. VIII, vii, 1498 (1).
98 Ibid, xix (1), 1636 (59).
99 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. i, m. 37.
190 Ibid. pt. iii, m. 41.
1 Ibid. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. i,
m. 28.
* The pedigrees of the Mildmay
families do not agree (cf. Harl. Soc. Publ.
xiii, pt. i, 251; Berry, Essex Gen. 149;
Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 4). But there
seem to have been three generations
called Thomas, and Walter seems to have
been a son of the second Thomis who
died in 1567.
3 Recov. R. East. 1576, rot. 155.
' Egerton MS. 2644, fol. 105 (copy of
commission to inquire as to its value).
5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcv, 85 ;
Add. Chart. 25607.
6 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Jas. I.
7 Ibid. Mich. 9 Jas. I.
8 Add. Chart. 44867.
9 Hist, and Antiq. of Herts, iii, 201.
10 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 80 ; information from Rev. H. A.
Lipscomb.
11 Chauncy, Hist. Antij. of Herts.
177-
1J Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 80.
11 Cal. Close, 1364-8, p. 494.
14 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 356 ;
Dugdale, Mon. iii, 139.
15 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
16 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii, 460.
" L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), 278
(57)-
18 W. and L. Inq. p.m. xix, 91.
19 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Morley. He
was Lord Mounteagle in his mother's
right.
338
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Parker, Lord
Morley. Argent a lion
passant gules betiveen two
bars sable with three
harts1 heads caboshed
sable in the chief and
three bezants on the bars.
162220 and his son Henry Lord Morley in 1655.
Thom.is Lord Morley, son of the latter, conveyed it
in 1657 to Robert Brudenell
and others,21 apparently trus-
tees for Thomas Lindsey,22
whom Chauncy gives as the
purchaser. Lindsey had two
daughters, Grace, who married
Richard How, and Elizabeth,
who married George Hock-
nell.23 The manor was divided
between them, but seems
eventually to have become the
property of the heirs of Grace.
Her son Richard How died
without issue 24 ; his brother
John was holding the manor
in 1738,23 in which year he
conveyed it to William
Taylor.26 William Taylor How
was in possession in 1756.27 He died before 1779,
leaving five sisters and co-heirs, Jane, Catherine and
Anne Taylor, Elizabeth wife of James Stillingfleet
and Sarah wife of Savile Read.28 According to
Clutterbuck it was assigned to Sarah and Savile
Read, but was devised by the latter, who survived, to
the three unmarried sisters, and was sold by Anne,
who outlived the others, to Mrs. Rose Milles in 1 799. '-'J
Tednambury descended with Shingehall and Mat-
hams (q.v.) to Rowland Alston, who sold in 184.2 to
William Bigg of London. After his death in 1 868
it was conveyed by trustees to Augustus Smith of
Upper Norwood.30 In 1867 John Hodgson of
Gilston bought it.31 It now belongs to Sir Walter
Gilbey.
The manor of GROFES comprised the land given
by Henry Fitz Gerold (see Pishobury) to the abbey
of St. Mary, Reading, prob-
ably in the second half of the
12th century.32 In 1287 the
Abbot of Reading claimed
assize of bread and ale, infan-
gentheof, utfangentheof,
chattels of fugitives and felons,
and waif in his lands at Saw-
bridgeworth as among the
liberties granted him by
Henry I.33 After the Disso-
lution the manor was granted
in 1 544. to William Gooding
or Goodwin 34 of Writtle, co.
Essex. He sold it in 1549 to Robert Gooday.35 It
descended to Thomas Gooday, who conveyed it in
1 57 1 to Robert Hirst.30 The latter died seised in
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
I 548, his heir being his nephew Henry, son of his
brother John.37 Henry Hirst sold in 1594 to John
Duke,38 who held it until his death in 1606.39 In
the inquisition taken at his death the manor is called
Sawbridgeworth alias Groves, the first time that the
latter name appears. Robert Duke, his son, is said
by Chauncy to have granted the manor in 1628 to
his own son John Duke, rector of High Roding, co.
Essex, who married Joyce Bennet.40 Robert son of
John sold the manor in 1665 to his mother Joyce,41
who in 1 67 1 conveyed it to Thomas Rogers.42
John Rogers, son of Thomas,43 sold it in 1693 to
Edmund Godwin 44 of Eastwick, and from the latter
it was bought in 1702 by Anne Mary Godfrey,
widow.45 It descended to Peter Godfrey, and a
Godfrey was holding when Salmon wrote (1728).
In 1 742 it was in the possession of Eliott Taylor,46
of whose heirs it was bought by Thomas Nathaniel
Williams, the owner in 1823.47 It was sold, accord-
ing to Cussans' descent, to Jones De'Ath by Williams's
trustees in 1 844.48 Later it was acquired from the
De'Ath family by Mr. E. B. Barnard, who sold it to
Mr. Silva, the present owner. The house called
Grove Lodge lies within a small park a little to the
north-west of High Wych.
The manors of SHINGEHALL alias SHINGLE-
HALL alias SHINGErand MATHAMS seem to have
been originally two separate properties which became
amalgamated in the hands of the Matham family, from
whom the second manor took its name. They were
evidently formed by subinfeudation from the Mande-
ville manor, and were held of the honour of Mande-
ville. This descended not to the Says (as did the manor
of Sayesbury) but to the Earls of Essex, descendants of
William de Say, eldest son of Beatrice de Say, whose
daughter Beatrice married Geoffrey Fitz Piers, created
Earl of Essex in 1 199, their son Geoffrey taking the
name of Mandeville.49 Through Maud, sister and
heir of William de Mandeville, it passed to the
Bohuns, Earls of Hereford, and eventually came to
the Crown by the marriage of Mary de Bohun with
Henry IV and was annexed to the duchy of Lan-
caster.60 The manor of Mathams was the holding
of a family of that name who had lands in Saw-
bridgeworth at an early date. A John de Matham
appears as a witness to deeds at the end of the 13th
century.51 He had a daughter Christina 62 and a
wife Isabel. John and Isabel were apparently both
dead by 1304, when a conveyance took place of a
piece of land charged with an annual rent of zd.
for celebrating two anniversaries for their souls.63
Geoffrey de Matham64 was holding lands in Saw-
bridgeworth in 1268.65 He claimed view of frank-
pledge in I278,56 as held by his ancestors since the
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccci, 16.
21 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 1657.
22 See Chauncy, op. cit. 179.
23 Ibid.
24 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 263.
85 Feet of F. Herts. East. 11 Geo. II.
26 Ibid.
27 Recov. R. Mich. 30 Geo. II, rot.
22;.
•"* Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 19 Geo. III.
29 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 210 ; Recov.
R. Trin. 43 Geo. Ill, rot. 193.
39 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 83.
31 Ibid.
32 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 42. The gift is
not mentioned in Henry's carta of 1 166,
wherea» the grant to St. Edmund's
Bury is.
33 Assize R. 325 (East. 15 Edw. I).
" L. and P. Hen. VIII, lix(z), 690 (1).
35 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 2 Edw. VI
(1548-9)-
86 Ibid. Mich. 13 & 14 Eliz.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cc, 34.
38 Feet of F. Herts. East. 36 Eliz.
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcix, 131.
40 Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 180.
41 Ibid.
42 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 23 Chas. II.
43 Chauncy, loc. cit.
44 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 5 Will, and
Mary. 4i Ibid. I Anne.
40 Recov. R. Trin. 16 Geo. II, lot. 26.
339
47 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 210.
48 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 83.
49 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Essex.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. Ill
(2nd nos.), no. 92 ; 5 Ric. II, no. 41 ;
2 Ric. HI, no. 32.
151 Add. Chart. 47 18. Mr. Roun J points
out that a Serlo de Matom is men-
tioned in the charter of the Empress Maud
to Geoffrey de Mandeville (1141).
52 Ibid. 4733. 53 Ibid. 4749.
54 He is witness to the above-mentioned
conveyance.
55 Feet of F. Herts. 52 Hen. Ill,
no. 605.
66 Plac. de Quo IVarr. 278.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
time of the Conquest. About I 301 he acquired the
lands called ' La Syngledehall ' from Geoffrey de la
Mare,07 and henceforth the two manors descend
together. He seems to have been succeeded by
Sampson Matham.58 In 1365 Sampson and his wife
Margaret granted all their lands in Sawbridgeworth
to John Blode, a London fishmonger, to hold during
their lives.''9 Hamelin son of Sampson succeeded to
the property in Sawbridgeworth, and died seised ot
a messuage and 240 acres of land, 10 acres of
meadow, 7 acres of pasture, 4 acres of wood and
1 6s. \d. rent there in 1382. 60 He left two daughters,
Elizabeth and Margaret,61 who as Elizabeth wife of
John Thorpe and Margaret wife of John Michell, a
fishmonger of London, conveyed the manor called
Mathams and lands in Sawbridgeworth to John
Leventhorpe by fine of Hilary, 1413-14.62
John Leventhorpe was member for the county in
1413 and 1422. 63 He died in 1 433 and was buried
at Sawbridgeworth.64 His son
John Leventhorpe, also mem-
ber for Hertfordshire in
1467.65 had a grant of free
warren in Sawbridgeworth,
Thorley and Stortford in
1439. 66 In 1447 he obtained
a grant of a market on Wed-
nesdays and two fairs on the
eve, day and morrow of the
feasts of St. Denis and St.
George the Martyr, and
licence to inclose 400 acres of
land, 40 acres of meadow and
80 acres of wood in Saw-
bridgeworth and Thorley for
a park.67 On his death in 1484 he was succeeded
by his son Thomas, aged sixty,68 who held the manor
until his death in 1493. 69 John, his son, who was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in I 509,70 died in 15 1 I,
when Shingehall and Mathams descended to his son
Thomas,71 who in 1 5 1 7 received a confirmation of
the grant of market, fair, and park made in 1447.72
He died in 1527,73 his son Edward in 1 55 I,74 and
his grandson Edward in 1566.75 John son of Edward
was knighted at Theobalds in 1603, was Sheriff of
Hertfordshire in 1 593-4 and 1 607-8, and was created
a baronet in 1622. He married Joan daughter of
Sir John Brograve of Hamells in Braughing and died
at Sawbridgeworth in 1625.76 Thomas, his second
but eldest surviving son, succeeded. He died in 1636
and was buried at Sawbridgeworth.77 His son John,
Leventhorpe of
Shinglehall, baronet.
Argent a bend gobony
gules and sable.
1 649, when the property passed to his brother Sir
Thomas Leventhorpe, who had no male issue. Sir
Charles Leventhorpe, his uncle and male heir, rector
of White Roding, co. Essex, succeeded to the title in
1679, but the manors passed to Mary daughter of
Sir Thomas Leventhorpe, who married John Coke
of Melbourne, co. Derby.79
Thomas Coke, son of John and Mar}-, sold Shinge-
hall and Mathams to Ralph Freeman, D.D.,80 who
conveyed them in 1755 to Edward Gardiner.81 His
daughter and heir Rose married Jeremiah Milles, and
they were holding the manor in 1781.82 Jeremiah
died in 1797, whilst Rose Milles suffered a recovery
of the manor in 1803,83 and survived until 1835.84
Rose, her daughter and co-heir, married Rowland
Alston,85 who acquired Sayesbury and Pishobury,
after which the manors descend together (see under
Sayesbury).
There is a homestead moat at Shingehall close to
Trim's Green. The house is now a farm occupied by
Mr. F. J. Lukies. The names Park Field and Mill
Field on this estate (now both arable) point to the
ancient park and mill.86 On the north-west a moat
marks the site of the old manor-house of Mathams.
The manor of Hl'DE HALL, which occupies the
tongue of land on the east of the Stort, is an
interesting example of an estate which has remained
in the same family from the date of its first appear-
ance until the present day. It appears first under the
name of The Hyde and was held of the Earls of Essex,
chief lords of the fee.87 Early
in the 1 3th century it was in
the tenure of the Jocelyn
family. A Ralph Jocelyn held
land in Easton, co. Northants,
in the reign of John, but
there is no evidence of his
holding The Hyde.88 His son
John, however, held it rather
later.89 Thomas son of John
succeeded his father about the
middle of the 13th century.90
His son Thomas married Joan
daughter of John le Blunt 91
(for this family see manor of
Blunts). After the death of
the younger Thomas 92 the rent from The Hyde was
granted by the Earl of Essex to Sir Walter de Essex,
who sold it in 1284 to Adam de Stratton to hold
during the minority of the heir Thomas son of
Thomas.93 The next year Joan de la Lee, widow
Jocelyn, Earl of
Roden. Anuria circular
'wreath twisted argent and
sable with four hawks
bells or affixed thereto.
a minor at his father's death,78 died of smallpox in of Thomas, released her right of dower to Adam de
57 Cott. Chart, xvii, 33.
58 See Cal. Clos,; 1337-9, p. 262;
1354-60, p. 303; Chan. Inq. p.m.
32 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 92. His pro-
perty in Sawbridgeworth is here called the
manor ot" Eststede.
59 Cal. Close, 1 364.-8, p. 70. Sampson
was in money difficulties ; see references
in last note and ibid. 186.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Ric. II, no. 41.
01 Ibid. ; Cal. Pat. 13S1-5, p. 297.
6- Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 1 Hen. V.
63 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 290.
61 There is a brass to him in the church.
" V.C.H. Herts. Families, 290.
m Chart. R. 1-20 Hen. VI, no. 41.
67 Ibid. 25 & 26 Hen. VI, no. 13.
68 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. III. no. 32.
69 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 127.
70 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 282.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxvii, 11.
7a L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii (2), 3730.
73 Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 311,
no. 2.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xcv, 94.
75 Ibid, cxlvi, 125.
76 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, i, 196;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxvii, 93.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxx,
115.
78 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
79 See Recov. R. East. 1 Anne, rot. 47.
80 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 82.
81 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 27 & 28
Geo. II ; Trin. 28 Geo. II (K.S.B.).
34°
82 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 21 Geo. III.
83 Recov. R. Trin. 43 Geo. Ill,
rot. 193.
« M.I.
85 Cussans, loc. cit.
86 Apportionment of rent-charge, 1838
(Bd. of Agric).
B Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A ;in.
88 Harl. MS. 49+4 (pedigrees and arms
of Essex families), fol. 5 I A.
S9 Ibid.
90 Ibid.
91 Ibid.
9:> The pedigrees in Chauncy, op. cit.
82, and Harl. Soc. Publ. xiii (1), 225, leave
out this Thomas.
93 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 51 11 (12
Edw. I).
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Stratton.54 A rental of the manor exists for this
date. There was a house (curia) with garden and
courtyard, 140 acres of arable land in the fields
called Langeland, La Doune, Wrechewellefeld, Halle-
feld, Hydewode, Suthfeld, and Wodeleye ; nine free
tenants, of whom four paid a yearly rent, other four
paid a rent and owed suit of court, and one paid a rent
and came to view of frankpledge on St. Andrew's Day
and owed two capons at Christmas ; six ' molmen '
who paid a rent and owed suit of court, two of them
being tallaged with the customary tenants ; and four
customary tenants who paid a rent and owed two
works a week from Michaelmas to the Gules of
August (forty-one weeks), and five works in the
summer for mowing 2 acres of meadow, and sixteen
works from the Gules of August to Michaelmas for
cutting 4 acres of corn and 2 acres of oats, and also
paid eight eggs and owed tallage and redemption of
their blood and suit of court.95
Thomas Jocelyn (the third of the name) was suc-
ceeded by Ralph Jocelyn,96 who died before 1323.97
His widow Matilda was holding the manor with her
second husband Roger de Berners in 1 3 3 1 .98 Geoffrey
son and heir of Ralph was living in 1 360." His son
Ralph is mentioned as holding half a knight's fee in
Hyde in 1373.100 He died about 1383 and was
succeeded by his son Thomas.1 Geoffrey, called by
Clutterbuck son of Thomas, was holding as late as
1403.2 Thomas, his son apparently, had succeeded
him before 1407, when he had a grant of the manor
from Robert de la Rokell,3 but he seems to have
granted it in the same year to Geoffrey his brother
and heir.4 Geoffrey Jocelyn by will of 1424 left the
manor to his son Thomas subject to his wife Joan's
dower.6 This Thomas inherited and was succeeded
by his son George, who in 1457—8 granted it (for
life apparently) to his uncle Ralph Jocelyn of London,6
twice mayor of that city, who died in 1478.7 In
1480 George settled the manor on his son Ralph,
then about to marry Katherine daughter of Richard
Martin of Faversham.8 Ralph died in 1504, George,
his son, being aged fourteen.9 George had no issue,
and in 1 5 I 3 conveyed Hyde Hall to his uncle John
Jocelyn,10 to whom Gabriel, his brother and heir,
released all right.11 John died in 1525 and was
succeeded by his son Thomas of High Roding,
co. Essex,12 created a Knight of the Bath at the
coronation of Edward VI. At his death in 1585 13
the manor descended to his son Richard,14 who died
in 1605.15 Robert his son succeeded him.16 He
was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1645-7. His third
but eldest surviving son inherited Hyde Hall at his
father's death in 1664, and was created a baronet in
1665. He was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1677-8. 17
In 1685 he settled Hyde Hall on his son Strange
Jocelyn (by his wife Jane Strange), on the occasion of
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
his marriage with Mary daughter of Tristram Conyers
of Copped Hall in Epping.ls He died and was buried
at Sawbridgeworth in 171 2, when Sir Strange Jocelyn
succeeded.19 After his death in 1734 the manor
descended successively to his son Sir John Jocelyn,
barrister-at-law, who died without issue in 1741, and
to the latter's brother Sir Conyers, Sheriff of Hertford-
shire 1 745-6, who died in 1778, also leaving no issue.
The estates and baronetcy passed to a cousin Robert
Jocelyn, son and heir of Robert first Viscount Jocelyn
and Lord Newport, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, son of
Thomas, fifth son of the first baronet. Robert, who
succeeded his father as Viscount Jocelyn in 1 756, was
M.P. for Old Leighlin from 1745 to 1756 and was
Auditor-General in 1750. He was created Earl of
Roden, co. Tipperary, in 1771. He died at Dublin
in 1797. Robert, his son and heir, was also Auditor-
General of the Exchequer. He died in 1820 at
Hyde Hall and was succeeded by his son Robert,
Auditor-General and M.P. for Louth 1806-7 anc^
1810-20, also custos rotulorum for the county of
Louth. In 1 82 1 he was created Baron Clanbrassil
of Hyde Hall. He died at Edinburgh in 1870 and
was succeeded by his grandson Robert, fourth Earl of
Roden, who died single in I 880, when his uncle John
Strange Jocelyn, fifth earl, inherited the property.20
On his death in 1897 the title passed to his cousin
William Henry Jocelyn, sixth earl, and at his death
in 1 910 to his brother Robert Julian Orde Jocelyn,
seventh Earl of Roden. Hyde Hall is now held by
Sophia Countess of Roden, widow of the fifth earl,
but the house, which stands in a park of 300 acres, is
the residence of the Earl of Arran. The old house was
in the form of a quadrangle, but about the year 1806
the courtyard was roofed in to form an entrance hall.21
Many new rooms were added and the exterior entirely
altered, very little of the old house now remaining, but
probably the walls once inclosing the courtyard and
parts of the cellars are old. The present front is of
a plain classic character and is coated with cement.
At the Record Office are a series of ministers'
accounts for the manor from 12 Edward I to 19
Edward I, illustrating its domestic economy in the
13th century.22
The manor of CHAMBERLAINS alias BUR-
STEAD, which was held of the manor of Pishobury,
seems to have been formed from two properties, one
the holding of a family named Chamberlain and the
other of a family named Burstead. The names of
Simon le Chamberlain and his wife Isabel, holding
land in Sawbridgeworth in 1 323, 23 of Simon their
son, living in 1355 ,24 of John Chamberlain, living
in 1354,25 and of Walter Chamberlain, assessed for
the poll tax in 1378,26 have survived, whilst the
name of Thomas Burstead occurs in 1426.27 The
estate seems to be first called a manor in the 16th
94 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5130.
96 Rentals and Surv. portf. 8, no. 31.
96 Harl. MS. 4944.
97 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
100 Ibid.
1 Ibid.
2 Ibid.
s Ibid.
4 Ibid.
s Ibid.
6 Ibid. Even if it was not a life grant
the manor would have reverted to George
as his uncle's heir.
7 See inscription in church.
8 Harl. MS. 4944 ; Exch. Inq. p.m.
file 295, no. 6.
9 Exch. Inq. p.m. file 295, no. 6.
10 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Hen. VIII.
11 Harl. MS. 4944.
12 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xliii, 21.
13 Harl. MS. 4944.
14 Ibid.; Feet ofF. Mich. 27 & 28 Eliz.
15 Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 466.
16 Ibid. ; see Add. Chart. 4 171 7.
341
17 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iv, 16.
'8 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 Jas. II.
19 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iv, 16.
>° G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Roden.
81 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 203. The
original house is illustrated by Chauncy,
op. cit.
-2 Mins. Accts. bdle. 868, no. 1-5.
28 Add. Chart. 4952.
*" Cal. Pat. 1354-8, p. 216.
25 Add. Chart. 4775.
56 Subs. R. bdle. 242, no. 19.
27 Add. Chart. 4801.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
century. John Shelley died seised of ' the manor of
Chamberlains ' in January l 523-4,-* William Shelley,
his son, a judge, being his heir. It appears in 161 5
in the possession of Sir Thomas Bishop of Parham,
co. Sussex,29 who sold it in that )ear as the manor of
Chamberlains alias Burstead to Thomas Draner of
Hoxton, co. Middlesex. The latter died seised in 1632,
having settled the manor on his nephew Sir William
Halton (son of his sister Joan) with contingent re-
mainder to his brother Robert Halton for life, then
to Thomas son of Robert.30 Thomas Halton was
holding in 1 661 31 and Philip Halton in 1692.32
In 1 74-3 Chamberlains was in the possession of
Christopher Parker of St. George's, Hanover Square,
who in that year settled it on his son Christopher
and his issue.33 In 1763 this entail was barred, the
manor then being in the hands of mortgagees.34
Christopher the elder died almost immediately after-
wards, and in I 764 Christopher the younger (of St.
Paul's, Covent Garden) paid off the mortgage by the
sale of Bleches.30 The manor was bequeathed by him
to John Grimstead and Elizabeth his wife for their
lives, with reversion to his cousin and heir Dorothy
Parker.30 He died before 1775.37 Dorothy Parker
conveyed her interest in 1786 to Robert Palmer.38
According to Cussans the farm called Bursteads
was sold by Robert Lord Ebury to William Barnard
of Sawbridgeworth in 1867.39 It now belongs to
Mr. E. B. Barnard, M.A., J. P., who lives at Fairgreen
House in Sawbridgeworth.
The old manor-house, now used as a farm-house,
which lies a little to the east of Trim's Green and
Jursteads : South-west F;
is occupied by Mr. E. Stephens, is a small timber-
framed house covered with lath and plaster, the plaster
work being decorated with basket-work pattern
probably of the
Bursteads.
Sawbridgeworth
Ground Pi^jn
middle of the
17th century.
The main gables
are weather-
boarded, the apex
of each being
slightly hipped.
The roofs are
tiled. The house
consists of a main
block measuring
about 37 ft. long
by 24 ft. 6 in. in
depth and is of
two stories with
attics. A massive
brick chimney
occupies the ' " " s«=»J' »na
centre of the W^ VSCsNTVBa
centre 01 me ElDModelkn
building, dividing
the interior into two rooms, one of which is now sub-
divided. The entrance door is in the middle of the
front and opens into a small lobby the width of the
brick substructure of the chimneys (about 9 ft.),
through which, as at Berkhampstead School and
Rectory Farm, Pirton, a modern passage has been
tunnelled to the stair at the back. The two small
bay windows in front are modern, but all the other
windows have oak
mullions and tran-
soms.
Adjoining the
house is a very large
and lofty thatched
barn, probably
erected during the
17th century.
The manor of
BLUNTS originated
in a grant of lands to
Robert Blunt of
London made by
Warin Fitz Gerold
(for whom see above
under Pishobury)
and confirmed by
Geoffrey de Mande-
ville Earl of Essex,
lord of the fee.40
The names of John
le Blunt,41 who died
before 1 3 30,4- Agnes
his w i f e,43 John
(possibly their son),44
who was living in
S5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlvi, 40.
»9 Com. Pleas D. Ear. East. 13 Jas. I,
m. 41.
3U Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiii,
34 ; Visit, of Lincoln (Harl. Soc), 11,446.
31 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 1 3
Chas. II.
3a Recov. R. Mich. 4 Will, and Mary,
83 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 3 Geo. Ill,
m. 67.
3< Ibid.
v- Ibid. Trin. 4 Gen. Ill, m. 1S2.
36 Ibid. 15 Geo. Ill, m. 2^6 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Mich. 17 Geo. III.
37 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 1 5
Geo. Ill, m. 256.
88 Ibid. Hil. 26 Geo. Ill, m. 2S0.
3 + 2
89 Hist, of Herts. Braughing llund.
74-
10 Sloane Chart, xxxii, 64 ; for facsimile
of this charter see Facsimiles f Charters; in
British Museum, i, no. 43.
« Add. Chart. 47 1 S.
« Ibid. 4757.
43 Ibid. 4718,4757.
44 Ibid. 4761.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
1 341, Thoma«, living in 1348,45 and a Thomas,
living in 141 8,46 occur in records of Sawbridgeworth.
The services for their lands were owed in the 15th
century to the lord of Mathams, to whom apparently
they had been assigned at some earlier date by a
lord of Pishobury.47 Later the lands came either by
escheat or purchase to the owners of Mathams. John
Leventhorpe died seised in I 5 1 1 of the ' manor of
Blunts,' and for a long time it descended with that
manor48 (q.v.). In 1861 it was bought by Mr. John
Prout (see general description of parish) and now
belongs to Mr. William Prout.
Other tenants of the lords of Pishobury and
Mathams were the Vantorts,49 whose holding in the
1 6th century is called the manor of VANTORTS.
Margaret wife of Robert Vantort died in 13 10 seised
of lands in Sawbridgeworth, which descended to
her son Thomas.50 The name of Richard Vantort
of Sawbridgeworth occurs in 1337 and 1348 51
and of John Vantort in 137853 and 1386. 53
A John Vantort was holding lands of John
Leventhorpe of Mathams early in the 15 th
century.54 In the 16th century the 'manor of
Vantorts' was held with Mathams by the Leven-
thorpes 55 and subsequently became amalgamated
with that manor. Vantorts Farm lies to the
south-east of the town.
BLECHES, BEACHES, or BLOTCHES was
the holding of a John Bleche, whose name
appears in Sawbridgeworth at the end of the
14th century,56 and who was living in 1404.5'
His lands, called the manor of Bleches, were
held with Chamberlains (q.v.) in the 1 6th cen-
tury by John Shelley. The estate descended
with that manor until 1764, when it was sold
by Christopher Parker the younger to raise
money for paying off the mortgage on Cham-
berlains.58 The purchaser was Edward Gardiner
of Pishobury.
FRERES was similarly the holding of another
local family. The name of Walter Frere occurs
in I22059 and of William Frere in 1278.6"
Another Walter Frere and Alice his wife held
lands in Sawbridgeworth in the 14th century.61
They had sons John62 and Robert.63 Robert
and his wife Cecilia were conveying lands in
I379,64and a Robert and his wife Katherine
were living in 1418.65 The chief holding seems
to have been that of Thomas Frere, whose name
occurs about the middle of the 15th century.66
He held the property called Freres Place. By
his wife Cecilia (who afterwards married Hamelin
de Matham and died in 1410) he had two daughters,
Joan, who married John son of John Burman of
Stainby, co. Lincoln, by whom she had a son John
aged three in 141867 (by which date she was dead),
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
and Alice, who married first Denis Lopham and
secondly John Rodenhale.68 In 1481 John Lymbard
granted the manor of Freres to John Browne and
John Jocelyn,69 but whether any of these were bene-
ficiary owners is uncertain. The estate next appears
in 1509, when Clement Cotton and Constance his
wife conveyed to Thomas Laurence,70 after which no
further record of it has been found. It seems to be
represented by the present Fryars in the west of the
parish.
A reputed manor called ACTONS was held in the
1 6th century by the Leventhorpes. John Leventhorpe
was in possession in 1561.71 In 1564 Edward
Leventhorpe conveyed it to Thomas Leventhorpe,72
who was holding it in 1570, when he granted it to
Oliver Lord St. John and others,73 probably trustees
Bursteads : Interior of Great Barn
in a sale. In February 1636-7 Sir John Fowle died
seised of ' the manor or farm of Actons,' John, his
eldest son, aged fourteen, being his heir.74 This farm
is situated on the west of the parish close to Fryars.
46 Cal. Chit, 1346-9, p. 611.
46 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. V, no. 35.
47 Ibid. Or possibly they had lands
held of both manors.
48 It is mentioned in the documents
dealing with Mathams as late as 1636
(Chan. Inq. p.m. [Scr. 2], cccclxxx, 115).
« See Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. V,
no. 35 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. II,
no. 18.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. II, no. 18.
51 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 401 ; Cal.
Close, 1346-9, p. 611.
62 Subs. R. bdle. 242, no. 19.
53 Add. Chart. 47S8.
54 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. V, no. 35 ;
Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 75, no. 93.
55 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlvi, 49
and later documents.
56 Add. Chart. 4790. s? Ibid. 4793.
58 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 4 Geo. Ill,
m. 182.
59 Excerpta c Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 57.
60 Assize R. 6 Edw. I (Agard's MS.
index). For another William see Chan.
Misc. bdle. 62, no. 42.
61 Add. Chart. 4754, 4758, 4762>
4768, 4769, 4779.
343
1 Ibid. 4774. ra Ibid. 4779.
1 Ibid. 4783.
Ibid. 4797, 4798.
Ibid. 4771, 4773.
For his proof of age see Chan. Inq.
. 19 Hen. VI, no. 47.
Ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 38.
Harl. MS. 4944, fol. 51* et seq.
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 Hen. VIII.
Ibid. Mich. 3 & 4 Eb'z.
1 Ibid. East. 6 Eliz.
1 Ibid. Trin. 12 Eliz.
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiy,
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The church of ST. MARY consists
CHURCHES of chancel 44 ft. by 23 ft. 6 in., nave
58 ft. by 28 ft., north aisle 59 ft. by
1 1 ft. 6 in., south aisle (inclusive of south chapel)
73 ft. by 19 ft., south porch 12 ft. by 10 ft., west
tower 19 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. ; all internal dimensions.
The church is built of flint rubble with stone dress-
ings, the chancel walls being coated with cement ; the
roofs are covered with lead.
It is probable that the main part of the chancel,
nave and lower stage of the tower were built in the
13th century; the north and south aisles and the
south chapel were added early in the 14th century ;
the clearstory was raised and the nave re-roofed in
the 15th century, and probably about the same
period the south porch was erected and the upper
The south chapel is used as a vestry, and is partly
filled by the organ. The three-light east window is
of modern stonework ; in the south wall is a blocked
window of 14th-century date. At the west end on
the north side is the doorway to the rood stair ; the
upper doorway opens into the nave ; the stair is
partly blocked. The west end of the chapel opens
into the south nave aisle without any structural
division.
The nave has north and south arcades of three
bays of pointed arches ; the arches are of two moulded
orders, with labels and head stops ; the piers are of
quatrefoil section and have moulded capitals and
bases. The details of the two arcades differ, the
north arcade being the richer, and is probably some
twenty years earlier in date than the other. The
Sawbridgeworth Church from the South-east
part of the tower built. In 1870 the whole church
was repaired, much of the stonework renewed, and
the chancel re-roofed.
In the east wall of the chancel is a large five-light
window, one of two lights in the north wall, and two
of three lights in the south are almost entirely of
modern stonework. The partially blocked doorway
on the north side is of 1 5th-century date, it probably
opened into a vestry, now destroyed ; the doorway has
a four-centred arch with moulded jambs. The south
chancel doorway is modern. At the west end of the
south wall is a pointed arch of two richly-moulded
orders, now blocked by the organ. The inner order
is carried on moulded corbels ; it is of about 1300.
The chancel arch is of two splayed orders, with jambs
of similar section ; it is of 13th-century work, but
the jambs, capitals and bases have been repaired.
clearstory windows are of two cinquefoiled arches
under square heads, all of modern stonework. The
roof is of 15th-century date, with moulded timbers
and traceried spandrels, the trusses resting on carved
stone corbels.
At the east end of the south wall of the north
aisle is a recess, probably a piscina, with a cinque-
foiled arch under a square head ; it has been much
renewed. The windows in the east and west walls
of three cinquefoiled lights, and those in the north
wall of two lights, have moulded internal jambs and
rear-arches ; they have geometrical tracery under
pointed arches, which has been partly renewed. The
north doorway with its moulded arch has been largely
renewed. Both the windows and the doorway are
of 14th-century date. To the east of the doorway,
internally, is a recess with square bracket under.
344
Sawbridceworth Church : The Nave looking East
Sawbridgeworth Church : The Chancel
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
The windows of the south aisle, with their tracery,
are of modern stonework, but the internal jambs may
be of 14th-century date. The south doorway is
chiefly of early 14th-century date ; the pointed arch
is of three moulded orders ; the moulded jambs
appear to be earlier, and may be 13th-century work
reset. The roofs of both aisles have moulded ribs
and carved bosses, and are of 15th-century work;
the spaces between the ribs are plastered. The trusses
of the south aisle roof rest on carved stone corbels.
To the east of the south doorway, internally, is a
recess with cinquefoiled head and moulded jambs.
The stonework of the south porch is all modern,
but it retains its 15th-century wooden roof.
The tower is of three stages without buttresses,
and has an embattled parapet and a slender octagonal
spire, lead covered, the lead ribs forming a lozenge-
shaped diaper pattern. On the south side is a pro-
jecting stair turret of brick, finished with an embattled
parapet below the belfry stage ; it was probably built
in the 16th century. The tower arch is of two
splayed continuous orders of 14th-century date ; the
stonework of the jambs has been renewed. The
14th-century west door is of two splayed continuous
orders, with a moulded label, and has been repaired ;
the 15th-century window above has three cinque-
foiled lights under a four-centred arch.
The second stage of the tower has on the north
and the south face a single pointed light ; the belfry
stage has on each face a two-light window of the
15th century, repaired with cement.
The octagonal font dates from about 1400, and
has been repaired ; on each side of the basin is a
quatrefoil within a square panel ; on the stem are
traceried panels.
The 1 5th-century oak rood screen consists of three
wide bays with pointed arches in the upper part ;
these are subdivided and the heads traceried ; the
lower close panels are also traceried.
The south door is panelled, the upper parts being
traceried ; it has been repaired. It retains its old
ironwork, and is probably of late 14th-century date.
Near it is an oak poor-box dating from about 1600.
Under the tower is a large oak chest with five locks,
probably of the 17th century, and incorporated with
some of the seating are some early 1 6th-century
bench ends and other woodwork. The oak pulpit is
carved and panelled, and is inscribed ' Christe is all
in all. 1632.'
At the north-east corner of the chancel is a tomb
with the recumbent effigies of John Jocelyn, 1525,
and his wife Phyllis ; he is in plate armour and his
wife is dressed in a long robe ; the figures are much
defaced. On the same wall is a large classical monu-
ment, with the figure of George Viscount Hewett,
who died 1689. On the south wall of the chancel
is a late 15th-century marble tomb without an
inscription ; the lower part has traceried panels with
shields from which the brasses have been taken ;
above is a richly carved and traceried canopy sup-
ported on engaged shafts carved with a lozenge-
shaped surface ornament. At the back, beneath the
canopy, are indents of brasses of a man, his two
wives and his children. In the south chapel is a
large marble monument, with recumbent effigies of
Sir John Leventhorpe, who died 1625, and his wife ;
they lie under a semicircular canopy with sculptured
figures in the spandrels, and flanked by Corinthian
SAWBRIDGEWORTH
columns supporting the cornice over which are his
arms ; kneeling figures of his fourteen children are
in front.
On the east wall of the nave is a marble mural
monument to Sir William Hewett, died 1637, and
his wife, and under the tower is a monument to Sir
Thomas Hewett, who died in 1662.
In the nave is a slab of Purbeck marble with an
incised figure, apparently of a nun, probably of early
14th-century date, but the marginal inscription is
illegible. Another slab in the nave bears the much-
worn marginal inscription ' Hie jacet Thomas de
Aungerville quondam Rector Ecclesie de Sabruches-
worth, Non. Dec. I 333.'
In the south aisle is a stone slab with an illegible
inscription of the 14th century.
On the chancel floor is a brass of Geoffrey Jocelyn,
1470, with figures of himself and his two wives ;
part of the inscription is gone.
In the nave is a slab with indents of a man, his
two wives and four shields, the remaining shield
bears the arms of Chauncy ; another slab with brasses
of twelve sons and six daughters with arms quarterly
I and 4, on a chief a lion passant, 2 and 3 a lion
rampant debruised by a bend.
On the floor of the south chapel are figures of a
knight and a lady, with the arms of France and
England quartered. The figures are said to be John
Leventhorpe and his wife, about 1433 ; there is no
inscription. In the south aisle is a figure of a lady
in a mantle ; three shields and arms of Leventhorpe.
There is an indent of a man and another shield, but
no inscription, said to represent Thomas Leven-
thorpe, who died in 1527, and his wife Joan; a
brass with figures of a man in armour and a lady in
Elizabethan dress, and inscription to Edward Leven-
thorpe, died I 55 I, and his wife Elizabeth.
In the north aisle are brasses of two shields and an
inscription to William Chauncy, probably of the
1 5 th century.
Beneath the tower is the figure of Mary wife of
Edward Leventhorpe, died in 1566, with inscription ;
also of a man and a woman in shrouds, with a shield
of France and England, probably to John Leven-
thorpe, who died in 1 484. In the south aisle is the
indent of a woman of 15th-century date. Other
brasses belonging to Sawbridgeworth Church are now
in the museum of Saffron Walden.
There are nine bells : the treble and second by
John Taylor, 1 872 ; the third by Thomas Lester,
1749 ; the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh recast by
Taylor, 1870 ; the tenor by John Briant, 1795 ; a
small bell not in the peal, 1664.
The communion plate consists of modern chalice,
paten and flagon.
The registers of baptisms, marriages and burials
begin in 1558.
The church of ST. JAMES, HIGH WTCH, is a
building of flint and stone in 13th-century style,
consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, south aisle,
south porch and south-west bell-turret.
A priest is mentioned among
ADVOIVSONS Geoffrey de Mandeville's tenants in
1086, 75 showing that the church was
appurtenant to the manor. The tithes were given
by Geoffrey de Mandeville to the church of St. Mary
of" Hurley, co. Berks., endowed by him at the end
•* r.C.H. Herts, i, 332a.
345
44
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of the reign of William I and granted to Westminster,
to which church it formed a cell.76 Early in the
1 2th century, probably while the manor was in the
king's hands through a mortgage (see above), the
church seems to have been granted by Henry I to
Otwel Fitz Count (son of Hugh Earl of Chester),
and after his death in the catastrophe of the White
Ship in 1 1 20 to have been given by the king to the
abbey of Westminster.763 After the Mandevilles had
regained possession, Geoffrey the first Earl of Essex
(ob. 1 144) granted the church of Sawbridgevvorth to
the abbey of Walden as part of its endowment.77
Geoffrey de Mandeville the younger and William his
brother are said to have looked with little favour on
the numerous grants of churches made by their father
to this abbey,78 and this probably accounts for a
renewal of the grant to St. Peter's, Westminster, made
by William Earl of Essex (ob. 1 189)." By an agree-
ment made between Richard Abbot of Westminster and
Eustace Bishop of London (122 1-9) the advowson is
said to have been transferred to the Bishops of London,
who were to make annual payments to the Abbots of
Westminster and Walden for the tithes.80 In 1258
the king, who claimed the presentation during the
vacancy of the abbey of Westminster, brought an
action against the Bishop of London, recovered seisin
of the advowson,81 and presented John Maunsel,
treasurer of York.81 In 1 266 the abbey recovered
the presentation against Henry Bishop of London by
assize of darrein presentment.8* Licence for appro-
priation was granted by the king in I 3 3 I f* a mandate
from Pope John XXII to the Bishop of London to
carry out the appropriation having been obtained the
year before.85 The Bishop of London refused to
appropriate, as appears by a second mandate of 1 3 3 3 86
and also by a further renewal of the licence by Pope
Clement VI in May 135 1, the reason here given for
the appropriation being that some of the abbey's houses
had been burnt in the fire at the king's palace.87
Apparently after the issue of these letters the abbey's
proctor at the Roman Court renounced the abbey's
right in favour of the Bishop of London, for in
December of the same year the abbey agreed to pay
the merchants of the society of Malbayl 800 florins
if Sir Anthony Malbayl would obtain a renewal of
the apostolic letters dated after the renunciation made
by the abbey.58 The appropriation seems to have
been finally carried out in 1356, when a vicarage was
ordained.89 After the Dissolution the advowson was
granted by Henry VIII to the Bishop of West-
minster in 1 5 4 1 ,'J0 and by Edward VI, after the
resignation of the Bishop of Westminster in 1550,
to the Bishop of London,91 with whom it remained
until transferred to the see of Rochester in 1 852.
In 1877 it was again transferred to the Bishop of
St. Albans, the present patron. 91a
The rectory was granted by Henry VIII in 1 542
to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster,92 and after
the dissolution of the abbey, temporarily refounded
by Mary, was confirmed to them by Elizabeth.91
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are now the lay
rectors.
View of frankpledge was held by the parsons of Saw-
bridgeworth (previous to the appropriation) for their
tenants in the parish,94 and courts were held by the
abbey of Westminster for the rectory lands as late as
the 15th century.95 In 165 1 the trustees for the
sale of church lands sold the parsonage-house to
Patrick Carey with the site containing about 3^ acres,
other lands including the Great and Little Orchard
and Upper and Nether Stockwell, the first abutting
on Parsonage Lane and the second on the field called
Tedenhambury. These had been leased out by the
dean and chapter.96 A survey of the rectory taken
in 1773 mentions the house with two barns, two
stables, a cowhouse, a carthouse, a granary, a dove-
house and a large garden and field, also 118 acres of
land and 14 acres in the common fields.97 By an
agreement with the tenant in 1791 the coalhouse,
pantry and granary were to be taken down, the dairy,
woodhouse, and barn rebuilt, and the parlour, brew-
house, servants' hall and the room above it to be
repaired and tiled.98 The moated house called
Parsonage Farm, which has been recently pulled
down, was situated a little to the north of the town.
There is still a very large tithe barn with fine timbers
in the roof. The thatched roof was replaced by a
slate one a few years ago.
By the composition made in 1356 (see above) the
vicar of Sawbridgeworth received a part of the revenues
of the church, which then amounted to 43 marks
yearly. For a long time the endowment was sufficient
even for a cure of the size of Sawbridgeworth, and
the vicars 'did not all only keep good hospitality, but
also did so apply themselves to learning that they
were able and did sufficiently do their duty.' A great
part of their income was derived from the tithe paid for
the saffron then grown in large quantities in the parish,
but by the beginning of the 16th century the culti-
vation of saffron had been given up and the land
used for corn ; consequently the vicars' stipend had
so decreased that they had to borrow from their
parishioners and run into debt.99 Matters were not
much improved by 1 704 when the vicar (Charles
Pole) complained that the small tithes did not afford
subsistence for himself and his family.100
In 1352 William Basset of Stowe St. Edward, parson
of Toppesfield, had licence to grant a messuage in
Sawbridgeworth to William de Stowe, parson of the
church there, as a residence for two chaplains who
were to celebrate in the church.101 This was probably
in connexion with a chantry.
76 Dugdale, Man. iii, 431.
76aJ. A. Robinson, Gilhert Crispin
Abbot of Westminster, 1 5 6. For this refer-
ence we have to thank Mr. J. H. Round.
77 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 133.
"Ibid. 134.
79 Cott. Chart, x, i. Yet the church
was confirmed to Walden by Geoffrey de
Mandeville the younger, by William, by
Geoffrey Fitz Piers and by Stephen and
Henry II (Harl. MS. 3697, fol. 18
[Cartulary of Walden] ; Duchy of Lane.
Deeds, A 11).
8U Cur. Reg. R. 160, m. 9 d.
(33)-
Ibid.; Westm.AbbeyMSS.no. 8587;
Pat. 1258-66, p. 81.
! Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 643.
1 Ibid. 1258-66, p. 640.
1 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 180.
' Cal. Papal Letters, ii, 350.
1 Ibid. 394.
' Ibid, iii, 356. The vicar's portion was
e settled by the Bishop of Worcester.
1 Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 405.
1 Westm. Abbey MSS. no. 8625.
' L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 503
Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 16.
346
91a Land. Gaz. June 4 1852, p. 1578 ;
July 13 1877, p. 4126.
98 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 714 (5).
9S Pat. 2 Eliz. pt. xi.
9< Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I).
95 Some court rolls have survived
(Ct. R. [Gen. Ser.], portf. 178, no. 28).
96 Close, 165 1, pt. xxxi, no. 23.
97 Westm. Abbey MSS. no. 8648. For
earlier surveys of the rectory lands see
no. 8561-6. 9S Ibid. 8650.
99 Westm. Abbey MSS. no. 8625.
'»" Ibid. 8642.
101 Cal. Pat. 1350-4, p. 221.
Sawbridceworth Church : Tome of Sir John Leventhorpe and his Wife
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
The living of St. James, High Wych, is a vicarage
in the gift of the vicar of Sawbridgeworth.
The Sawbridgeworth United Cha-
CHJRIT1ES rities are regulated by a scheme of
the Charity Commissioners dated
6 March 1908. They comprise : —
1 . The Church and Poor Lands (exclusive of the
Sawbridgeworth Ecclesiastical Charity) comprised in
an indenture dated 20 July 1652. The endowment
consists of a moiety of the income derived from the
following property: —
The bowling green, containing 3 r. 22 p., used as
a recreation ground for boys ;
Three cottages occupied as almshouses by three
poor women who receive parochial relief;
Pishocroft Gardens, containing about 5 acres, near
High Wych, let in allotments and producing about
£9 '«■ ;
And a sum of £720 14/. t,d. consols in the name
of the official trustees, producing £18 os. \d. yearly,
arising from the sale in 1898 of a rood of land in Church
Street, with the dwelling-house and school buildings
thereon. The net income is distributed to the poor.
2. Charity of John Salmon for the poor, founded by
will dated in 1729, whereby a yearly rent-charge of
20/. issuing out of a croft called Little Hempsall was
devised for distribution in sums of zs. at Christmas to
ten poor families.
3. Charity of Richard King, founded by will dated
in 1748, whereby a rent-charge of £1 issuing out of
a messuage and land in Sawbridgeworth was devised
to be distributed to twenty poor widows.
The Sawbridgeworth Ecclesiastical Charity. — By an
Order of the Board of Charity Commissioners dated
17 March 1896 a moiety of the net income of the
Church and Poor Lands was severed from the rest of the
endowment and called the Sawbridgeworth Ecclesias-
tical Charity. The income is applied to church expenses.
John Salmon also devised a sum of £1 yearly,
issuing out of the croft called Little Hempsall, for
beautifying and ornamenting the church. This sum
is carried to the Church Expense Fund.
STANDON
In 181 1 Mr. Orchard gave a sum of £2 5 stock,
now represented by £25 consols with the official
trustees, producing 12/. \d. yearly, which sum is paid
to the oldest widow in the parish.
In I 864 Daniel Brown, by will proved at London
5 May, gave £100 stock, the interest to be applied
in keeping in repair the tomb of testator's family in
the churchyard and any residue to be distributed to
the poor on the first Sunday after Christmas Day.
The dividends on the endowment amount to
£2 5/. yearly.
In 19 10 £1 js. 6d. was spent in repairs to the
tomb and twenty-six old people received 2s. each.
In 1895 Miss Frances Lane, by her will proved
8 October, gave £300 t0 be applied, so soon as land
should be given for the purpose, in building and
endowing an almshouse or almshouses for the benefit
of married couples of sixty years and upwards. The
legacy, less duty, was invested in consols, and the
dividends are being invested in consols in augmenta-
tion of the principal sum, which in May 1909
amounted to X341 Is- 4J^-> m l^e names of the
Rev. H. A. Lipscombe and two others.
The same testatrix bequeathed £100, the income
arising therefrom to be applied in keeping the family
tomb in the churchyard in repair, and any residue to
be distributed to the poor ; also a further sum of
£100 to the Sunday school. These legacies, less
duty, were invested in £\&\ lis. $d. consols, pro-
ducing £\ os. id. yearly. In 1 9 10 a sum of
18/. gd. was spent in repairs to the tomb, £1 is. jd.
was carried to the Sick and Needy Fund, and
£2 os. \d. was paid to the treasurer of the Sunday
school.
The same donor by her will also bequeathed a sum
of money, the interest arising therefrom to be applied
at the discretion of the vicar for the good of the
district of Spelbrook. The legacy was invested in
New Zealand 3 \ per cent. Inscribed Stock, producing
^14 6s. yearly in dividends. One moiety of this
amount is applied to church expenses and the other
to the church school.
STANDON
Standone (xi cent.); Staundon, Stondon, or Staun-
den (xiii cent, and later).
Standon is a large, irregularly shaped parish of about
7,738 acres, including 30 acres of water. Of this
extent about half is arable land, rather less than half
permanent grass, and the rest, about 500 acres,
wood.1 The soil varies, the subsoil being chalk and
clay. The ground lies high with an altitude even in
the Rib valley of from 200 ft. to 300 ft. above the
ordnance datum, and rising to the east and west of
the river. The highest point is 410 ft. on the
extreme north-west of the parish. A very large
proportion of the parish was covered by the numerous
common fields before the inclosure award was made
in 1835 under an Act of 1 8 3 I .u Among the common
fields were the Half Acres, immediately to the east of
the village, Pockendon, Pudding Dane, and Cobbin's
Hill on the east of the river, Puckeridge, Stanboro,
Shanfield, Widen, B.irwick, Stapleford, Nimdell,
Ragborough, Ody (Old Hall), Perry Field, and
Heme Commons on the west of the river.2 Other
interesting field-names which occur are Great Bacchus,
Upper Bacchus to the east of Colliers End, Bacchus
north of this, Great and Little Artie, Strickups (once
Strepock), the last three now part of the park of
St. Edmund's College, Pound field, Hop Ground,
Hoppett and Colliers Croft (the last two part of
Riggories Farm), all on the west of the parish in the
neighbourhood of Old Hall Green ; The Park,3
Monk's Croft (south of Great Southey Wood),
Thundermarsh (on the west bank of the river to the
east of Youngsbury), Gunpowder Hill4 (about half a
mile north of Thundermarsh), Noah's Garden,5 Old
Field, close to Wadesmill, all on the south-west of the
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
'» Priv. Act, 1 1 Geo. IV & 1 Will. IV,
cap. 15.
8 Inclosure award map in the custody
of the clerk to the parish council.
3 This name is not now known ;
Knats Park to the west of Gravel Pit
Wood may be the same. Information
from Mr. F. C. Puller.
347
4 Gunpowder Wood on the east bank
of the river is in Thundridge.
4 This is not now known, but there
is a Noah's Ark in Thundridge.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
parish on Mr. Giles Puller's est.ite ; Fryer Field,
Fryer's Farm, Knight's Spring, Knight's Leys, Fryer's
Lawn, Fryery Croft and the Stove (reminiscent of the
Knights Hospitallers), all in the neighbourhood of
Standon Friars ; Stags Park, evidently marking the
site of the manorial park, to the west of the lordship,
Park Hill on the east of the lordship, Old Lawn,
Balsoms Park and Flax Ground in the neighbourhood
of Lodge Farm, all probably once forming part of the
demesne lands of Standon lordship.
On the south of the parish near the Rib, and to the
east of the Roman Ermine Street, are two tumuli.
One of these was opened by David Barclay (owner of
Youngsbury, where they are situated) in 1788, and
was found to contain Roman coins and pottery.
The other was opened by Sir John Evans in 1889,
and contained one of the largest sepulchral urns found
in this country, with two bottles, one earthenware
lords. The vineyard on the manor mentioned in
1086 probably indicates a residence of the lord at that
time, and the dating of Letters Close and Patent at
Standon in 1218, 1232, 1234 and 1305 is an
argument in favour of the lords of Clare having a
house there in the 13th and 14th centuries at which
they entertained the king.
The lord of the manor of Standon
BOROUGH had a prescriptive market which he
farmed out at the beginning of the
1 3 th century.7 The position of Standon was scarcely
a favourable one for a market, but it was encouraged
at the expense of other towns. In 1366 a market
and fair, which had been granted to Buntingford to
replace one at a place called ' Newechepyng ' near
that town, were revoked because they injured the
trade of Standon, where henceforth a market was to
be held every Friday and a fair on the vigil, day, and
High Street, Standon
and one glass. Tessellated pavement was also found
about 300 yards north-west of the tumuli in 1736,
and other remains which have since been brought to
light show that this was the site of a villa. The
existence of pre-Roman inhabitants in the neighbour-
hood is evidenced by copper coins of the reign of
Cunobelinus (ob. 40 or 42 a.d.) found between
Standon and Braughing.6
The village of Standon is situated on the Rib about
half a mile east of Ermine Street. Although not
possessing any particular advantages of situation, it
was a place of importance in the middle ages, owing
primarily to the fact that it was held by great feudal
morrow of St. Peter ad Vincula.8 Already in 1262
Standon was a borough governed by a reeve,9 called
the portreeve, who held it at a farm of 9 marks from
the lord of the manor and divided with him the
profits of fairs, shops and stalls. The borough had a
separate court called the common court, of which the
pleas and perquisites were divided between the lord
and the reeve. At this court two bailiffs were chosen
for the borough, and an ale-taster.10 The burgage
tenants held chiefly by money rents, but they also
owed certain customs, viz. making and carrying hay
in ' Broadmead ' and doing one bedrip in autumn ;
they also owed tallage at the will of the lord on the
6 Arch. Hi, 287 ; Evans, Coins of Ancient Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii
Britons, 569. 293.
7 Mins. Accts. bdlc. 1 1 17, no. 13. 9 The reeve was apparently also the lord'i
8 Chart. R. 41 Edw. Ill, m. 2, no. 7 5 official, for at the same date there is ar
348
Augustine Juvene, called bailiffof the Earl
of Gloucester and Augustine the Portreeve
{Hutid. R. [Rec. Com.], i, 188, 191).
10 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 45.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
knighting of his eldest son and the marriage of his
eldest daughter.11
In 1399 there were twenty 'free tenants of the
borough,' and among the names of those living in the
town those of Fanmaker, Dyer, Lokyer, Couper,
Tanner, &c, are common in the 14th century.12
There is evidence also that maltmaking was carried on
then.13 New Street, which runs westward from the
village at right angles to the northern end of the
High Street, was made to facilitate communication
with Ermine Street about the beginning of the 13th
century, when the name appears in deeds.14 In the
1 6th century a farm of 66/. id. was still paid by the
burgesses as the fee farm of the borough.15 At the
present day the borough is distinct from the manor of
Standon, and there still survive some copyholds which
are held of the former.
STANDON
The construction of railways is said to have struck
the death-blow to the trade of Standon,18 which after
the lapse of the local market depended on the road
communication with the neighbouring market towns.
It is now only a country village, attractive in appear-
ance from the wide main street, numerous trees and
fine church. Some of the old houses still remain.
The oldest is probably the house now used by Standon
Endowed School south of the church. This is a
brick and timber house of two stories with a
projecting upper story and tiled roof. It has been
much repaired, but probably dates back to the later
mediaeval period. It is said to have belonged to the
Knights Hospitallers, who, as rectors and lords of the
manor of Standon Friars, may have had a court-house
here after they had begun to grant leases of the manor
in the 14th century. The school, which was founded
The School, Standon
Standon market had lapsed before 1 668, when
Walter Lord Aston obtained a grant of a market to
be held on Friday and two fairs, one on St. Mark's
Day (25 April) and the other on 26 August.16 This
market, however, had also lapsed long before 1728.17
' The fair on St. Mark's Day is still held in the wide
part of Standon Street (evidently the original market-
place) and in the meadow opposite the post office.
There is a tradition that the August fair was a horse
fair.
before 1612,19 is now a public elementary school.
The girls' school adjoining this is a modern building.
On the east side of the main street is a row of two-
storied 1 7th-century cottages, five of which have had
the fronts renewed. One of these is the Wind Mill
Inn. On the opposite side of the road is the Star
Inn, a house of the same date. At the north end of
the street opposite the flour mill is a block of timber
cottages with thatched roofs and central chimney
stack. A little further south is the smithy. The
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file 27,
no. 5. For Broadmead see charter in
Harl. MS. 1240, fol. 82 : grant of 1 acre
of meadow * in prato quod vocatur
Brademed de longo in longum juxta
regale chiminum quod ducit de foro de
Staundon usque Zeyledonehulle' (probably
early 14th century).
12 Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8 ; Ct. R.
(Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 37, &c.
13 Cal. Pat. 1388-92, p. 260; 1467-
77>P- 336.
u Harl. Chart. 57921 ; Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), A ion, 1013.
15 Mins. Accts. Herts. Hen. VII, no.
258; Hen. VIII, no. 1567.
349
16 Pat. 20 Chas. II, pt. viii, m. 17,
no. 7. v The date of Salmon's history.
18 It is noticeable that in 1545 a larger
number of inhabitants was assessed in
Standon than in any other place in the
hundred except Ware. See Subs. R.
printed in Herts. Gen. ii, 272.
»9 See V.C.H. Herts, ii, 99.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
church of St. Mary is at the south end of the street,
its local connexion being with the village and not
with the manor-house, which is about half a mile
distant to the south. The old vicarage was situated
in the meadow opposite the post office. After
1 8 1 1 , when Richard Jeffreys resigned the living, the
house, which was in a dilapidated condition, was
made into two cottages which have now disappeared.
The present vicarage in New Street was the private
property of the Rev. Henry Law, successor of Mr.
Jeffreys. On his resignation in 1856 he sold this
house to Mr. Christopher Puller, the patron, whose
son the Rev. Charles Puller, vicar of Standon, legally
converted the house into a vicarage.20 The Men's
Standon Friars Farm : Old Barn
Institute near the school was opened in 1886. The
bridge over the river at the northern end of the
village is a county bridge. It was proposed in 1782
to replace the old wooden bridge by a brick one of
five arches <vide enough for the passage of carriages,
so that it might combine with the recent widening
of the road from Hadham to Braughing and Standon
to improve the communication between Essex and
Hertfordshire.21 The present iron bridge of two
arches replaced the brick bridge, which was destroyed
by a flood, in 1858.22 There is a disused windmill
to the south of the village ; to the north of it close
by the railway station is a large flour-mill, built in
1 90 1, which is connected by electric wires with the
old water-mill on the other side of the river where
the water-power is now supplemented by steam.
This was the manorial mill to which the copyholders
owed multure.23 Early in the 19th century there
was a paper-mill at the south end of the village
(probably on the site of the mill granted to the
Hospitallers, see under rectory manor) which was
owned in 184.6 by John Parkinson of Lincoln's Inn
Fields.24 It was afterwards used as a saw-mill.25 The
house and water-wheel still remain and
the name survives in Paper Mill Lane,
Paper Mill Meadow and Paper Mill
House. The almshouses at the south
end of the village were originally part
of the outbuildings of Standon Work-
house, which was disused after the Poor
Law Act of 1834,26 Standon being now
included in Ware Union. The railway
station on the Buntingford branch of
the Great Eastern railway was opened
in 1863.
About half a mile east of the village
on the high ground near Well Pond
Green is a farm called Standon Friars,
probably the site of the preceptory of
the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem
which was established at Standon after
the church and rector}' manor had been
granted to them by Gilbert de Clare
(see rectory manor).27 The names of
the adjacent fields, Knights Spring,
Knights Leys, Friars Lawn, &c, suggest
this. The farm-house is modern, but
among the out-buildings is a large late
16th-century barn. It is built on
dwarf walls of old thin bricks, and is
of timber, weather-boarded ; the roofs
are tiled. A small wing of the same
elate projects at the south end, on its
eastern side. The large barn measures
internally about 144 ft. by 29 ft., and
is divided into nine bays by dwarf
walls of brick projecting about 7 ft. on
either side internally, and carrying the
main posts of the heavy roof trusses.
There are no remains of any older
buildings, but in the orchard and
meadow adjoining the farm buildings
on the north are some ditches and
cuttings which may mark the site of a former house.
The Hospitallers also had a grange at Papwell on the
west side of the parish (see under rectory manor).
Weever writing in 1 65 1 says that there was 'a
little religious fabric of Austin Friars ' near Sir
Ralph Sadleir's house, a cell to the priory of Clare in
Suffolk.28 He evidently refers to Standon Friars,
but confuses it with the chapel of Salbourne or Sale-
bourne founded as a hermitage by Richard de Clare
20 R. Wetherall, Hist, of Standon,
" Sea. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 150-2.
M Information from Mr. J. A. Brown.
83 Information from Mr. J. Chapman. " See article on Religious Houses,
al S«i.iJ. (Herts. Co. Rec), 11,439,440. V.C.H. Herts, iv. Human remains have
26 Information from Mr. J. Chapman. lately been found near Standon Friars.
36 Ibid. *<> Ancient Funeral Monum. 593.
350
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
and granted by him about 117529 to the monks of
Stoke by Clare that they might celebrate divine service
there in honour of St. Michael, St. John the Baptist,
St. John the Evangelist and All Saints, for him and
all his family.30 For a time the hermit and brothers
lived at Salbourne and received various grants of
land,31 but there seems to have been no com-
munity after the beginning of the 14th century.32
At the end of the century, when the manor was in
the king's hands, he appointed chaplains,33 and in
1393 the chaplain of All Saints, Puckeridge (see
below), received a grant of ' the chapel called a
hermitage of St. Michael, Salbourne,' on condition
that he stayed there and officiated.34 From the 1 5th
century the chapel and lands were farmed out by the
Dean and Chapter of the collegiate church of Stoke
for a rent of 30J.36 They were held in the reign
of Edward IV by John Field 36 (see Bromley Hall),
and at the beginning of the 15th century by his
widow Agnes Morton.37 As only a rent of 30/. is
entered to Stoke in the Valor Eccksiasticus,iB it is
evident that the chapel property was still in the
hands of tenants, who probably remained in pos-
session after the Dissolution, as no grant of it is
on record. The lands of John Field and his
descendants included a close called Pound Hawe
(otherwise Pond Croft), Crabs Croft, land in High-
field, a tenement called Buttons, and a messuage
called Hallys (the last held of the manor of Milkley).39
These descended with his other lands (see the Brick-
house, under manors) to Thomas Howe, who in
1544 conveyed the messuage called 'Hallys and
Ducketts ' with lands lying in the common field
called Papwell Walk, Long Croft and Cock Croft, to
John Gardiner.40 The identity of these names with
the names of lands afterwards in the possession of St.
Edmund's College 41 points to the property of John
Field and his descendants lying in the neighbour-
hood of Old Hall Green, and if the hermitage estate
was included in that property, as seems probable, the
cottage called the Hermitage at Old Hall Green, now
belonging to the college, may mark the site of the
original hermitage, local tradition having preserved
the name.
Another chapel is recorded to have stood on Our
Lady Bridge on the highway to Stortford, possibly
where the road to the south of the village crosses the
Rib. This, according to a survey of the 1 6th century,
contained ' a lady [i.e. presumably an image of our
Lady], and certain service thereunto did belong with
divers offerings made unto her.' The offerings were
received by the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem and
STANDON
were probably for the repair of the bridge, for which
he was responsible. This chapel had fallen into
ruins and been removed before 1590, and the bridge
was then in decay.42 The bridge may have had some
connexion with the gild of our Lady in the church.
At Old Hall Green (Eldhallegrene, xiv cent.),43
on a high ridge of ground to the west of the North
Road, is the Roman Catholic College of St. Edmund.
In 1749 a sch°°i (representing one atTwyford which
had been closed since 1745) was established at Standon
Lordship (then in the hands of the Roman Catholic
family of Aston 44) by a Douay priest named Richard
Kendal. The school was afterwards moved to Hare
Street in 1767, and in 1769 to Old Hall Green.45
In 1772 Bishop Talbot bought the Hermitage with
20 acres of land there from John Hale Wortham,
and in 1787 he purchased the Old Hall Estate, which
he already held on a lease, from Sir George Jennings
of Greenwich.46 These properties were added to the
school, which became known as the Old Hall Green
Academy. St. Edmund's College also represents the
English college at Douay (founded by Cardinal Allen
in 1568, primarily for the education of clergy)
which was suppressed with its offshoot the secular
college of St. Omer during the French Revolution,
when the professors and students from both colleges
came to Old Hall Green (i 793 and 1795) and took
up their quarters in the ' Hermitage,' the ' Ship '
and the ' School in the Garden,' now the carpenter's
shop. The estate was increased by the purchase of
Riggory's Farm in 1 8 1 5 (see under manors) and of
the Old Hall Farm 47 estate, purchased from the repre-
sentatives of Ambrose Proctor by Bishop Poynter in
1826.48 The old schoolhouse known as the Old
Hall is a low red-bricked house separated by several
acres of garden from the present college. A new
building, forming the main block of the present
college, was begun in 1 795 by Dr. Stapleton, the
first president, and opened in 1799.49 After the
Roman Catholic Relief Act of 179 1 60 a chapel called
the ' old parish chapel ' was built at the back of the
Old Hall on the site of the present farmyard in 1792,
and for a time this was used by the college.51 A new
parish chapel was built in 1 81 8, which has been
superseded by a building consecrated in December
191 1. A college chapel, afterwards known as the
' old chapel ' (now the senior study), and a refectory
(now the college library) were built in 1805.52 The
present chapel, designed by A. W. Pugin, and con-
taining a rood screen which is considered his master-
piece, was built in 1 845-5 3-53 In 1855-60 the
wing containing the present refectory was built, and
29 The charter is addressed to Gilbert
Bishop of London, probably Gilbert Foliot,
1163-78, and was probably made after
Richard de Clare succeeded his father,
1173.
30 Cott. MS. App. xxi, no. 38 ; Add.
MS. 6042, fol. 72.
31 Add. MS. 6042, fol. 72.
33 See article on Religious Houses,
V.C.H. Herts, iv.
33 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 488.
34 Ibid. I 391-6, p. 241.
35 Harl. Chart. 44 I. 30-50.
« Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 469.
39 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV,
no. 56 ; (Ser. 2), xxxii, 88 ; Harl. Chart.
56 C. 43 ; Harl. Roll L. 33.
40 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 36
Hen. VIII.
41 Deeds communicated by Mgr. Ward,
president of the college.
48 Sen, R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 2.
43 Cott. MS. Nero, E vi, fol. 121.
44 Lord Aston had shortly before moved
to his Staffordshire seat at Tixall (see
E. H. Burton, Life and Times of Bishop
Challoner, i, 290).
45 Ibid.; B. Ward, Hist, of St. Edmund's
College, 35.
46 Deeds communicated by the Presi-
dent. The conveyance was effected
on Bishop Talbot's behalf by John Holl-
ingworth, the penal laws preventing
Roman Catholics from being able to pur-
chase lands being still in force.
47 The farm (now called Hake's Cottage)
had until recently the date 1693 on the
plaster.
48 Deeds communicated by the Presi-
dent.
49 Ward, Hist, of St. Edmund's College.
50 Previous to this the Roman Catholics
of the neighbourhood, who were numerous,
had attended the private chapel at Standon
Lordship, see Ward, St. Edmund's College,
who shows that Standon was a Roman
Catholic centre even before this date. In
1650, in the returns relating to popish
recusants, nine names were given for this
parish including that of Walter Lord
Aston (Sen. R. [Herts. Co. Rec], i, 304).
51 Before this a chapel hidden in the loft
of the ' Old Hall ' is said to have been used.
53 Information from the Rev. E. Burton.
S3 Ward, St. Edmund's College Chapel.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in 1905 the Divines' Wing with accommodation for
fifty students was added.61 St. Hugh's School was
originally a house designed by Pugin for Mr. W. G.
Ward, who in 1851 was appointed lecturer in moral
philosophy at the college. After he moved to North-
wood Park in 1858 the house became a preparatory
school for the college. The fourth provincial council
of Westminster was held at St. Edmund's College in
1873.56
The repair of the many roads in the parish was a
heavy burden on the inhabitants of Standon. In
1389 a grant of pavage was made for repairing the
highway from All Saints' Chapel, Puckeridge, to
Lapdenbridge,56 and in 1390 the bailiffs and con-
stables of Standon, Puckeridge and Buntingford were
allowed a similar grant for the road between Wades-
mill and Buntingford and between Puckeridge and
Braughing.57 About 4 miles of this road was repair-
able by Standon, and was particularly liable to get
into a bad state owing to the springs of water
arising in the swallowing clay and sandy places.68
Situated on the North Road at a distance of
about a mile from each other are the hamlets of
High Cross (Heghe Crouch), Colliers End (Colyers-
end, xvi cent.),69 and Puckeridge (Pockerich). Part
of Wadesmill, a hamlet on the road further south, is
also in this parish.60 These were settlements made
possibly in the 12th or 13th century as the traffic
increased along the main road. A grant of market
and fair at Puckeridge (see Milkley Manor) in I 3 14
witnesses to the growing importance of that hamlet.
Consequent on the numerous travellers along the road
there were many inns in the village. The name
of Chequers Inn dates back as early as 1473.61 The
Old George Inn remains on the west side of the
street, a two-storied building of timber and brick
nogging with a tiled roof and overhanging upper
story on the north end of the street front, dating
from the 17th century. Two cottages at the north
end of the village now used as stables are probably of
the late 1 6th century. They are built of timber
with brick nogging and have tiled roofs. In the
north front are two four-centred doorways, one with
moulded edges and enriched spandrels. Thorpe
Hall on the east side of the street, once an inn, is a
1 7th-century house of two stories. It is of plastered
timber construction with tiled roofs, and has a
timber gateway on the south side. Close by is the
Crown and Falcon Inn, dating from about the
middle of the 1 6th century. It is a timber house,
plastered, with projecting upper story on the south
and west sides and a timber gateway. Near this inn
was the common pump.62 The chapel of All Saints,
Puckeridge, was founded as a chantry chapel by
Richard de Gatesbury (for whom see Gatesbury in
Braughing), who in 1320 had licence to endow it
with lands and rent in Braughing, Puckeridge, Gates-
bury and elsewhere.63 These lands were unsuccess-
fully claimed as dower by Agnes wife of Thomas
Tuwe, widow of Adam de Gatesbury.64 The exact
site of this chapel is not known, but it was situated on
the main road.65 There is still no church at Pucke-
ridge, but a Congregational chapel was built in
1832. 66j The Church of England school and lecture
room were built in 1862.
The ecclesiastical district of High Cross was formed
in 1845. It includes the hamlet of Colliers End and
part of Wadesmill. The church of St. John the
Evangelist, High Cross, was built in 1 847 by Lady
Giles-Puller and her son Mr. Christopher William
Puller. High Cross elementary school was built in
1866. The church of St. Mary at Colliers End, a
small red brick building, was built as a mission church
in 1 910 by Mr. E. E. Wickham of Plashes in
memory of his wife. William Davies (18 14—91),
mineralogist and palaeontologist at the British
Museum, had a residence at Colliers End, where
he died in 1891.
In the reign of King Edward the
MANORS Confessor the manor of STANDON was
held by Archbishop Stigand, under
whom were six sokemen each holding 1 hide. After
the Conquest it was presumably acquired by
Walter Giffard, lord of Longueville, for in 1086
it formed part of the possessions of Rohais his
daughter, then wife of Richard de Tonbridge, lord
of Clare. It was assessed at 1 1 hides, of which 6
were in demesne ; and there
was land for twenty-four
ploughs, but only seventeen
ploughs were on the manor.
The extent included five mills
and 2 arpents of vineyard.66
The manor remained in the
family of Clare. Gilbert
son of Richard (grandson of
Richard of 1086) was created
Earl of Hertford about 1 138.
His nephew Richard de Clare Clare. Or three
married Amicia daughter and chevrons &«■
co-heir of William Fitz Robert
Earl of Gloucester, and Gilbert de Clare, their son,
was recognized as Earl of Gloucester about 1218.67
He died in 1230 ; during the minority of the heir,
Richard de Clare, the manor was granted to Gilbert
Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, for his sustenance in the
king's service.68 In the following reign Richard de
Clare was presented for withholding the payment for
sheriff's aid and view of frankpledge for Standon, and
also for withdrawing suit at the hundred and county
courts which was said to be owed for the whole vill
by Geoffrey de Leukenore by reason of his tenure of
certain lands. The earl also claimed warren on the
lands of his free tenants and had appropriated the
common fishery in the river which he sold to
the men of Standon.69 His son Gilbert Earl of
54 Information from Rev. E. Burton.
55 Ward, Hist, of St. Edmund's College ;
Diet. Nat. Biog. s.v. Ward.
66 For refusal to pay this pavage see
Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 68, no. 201.
57 Cat. Pat. 1388-92, p. 204.
58 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 82, 68.
59 This probably took its name from
the colliers in the parish. Nicholas le
Coliere was assessed at Standon in 1307
(Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 87).
60 This is described under Thundridge.
61 P.C.C. Will, 9 Wattys.
63 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 26.
There was an inn called the Falcon as
early as 1444 (see will of Ralph Asteley
in Cant. Archiepis. Reg. Stafford, fol.
135*).
63 Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 428.
64 Ibid. 1391-6, p. 633 ; 1401-5,
p. 66 ; Plac. in Cane, file 23, no. 12 ;
Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 69, no. 79. See
352
also Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 7, no. 267,
for another suit concerning the endow-
ment of the chapel.
65 Cal. Pat. 1388—92, p. 30.
65a Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts.
674.
66 V.C.H. Herts, i, 343.
67 G.E.C. Peerage.
«3 Cal. Close, 1231-4^.482.
69 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188;
Assize R. 323.
Standon : The Hermitage, Old Hall Green
Standon : St. Edmund's College, Old Hall Green
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Gloucester claimed view of frankpledge, gallows,
tumbrel and pillory, free market, amendment of the
assize of bread and ale, quittance for himself and men
of gelds, aids, sheriff's aids and sheriffs tourn.70
From an extent of the manor taken on the death of
Earl Richard in 1262 it appears that there were in
demesne 250 acres of arable land, I 5 acres of meadow,
9^ acres of pasture, 1 4c acres of poor idebile) pasture, a
park 7l about 2 leagues in circumference, a fruit and
herb garden (the remembrance of which may still
survive in the name Balsoms Park, a field to the east
of the lordship),'2 a fishery in defense, and another
common fishery, whilst in villeinage were 209 \ acres."
A later extent taken on the death of Joan, widow
of Gilbert de Clare, mentions also the farm of a mill."
Gilbert de Clare, son of Gilbert and Joan, was killed
at Bannockburn in 1314,75 when his estates were
divided among his sisters. For a short time, however,
Standon remained in the king's hands and the custody
was granted to William de Trente.7S In 1 3 1 5 the
king took venison from Standon Park for his larder at
Westminster.77 Eventually Standon was assigned to
Gilbert's sister Elizabeth, who married John de
Burgh. She died in 1360, having survived her son
William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and was succeeded
by her granddaughter Elizabeth, wife of Lionel,
third son of Edward III, who after his wife's
succession to the honour of Clare was created
Duke of Clarence in I362.7S In the extent of the
manor taken at the death of Elizabeth de Burgh are
mentioned two water-mills, farmed out by the lord.
One of these was called Latchford (Loteford) Mill,
the other was a fulling-mill.79
The manor descended to
Philippa, only daughter of
Lionel Duke of Clarence and
Elizabeth his wife,80 who
married Edmund Mortimer
Earl of March. At this time
the demesne lands of the
manor were farmed out to
the collector of the rents.81
The Earl of March died in
1 38 1, having survived his
wife Philippa.82 His son
Roger succeeded on attaining
his majority and held the
manor until his death in
1398. The inquisition then
taken mentions four water-mills on the manor.
There were only six customary tenants remaining on
the manor at this date,83 the disappearance of the
rest being probably due to the farming of the demesne
\
/
u
Mortimer. Barry or
and azure a chief or -with
nvo piles between tivo
gyrons azure therein and
a scutcheon argent over
all.
STANDON
lands84 or to the Black Death. Edmund Mortimer,
son of Roger, died without issue in January 1424-5,
and was succeeded by Richard Duke of York, son of
his sister Ann, who married Richard Earl of Cam-
bridge.85 For the duke's good service as the king's
lieutenant in France and Normandy the officers of
the household were excluded from taking live stock
or crops, fuel or carriage within the parish of Standon,
and the harbingers of the household from lodging
there.86
About 1 44 1 the manor was granted for life by
the Duke of York to Sir William Oldhall, kt.87
After the death of the duke in 1460 it descended
to his son Edward Duke of York, who ascended
the throne as Edward IV in 14.61. In the same
year he granted the manor to his mother Cicely
Duchess of York as part of her jointure,85 and the
grant was confirmed by Richard III on his accession.83
The custody of the park was granted by Cicely in
1476 to her servant John atte Field90 (see Bromley
Hall) and the office of bailiff of the lordship the next
year to John Deryng.91 The Duchess of York died
in 1495. In 1509 the manor was granted by
Henry VIII to the Princess Katherine of Aragon
on the occasion of their marriage,9' and it also formed
Katherine of
Aragon. Gules a castle
or, for Castile, quartered
•with Argent a lion pur-
pure, for Leon.
Jane Seymour. Gules
a pair of 'wings or.
part of the jointure of Queen Jane Seymour, after
whose death it reverted to the Crown 93
The Rt. Hon. Sir Ralph Sadleir, Gentleman of the
Privy Chamber, was appointed keeper of the site,
parker, bailiff of the manor and steward of the lord-
ship in 1 S 39-94 In the same year he was visited there
by Cromwell, through whose influence he rose to power
and became principal Secretary of State.95 In 1 540 he
obtained a grant of the manor with the park and warren
in tail-male,96 which in 1544 was changed to one in
fee.97 Two years later, while he was on an embassy
in Scotland, his steward built a house for him in
70 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 278.
71 Cf. the name Stag's Park still sur-
viving.
72 Spelt Balsham on the ordnance map,
but Balsoms Park in the tithe allotment.
73 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file 27,
no. 5. The extent taken on the death
of Gilbert de Clare, his son, in 1295
varies considerably (see ibid. 24 Edw. I,
no. 107). Seve
the earl's ' viva
12+0, fol. 82A).
7< Ibid. 35 Ed
" Ibid. 8 Edw
76 Cal. Close, I 31 3
77 Ibid. p. 140.
78 G.E.C. Peerage.
feren
um' (see Harl. MS.
. I, no. 47.
II, no. 68.
p. 141.
79 See Mins. Accts. bdle. 11 11, no. 24.
Possibly the second was the mill called
Lynchmelne mentioned in early charters
(Harl. MS. 1240, fol. 82A, 83A). There
was also the mill which the lords of
Standon had rented from the Prior of
St. John of Jerusalem (who held it by
gift from Elizabeth's ancestor Gilbert de
Clare) and which he released to Elizabeth
de Burgh in 1337 (see rectory manor).
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. i,
no. 23.
81 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 1 1 1, no. 24.
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Ric. II, no. 43 ;
see Cal. Pat. 1 38 1-5, p. 93, for grant
of park during minority of heir.
83 Cban. Inq. p.m. 22 Ric. II. no. 34.
353
M See Engl. Hist. Rev. xv (1900).
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. VI, no. 32.
86 Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 473.
87 Ibid. p. 531.
85 Ibid. 1461-7, p. 131.
69 Pat. 1 Ric. Ill, pt. v.
90 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 598.
91 Add. Chart. 15478.
9» L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 155 ; v, 330.
98 Ibid, xii (2), 975.
94 Ibid, xiv (2), 780 (42). He suc-
ceeded Sir William Coffyn, who died of
the great sickness in 1538, and was
buried in Standon Church (see ibid, xiv,
650). 95 Ibid. 154.
96 Ibid, xvi, 379 (26).
* Ibid, xiv {2), 166 (70).
45
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Standon, on a much larger scale, it is said, than he
wished,98 and here he several times entertained Queen
Elizabeth." Sadleir was created knight banneret on
the battlefield of Pinkie in 1 5 4.7. He served as
Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, sat for the county
in seven Parliaments and survived until 1587, having
served with distinction in three successive reigns.1"0
He was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was
M.P. for Lancaster from 1572 to 1583 and Sheriff
of Hertfordshire in 1 595. ' On 30 April 1603 James I
came to Standon and having been met by the Bishop
of London and a company of gentlemen 'in coats and
chains of gold,' proceeded to Sadleir's house, where
he stayed for a Sunday and knighted his host.8 Sir
Thomas Sadleir died in 1606.3 His son Ralph, the
' noble Mr. Sadler ' of Walton's Complect Angler, was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1609-10/ He died in
1 660, leaving no issue, and was succeeded in the manor
by Walter Lord Aston, son of his sister Gertrude,
who married Sir Walter Aston of Tixall, co. Stafford,
Sadleir of Standon.
Or a lion parted fesseivise
azure and gules.
Aston, Lord Aston*
Argent a Jesse sable with
three lozenges sable in the
chief.
created a baronet on the institution of that order in
161 1 and made Lord Aston of Forfar in 1627/
The Astons were a Roman Catholic family.6 Walter,
second Lord Aston, was an adherent of Charles I, and
after fighting on the king's side had to compound
for his estates and live privately.7 His son Walter,
third Lord Aston, who succeeded him in 1 678,"
suffered as a victim of Titus Oates' plot. He
was indicted for high treason in 1680 and was a
prisoner in the Tower until 1685. On one occasion
a mob came to plunder the Lordship while he was
there, and he only escaped by hiding in a dovecot,
whilst his valuables were packed in an iron chest
and sunk in the Rib.9 His fortunes changed under
James II and he was made Lord Lieutenant of
Staffordshire. He died in 1 714. and was buried at
Standon.10 Walter, fourth Lord Aston, his son and
successor, lived in retirement at Standon owing to
the severity of the penal laws against Roman Catholics.
He died at Tixall in 1748, but was buried at Standon.
His son James, the last Lord Aston, left no male issue
Wellesley, Duke
Wellington. Gulei a
cross between fwenty
roundels argent, for Wel-
lesley, quartered 'with
Or a lion gules, for
Colley, with an augmen-
tation of the union device
of the United Kingdom
charged upon a scutcheon.
on his death in I 75 I. The manor descended to his
daughters Mary, who married her cousin Sir Walter
Blount, bart.,of Sodington,co. Worcester, and Barbara,
who married the Hon. Thomas Clifford." They in
1767 joined in a conveyance to William Plumer of
Blakesware.12 The conveyance included the park,
the free fishery, the several
fishery and view of frank-
pledge. William Plumer died
in the same year and was
succeeded by his son William.
He by will of 182 1 devised
the manor to his wife Jane
with remainder to her
legatees.13 After his death in
1822 his widow married (as
her third husband) Robert
Ward, who took the name
and arms of Plumer.14 He
survived his wife and sold the
manor in 1843 to Arthur,
first Duke of Wellington, on
whose death in 1852 it de-
scended to his son Arthur
Richard, second duke, then
successively to his son Henry,
third duke, in 1884, and to the latter's brother
Arthur Charles, fourth duke and present lord of the
manor, in 1900.
The old manor-house was kept in repair until after
the sale of the manor by William Plumer. In a
letter written in 1733 to the Earl of Oxford by
George Vertue is recorded a visit to ' Lord Aston's
ancient house,' made especially to see a picture of
Vicar-General Cromwell painted by Holbein, which
he suggests was one of those done for Sir Thomas
More at his house at Chelsea.1" The original house,
of which only a small part now remains, was built
about 1546 by Sir Ralph Sadleir (see above), his
initials and that date appearing on the front. The
old house, of which a plan has been preserved,
was of the courtyard type ; the main entrance, with
flanking turrets both on the front and next the court-
yard, faced the west ; the south wing probably con-
tained the principal rooms and the north wing the
domestic offices. On the east side of the courtyard
was a long range of buildings at a different angle,
stretching southwards beyond the main building,
which may possibly have been built at a different
period. The only portions now remaining of this
once extensive building are the lower parts of the
walls of the north end of the west wing, on which a
modern building has been erected, the south end of
the west wing, and a small part of the south wing.
The foundations and some of the walling of the de-
molished wings still remain between the present
98 Fuller, Hist, of Worthies of Engl.
(ed. Nichols), ii, 41. It was probably
built on the site of an earlier house, for
inquisitions mention a capital messuage
on the manor.
99 Nichols, Prog, of Queen Eliz. i, 100 ;
ii, 104.
100 Information from Mr.T.U. Sadleir;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxv, 259. For
an account of him see the memoir by
Sir Walter Scott in State Papers and
Letters of Sir Ralph Sadleir, ed. A. Clifford,
1809 ; F. Sadleir Stoney, Life and Tines
of Sir R. Sadleir, 1S77 ; article by T. U.
Sadleir in East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
iii (1), 79.
1 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 283.
a Nichols, Prog, of James I, i, 106.
3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxevi, 95.
4 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 283.
5 G.E.C. Peerage.
6 The first Lord Aston became a
Catholic whilst acting as ambassador at
the Spanish court.
7 G.E.C. Peerage.
8 For an account of the great state
kept up by him at the Lordship see the
account written by his grandson Sir Edw,
354
Southcote and published by Father John
Morris in Troubles of our Catholic Fore-
fathers.
9 E. H. Burton, Life and Times of Bp.
Challoner, i, 214.
10 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii (i),
67 et eeq. " G.E.C. Peerage.
ls Recov. R. Mich. 8 Geo. Ill, rot. 33;;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 7 Geo. Ill ; Trin.
7 Geo. III.
18 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 229. 14 Berry, Herts. Gen. i, 99.
15 Portland MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.),
iv, 49.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
house and the river. All the old work is built of
thin bricks and the roofs are tiled. The modern por-
tions of the building were erected about 1872. In
the centre of the west front is the wide entrance
gateway, now inclosed and forming an entrance hall,
with four-centred arches covered with cement ; the
original semi-octagonal flanking turrets have been
demolished nearly to the ground level, one of them
having been formed into a bay window ; the turrets
next the courtyard still contain the oak newel stairs
to the upper floor, but they have been shortened and
re-roofed. A turret at the north-west angle of the
building has also been lowered and re-roofed. On
the south side of the entrance two of the original gables
remain ; they have moulded brick copings with
square pinnacles set diagonally ; these appear to be old,
but according to an old view the gables had no
copings. The upper parts of the chimneys have been
STANDON
apparently granted by Richard Earl ot Gloucester
(ob. 1262) to a younger son Thomas de Clare. His
son Gilbert de Clare died in 1307 seised of a manor
in Standon held of Gilbert Earl of Gloucester by suit
at the earl's manor of Standon.16 He was succeeded
by his brother Richard de Clare. Under the Clares
this manor was held by Hugh Plessy, who died in
1 301, leaving a son and heir Hugh, then aged five.17
This Hugh probably died soon after, for before 13 14
the manor had been resumed by Richard de Clare,
and was in that year granted by him to Master
Richard de Clare, clerk, for life.18 Richard, the
grantor, left a son Thomas, who died without issue in
1320— 1, and was succeeded in the manor by his
aunt Margaret (daughter of Thomas de Clare), who
married Bartholomew de Badlesmere.19 They held
the manor jointly until the death of Bartholomew in
1322.20 It descended to their son Giles de Badles-
Standon Lordship : West Front
rebuilt ; they have square shafts set diagonally. All
the window frames are modern. One of the rooms
contains some 17th-century oak panelling, and in
others are old stone fireplaces.
The house is now occupied by Mr. Herbert le
Blanc Smith.
The manor of PLASHES (Plessetes, Plesiz, Plessy,
Plesshes, xiv cent. ; Pleshez, xv cent.) was composed
of lands within the manor of Standon, which were
mere, who died without issue in 1338, when his
lands were divided between his four sisters and co-
heirs.21 Plashes was assigned to his sister Elizabeth,
wife of William de Bohun Earl of Northampton.22
She with her husband in 1352 granted the reversion
of the manor (held for life by Elizabeth widow of
Giles de Badlesmere and then wife of Guy de Brien)
to Master Richard Plessy, presumably heir of the
above-mentioned Hugh.23 In 135+ Guy and
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. II, no. 45.
Previously a moiety of a third of the
manor had come into the possession of
Walter de Furneaux and his wife Alice.
See under Rennesley, p. 360, note 35.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, no. 54.
Hugh Plessy subinfeudated certain lands
called Le Hethe in Standon consisting of
a capital messuage, 160 acres of arable
land, 8 acres of meadow, 5 acres of
pasture, 10 acres of wood, and coj. rent
of assize to Edmund Mauley, who died
seised in 1 3 14, when he was succeeded
by his kinsman Peter Mauley (Chan.
Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 141 ; Abbrev.
Rot. Orig. [Rec. Com.], i, 210).
18 Duchy of Lane. Deeds, L 1282.
Richard de Clare is called in the charter
' lord of Tothomon.'
19 G.E.C. Peerage.
355
*> Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 23.
21 Ibid. 12 Edw. Ill, no. 540.
31 A rent was payable from the manor
to another sister Maud, wife of John de
Veer Earl of Oxford 'Cal. Close, 1360-4,
p. 18 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. Ill,
no. 84).
23 Feet of F. Herts. 26 Edw. Ill,
no. 414.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Elizabeth de Brien exchanged their life interest for
a rent of 20 marks.24 Master Richard died about
1362. He left as co-heirs the three daughters of his
brother John (called young John), viz. Alice Bysouthe,
Joan, and Parnell wife of Stephen Stourde.25 Before
1 371 Alice was married to Thomas Veautrer and
Joan to Hugh de Syreston. In that year these two
co-heirs with their husbands conveyed two parts of
the manor to Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March,
and his wife Philippa (lords of the manor of Standon
in Philippa's right),20 and a conveyance was also made
to them about the same time by a certain Simon le
Reve of Plashes, called son of ' Elder John ' and
nephew and heir of Master Richard Plessy.27 After this
date the manor follows the descent of Standon, and
like that manor was farmed out by the lords.28 Plashes
Farm lies to the south-east of the hamlet of Colliers
End and is now occupied by Mr. E. E. Wickham.
Plashes Wood lies immediately to the north. In the
grant by Simon le Reve mentioned above a mill
called ' Cuttydmelle ' is mentioned.
The manor of DOOS (Doucetts, Dowsetts) first
appears as lands belonging to Roger D'Amorie, who
probably obtained them from his wife Elizabeth
daughter of Gilbert de Clare, on whom they were
presumably settled as a marriage portion.29 In I 3 20
Roger D'Amorie received a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands in Standon.30 The manor descended
to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of John Bardolf, Lord
Bardolf of Wormegay, co. Norfolk, of whose inherit-
ance it was held for life by her stepmother Elizabeth
de Burgh.1'1 William Bardolf, son of John and Eliza-
beth, granted the manor to William Walcote for life
in 1373, to hold by the rent of a rose and the office
of his chief chamberlain.32 Apparently Thomas Bar-
dolf, his son, who succeeded him in January 1385-6,
alienated the manor,33 for in 14 1 2 John Riggewyn
died seised of it, leaving a son and heir John.34 This
John died in 1425, and was succeeded by his son, also
John.36 After this there seems to be no trace of the
manor until the reign of Mary, when it was held by
William Emerson, who died seised of it in February
1533-4.36 He left a son and heir Richard Emerson,
who held it until his death in 1562.37 The manor
then passed to James Hennage (son of Alice, paternal
aunt of William Emerson, who married William
Hennage),38 and in 1569 was conveyed by him to
Sir Ralph Sadleir,39 lord of Standon, with which
manor it thereafter descended.
Dowsett's Farm lies a little to the east of the
North Road, and to the north-east of the hamlet of
Colliers End.
Besides the manor of Doos John Riggewyn held
at his death in 14 12 tenements called Sotes, Gernon's
and Riggewyns. In February 1427-8 John Rigge-
wyn, his grandson, conveyed the messuage called
SOTES or SUTES in Standon to John Fray and
other feoffees.40 The property apparently consisted
of the capital messuage of the manor of Doos and
part of the lands of the manor ; it is called in sub-
sequent conveyances ' the manor of Doos called
Sotes ' and sometimes Doos alias Sotes. The feoffees
probably held in trust for Nicholas Ellerbek, as he died
seised in 1472.41 His daughter and heir Margaret
married William Tendring, and they with Margaret's
mother Ann, who after Ellerbek's death married
John Digges, conveyed the manor in 1493 to Henry
Marney and others,42 probably for a settlement on
William and Margaret. This Margaret survived a
second husband,4-'1 and at the age of fifty-seven, as
Margaret Marzen, widow, seems to have intended
a marriage with Richard son of Sir John Audley, kt.,43
of Swaffham, co. Norfolk, but apparently the mar-
riage never took place. William Tendring, who
died about 1500, left two daughters, one of whom,
Margaret wife of Robert Forster of Little Birch,
co. Essex,44 seems to have inherited the whole of
Sutes. Robert and Margaret had a son George, who
died in 1556, and a daughter Elizabeth, who married
John Southwell of Barham, co. Suffolk,45 and on
whom the manor of Sutes was evidently settled.
In 1550 John and Elizabeth Southwell conveyed the
manor to Richard Wytherall.46
Denise, daughter and heir of Wytherall, married
William Wrothe, son of
Robert Wrothe of Enfield,47
who held the manor jointly
with his wife and died seised
in January 1593-4.48 The
manor descended to Richard
Wrothe, their son, whose will
is dated 1 596,49and to William
son of Richard,50 who is de-
scribed as of London and of
Heaven or Hatten End in
Standon.51 This William had
eight children, of whom
William Wrothe was the eldest.
The will of William the elder
is dated 1643.62 William the younger died in 1677.
Wrothi. Argent a
bend sable 'with three
lions1 heads razed argent
thereon havingcroivns or.
44 Feet of F. Herts. 28 Edw. Ill,
no. 427a.
25 Cal. Close, 1360-4, p. 430; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 38 Edw. Ill, no. 37.
26 FeetofF.Herts.45 Edw. Ill, no. 624.
27 Add. MS. 1240 (documents of the
Earls of March), fol. 84. Evidently Richard
Plessy had two brothers both called John.
28 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1111, no. 24.
29 The manor was held of Standon, so
must have been formed by subinfeudation.
80 Chart. R. 14 Edw. II, m. 8, no. 33.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. Ill, no. 83.
Roger D'Amorie was Elizabeth de Burgh's
third husband.
32 Close, 47 Edw. Ill, m. 22 d.
•8 Or possibly it was alienated after his
death in February 1407-8 by his daughters
Anne wife of Sir William Clifford, and
Joan wife of Sir William Phelipp.
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Hen. IV, no. 4 ;
lee Agard's Indexes (2nd no.), vii, 5.
35 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 252 ; Close,
2 Hen. V, m. 24.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c, 49.
37 Ibid, exxxv, 76. He was buried in
Standon Church.
38 Ibid.
39 Feet ofF. Herts. East. 1569.
40 Close, 6 Hen. VI, m. 6 d.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. IV, no. 12.
« Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 8 Hen. VII.
48a See Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 337,
no. 33. Anne Ellerbek is here said to be
daughter of Ralph Baud; see also Berwick.
43 See Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 3358, for
the marriage settlement, in which the
manors of Sotes, Marshalls and Younges
are mentioned. In 1534, however,
Margaret was still Margaret Marzen,
widow (Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 26
Hen. VIII), and according to the Audley
pedigrees the only wife of Richard Audley
was Catherine daughter of Richard son of
Lord Scroop (see Blomefield, Hist, of
Norf. [ed. Parkin], vi, 210).
44 Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii, 184. The
Tendrings had long been lords of Little
Birch.
45 Page, Suff,. to Suff. Traveller, 566.
According to Morant's pedigree, Hist, of
Essex, ii, 184, Robert and Margaret had
two daughters, Mary and Joan. If this is
correct he must have left out a third
daughter Elizabeth.
46 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1550.
47 Visit, of Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 132 ;
Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 998, no. 77.
48 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxliii, 64.
49 P.C.C. 45 Drake.
50 He was baptized at Thundridge in
1594. Information from Mr. W. C.
Waller.
51 Waller, Loughton in Essex (transcripts
of Wills, 29, 31).
52 Ibid. 31.
356
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
In the same year the manor was sold by his widow
Margaret (described as mother of John Wrothe,
deceased, heir of William) and her son Edward 53 to
William and John Leake in trust for Robert Bird of
Staple Inn.54 It descended to his son John Bird,
who died in 1732, leaving four co-heirs, the daughters
of his brother Robert who predeceased him. Of
these Elizabeth Bird conveyed her share in 1 740 to
her sister Jane Bird, who also acquired the share of
her sister Martha, wife of George Jesson.55 In 1 744
Jane married David Poole, serjeant-at-law, and a
settlement of the three undivided fourth parts was
made on David for life, with remainder to Jane and
their children. In 1745 David Poole bought the
remaining fourth from the assignees of his wife's
fourth sister Abigail, wife of Marmaduke Lilley, who
died about 1737.56 The manor then descended
with Youngs (q.v.), and now belongs to Mr. C. B.
Giles-Puller.
STANDON
son James Henry Leigh conveyed the site in 1 790
to David Barclay, and it thus became reunited with
the manor.60 The manor-house lies near the North
Road, a litde to the north of High Cross. It is an
early 1 7th-century building, originally L-shaped,
with a fragment of moat remaining. It has two
stories, and is timber-framed with plastered walls and
tiled roof. Two of the original chimney stacks
remain. In the kitchen is the large original fireplace.
Sutes Wood and Great and Little Southey Woods lie
a little to the east.
The manor of 7'OUNGS took its name from a
family of Juvene or Young, who held lands in Standon
in the 13th and 14th centuries.61 In 1426 Youngs
is called a manor, and was released by John Oke to
Henry Barton, William Crowmer and Thomas Hole-
well, who held it of the gift of Thomas Farndon.62
In 1472 Nicholas Ellerbek died seised of it,63 and it
descended with Sutes (q.v.) to William Tendring.
■ ■ "SiPSSKXSPP! igwji»f
Sutes Manor-house, Standon
The site of Sutes Manor was held separately from
the demesne lands in 1692 by Thomas Nason.57
His son Thomas sold it about 1 704 to William
Norcliffe,88 who in 1 7 19 conveyed it to Franklin
Miller and Arnold Warren,69 evidently in trust for
Robert Lord of St. Martin's Lane. Robert Lord
left two daughters and co-heirs, Mary, who married
William Leigh, and Elizabeth, who married Thomas
Wentworth. James Leigh, son of William and
Mary, was heir of both his mother and aunt. His
After his death it was apparently divided between his
two daughters, Margaret wife of Robert Forster and
Dorothy wife of Francis Southwell.64 In 1543 John
Southwell, husband of Elizabeth, daughter of Robert
and Margaret Forster, conveyed one-fourth of the
manor to Richard Wytherall,65 and at the same time
her brother George Forster, between whom and
Elizabeth this half seems to have been divided, conveyed
another quarter to Wytherall.66 In 1545 Wytherall
acquired the other half from John Beaumont and his
53 John, born in 1632, and Edward in
1640, were both baptized at Thundridge
(notes from the registers lent by Mr.
W. C. Waller).
44 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 29 Chas. II ;
deeds in possession of Mr. C. B. Giles-
Puller of Youngsbury.
" Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 1 3 Geo. II ;
Div. Co. Mich. 16 Geo. II; deeds in
possession of Mr. C. B. Giles-Puller.
56 Will of David Poole, 1758 ; deeds
in possession of Mr. C. B. Giles-Puller.
67 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 3 Will, and
Mary.
58 Exch. Dep. Trin. 6 Anne, no. 10.
"Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 6
Geo. I.
60 Ibid. Herts. Mich. 2 Geo. II ; deeds
in possession of Mr. C. B. Giles-Puller.
61 For John Juvene as a witness to
deeds see Harl. Chart. 4591 1 ; Cal. Pat.
1446-52, p. 51. Augustine Juvene was
bailiff to the Earl of Gloucester in 1275
(Hund. R. [Rec. Com. J, i, 188).
357
62 Close, 5 Hen. VI, m. 19 d.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. IV,
no. 1 2.
64 So Dorothy's husband is given in
Blomefield, Hist, of Norf. (ed. Parkin), x,
275, but according to Morant's pedigree
(His/, of Essex, ii, 184) she married
George Southwell.
« Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 35 Hen. VIII.
"Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 35 Hen.
VIII, rot. 5 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil.
35 Hen. VIII.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
wife Anne,67 to whom it had apparently passed from
Francis and Dorothy Southwell.
The whole having thus come into the possession of
Wytherall, the manor descended with Sutes to David
Poole, who built the present house of Youngsbury.68
After his death in 1758 his widow Jane and son Josiah
sold the manor in 1 769 to David Barclay,69 who
improved and enlarged the house. In 1 793 it was
bought by William Cunliffe Shawe, a mortgagee, who
sold it in 1 796 to Daniel Giles of London,™ whose
family came originally from Caen in Normandy. He
was governor of the Bank of England in I 796 and died
in 1 800. Youngs descended to his son Daniel
Giles, M.P. for St. Albans in 1809 and Sheriff of
Hertfordshire in 1 8 1 6. He died in I 83 I. His
sister Mary married Joseph King of Taplow, and the
manor went to her son Benjamin Giles King, who
was succeeded in 1840 by his sister Louisa, widow of
Sir Christopher Puller, kt., Chief Justice of Bengal in
1823. She died in 1857, when the manor passed to
her son Christopher William, who in that year had
licence to add the name Giles before his own surname,
the licence extending to such of his descendants as
should hold Youngsbury. He died in 1864, the
manor descending to his son Arthur Giles Giles-
Puller. The latter died without issue in 1885 and
was succeeded by his brother the Rev. Charles Giles-
Puller, at one time vicar of Standon, whose son
Giles. "Party che-v-
mine and
azure a lion counter-
coloured "with two crosses
azure pointed and •voided
in the chief.
Puller. Azure a
bend injected and plain
cotised between three
scallops or and a chief
or with a quatrefoil be-
tween two scallops azure.
Mr. Christopher Bernard Giles-Puller is the present
owner of the manor and resides at Youngsbury."
MARSHALLS, on the south-west of the parish
to the north-west of the hamlet of High Cross,
apparently originated in a property consisting of four
messuages, 72 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 16
acres of pasture, 6 acres of wood, the site of a mill called
Linchemill with a pond, and 24/. rent in Standon,
which Robert Marshall (Le Mareschal) acquired from
Elizabeth de Burgh, lady of the manor of Standon, in
1337, and of the reversion of a messuage, 200 acres of
land, meadow and pasture and 4 acres of wood
expectant on the death of Henry de Thrillowe,
67 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 37 Hen. VIII.
Another conveyance from John Southwell
and Elizabeth took place in 1550 (ibid.
Herts. Mich. 4 Edw. VI).
68 Clutterbuck, op. cit, iii, 331.
69 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 9 Geo.
III.
Leake. Or a salttre
engrailed azure with
eight rings argent thereon
and a quarter gules ivith
a castle argent therein.
Elizabeth his wife and Thomas their son, and also
of the reversion of 150 acres on the death of Richard
le Somenour, which they acquired at the same time.7*
There was also a John Marshall, dead before
1338,"* and a John Marshall, his son, with a wife
Margaret, both dead before I 35 3," who held land in
Standon. By 1474 the 'tenements called Marshalls '
were in the possession of Nicholas Ellerbek and
descended with Sutes and Youngs to William Tend-
ring, then with Youngs to
Richard Wytherall, and with
both manors to David Barclay.
It was separated from these
manors before 1 823, when
Frederick Croker and his wife
Anne conveyed it to John
Martin Leake of Thorpe
Hall." He died in 1836 and
was succeeded by his son John
Martin Leake. On the death
of John in 1862 it passed to
his brother Stephen Ralph
Martin Leake, and in 1865
to his son Stephen, barrister-
at-law of the Middle Temple.
He died in 1 893," and Mrs. Martin Leake, his
widow, now holds the estate and resides there.
The capital messuage or farm of Marshalls was
separated from the manor in the 1 7th century.
Roger Pavier of Uppington, co. Salop, died seised of
it in February 1634—5, leaving as co-heirs his nieces
Margaret wife of Ralph Kynaston, Elizabeth wife of
Thomas Brees and Mary wife of Samuel Challoner.76
The manorof BER If'ICKor BARWICK (Berewyk,
xiv cent.), an estate in the south-east of the parish on
the River Rib, was held of the manor of Standon at
the end of the 13th century by Eustace Fitz Thomas
(of Hawstead, co. Suff., and Shenley, co. Bucks.), who
died in 1272. The manor, called in this instance
the manor of Hollenhac, was then seized into the
king's hands.77 Thomas Fitz Eustace succeeded his
father and in 1292 received a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands of Berwick.76 He died in
13 18- 1 9,79 when the manor descended to his son"0
Thomas Fitz Eustace,81 and on the death of the latter
in 1 341 to his son, also Thomas Fitz Eustace, Agnes
his widow having dower of a chamber and chapel
adjoining at the upper door of the hall and land called
Siguresgrove 'on the north of Berewykwood near the
park.'6* Thomas, the son, died in 1349.83 During
the minority of John his brother and heir, Sir John
atte Lee held the manor by grant of Edmund de
Mortimer, the overlord.84 John at his death in 1369
left an infant son Philip. He apparently died soon
afterwards, for the manor went to a cousin John Fitz
Eustace, whose daughter Elizabeth married Robert
Berland of Raithby, co. Lincoln.85 They probably
had a son William Berland, the father of Elizabeth
70 Deeds in possession of Mr. C. B.
Giles-Puller.
71 Pedigree in possession of Mr. C. B.
Giles-Puller.
78 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 490,
"a Cal. Close, 1337-9, pp. 388, 393 ;
Cott. MS. Nero, vi, E, fol. 119A.
73 Cal. Close, 1349-54. P- 595-
74 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 & 4
Geo. IV.
75 Brass in High Cross Church.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxxiv,
109. 77 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188.
78 Chart. R. 20 Edw. I, m. 10, no. ;8i.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 15.
80 The heir is called nephew in the
above inquisition, but apparently by an
error. See Gage, Hist, and Antiq. of Suff.
410,
81 Fitz Eustace was henceforth used as
a transmissible surname.
82 Cal. Close, I 341-3, p. 496.
83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill, pt. ii,
no. 122.
84 Harl. Chart. 53 E. 43 ; Assize R. 339.
85 Called Robert Eland in the pedigree
in Gage, op. cit. 410, but Berland is the
form given in Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. VI,
no. 53.
358
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Berland, who married John Baud.86 He held the
manor jointly with his wife and died seised in 1422.87
William their son and heir succeeded and died about
four years afterwards.88 The manor then passed to
his uncle Thomas Baud of Corringham, co. Essex, and
Hadham, co. Herts., who died in 1430.89 His son
Thomas died in 144.9. Ralph his son held the
manor until 1483, when he died and was succeeded
by his son Thomas.90 In 1 502 Thomas Baud con-
veyed Milkley (q.v.) to Sir William Say of Essendon,
co. Herts., and Berwick was probably conveyed about
the same time. Elizabeth daughter and co-heir
of Sir William Say married William Blount Lord
Mountjoy, and their daughter and co-heir Gertrude
became the wife of Henry Courtenay Marquess of
Exeter, who with his wife was attainted in the reign
of Henry VIII.91
In 1543 the manor was leased by the king to Sir
Ralph Sadleir.92 It seems, however, to have been
eventually restored to the Say family. Thomas,
brother of Sir William Say, left a son William, who
died a minor in 1508, and two daughters, Anne
wife of Sir Robert Hussey of Linwood, co. Lincoln,
and Elizabeth wife of William Clopton, second son
of Sir William Clopton of Melford and Lutons, co.
Suffolk. In 1575 William Clopton conveyed one half
of the manor to Clement Newce,93 and in the same
year Dorothy daughter and co-heir of Sir Robert and
Anne Hussey 94 and wife of John Massingberd of
Gunby, co. Lincoln, also conveyed a twentieth part
to him.95 In 1 576 he acquired another twentieth from
John Mounson, son (apparently) of Mary Mounson
sister of Dorothy, and Margaret Thoralde, widow, a
third sister.96 Clement Newce died seised of the whole
in 1579,97 and was succeeded by his son William,
who died in February 1610-n.98
The Newces lived at Much Hadham in this county.99
Thomas Newce died in 1623 10°; his son William
conveyed the manor in 1648 to Edward Hide and
Oliver Bromhall to be sold for the payment of his
debts.1 It was purchased, according to Chauncy, by
Thomas Flyer of Brent Pelham,2 and descended to
his son Francis.3 Thomas son of Francis died in
1743.4 In 1746 the entail on the lands of Francis
Flyer was barred and the estates divided between his
daughters, Elizabeth wife of John Gibbs of Clapham,
STANDON
Judith and Catherine Flyer, and Anne wife of Angel
Chauncy of Cottered.5 According to Clutterbuck the
manor was sold in 1 764 to
Ambrose Procter.6 He de-
vised it by will of 1803 to
George Procter, eldest son of
his nephew John Procter.
After the death of George
Procter, his son Leonard being
an infant, the manor was sold
under an Act of Parliament
in 1 83 1 to Daniel Giles of
Youngsbury,7 with which
manor it has since descended.
The capital messuage or
manor called BIGGJNGS, to
the east of Barwick, was held
with that manor by Thomas Baud, who died in
1449,8 and by his son Ralph Baud at his death in
1483. After the forfeiture of the Marchioness of
Exeter it was apparently separated from that manor,
for in 1 547 Clement Newce acquired it from Sir
Richard Lee.9 Clement Newce died seised of it in
1579, but it was again separate from Berwick in
1 591, when George Dyer conveyed it to William
Newce.10 In 1648 William Newce settled it on his
son Thomas.11 It is now included in the Berwick estate.
The manor of MILKLET or MENTLET (Mel-
chlega, xii cent. ; Melkeleia, Melkeleye, Melklegh,
xiii cent.; Mylkeley, xv cent.) was held of the manor
of Standon by the service of a knight's fee and a rent
of 26/. 8</.12 It appears first in the tenure of a family
with a local designation. Robert son of John de
Milkley appears on the Pipe Rolls in connexion with
Hertfordshire in the reign of Henry II.13 Richard de
Milkley, who died before 1222, held a hide and
2 virgates in ' Melkeleia and Hungerhulla,' which
descended to his son Richard.14 Later in the century
a John de Milkley was acquiring lands in Standon
from Thomas le Verly and his wife Alice, daughter
of John Pake, and others,15 but the principal holding
was probably that of Robert de Milkley, who in 1 3 1 1
received a grant of free warren at Milkley.16 The
grant was made 'at the request of Bartholomew de
Badlesmere,' and was to William le Baud of Corring-
ham, co. Essex, and his wife Isabel in conjunction
86 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. VI, no. 53.
81 Ibid. 88 Ibid. 5 Hen. VI, no. 29.
89 Minet, ' Baud Family of Corryng-
ham and Hadham Parva ' (Essex Arch.
Soc. Trans, [new ser.], x, 145 ; Morant,
Hist, of Essex, i, 241). In Thomas Baud's
will (P.C.C. 18 Rous) Berwick was left
to his son William, but there is no evi-
dence as to William holding it. Possibly
he died without issue.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Ric. Ill, no. 6.
After the death of Thomas Baud a suit
was brought against his widow Anne, then
wife of Sir Edmund Lucy, by Margaret
Marzen (see Sutes), who claimed to be
the daughter of Anne Ellerbek, daughter
and heir of Ralph Baud, and therefore
entitled to the manors of Berwick, Milkley
and Biggin. The suit was brought to
recover the title deeds which were said to
be in the possession of Lucy and his wife
(Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 339, no. 33).
There is no further evidence as to Mar-
garet Marzen's kinship, and the presump-
tion is that Thomas was son and heir of
Ralph Baud as stated in the inquisition.
91 G.E.C. Pierage.
98 L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 981 (22).
93 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 & 18
Eliz.
94 Their only son Thomas died without
issue in 1559. For pedigree see Sketches
Illust. of Topog. and Hist, of New and Old
Sleaford (1825), 108.
95 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 & 18 Eliz.
96 Ibid. Trin. 18 Eliz.
97 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxix,
92 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 33 Eliz.
96 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxvii, 99.
99 See the inquisitions.
100 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxix,
131.
1 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 24 Chas. I,
m. 31.
2 Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 220.
3 Recov. R. East. 28 Chas. II, rot. 96 ;
Hil. 1 Geo. I, rot. 82.
4 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 230.
5 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 19 Geo. II,
m. 12 ; Recov. R. East. 19 Geo. II, rot.
142 ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 19 Geo. II.
6 Op. cit. iii, 230. Clutterbuck gives
359
the sale of 1764 as from Mary daughter
and heir of Thomas Flyer, but this
scarcely seems to be correct.
7 Deeds in possession of Mr. C. B.
Giles-Puller ; Private Act, 5 Geo. IV,
cap. 27.
8 See P.C.C. Will, 18 Rous. Bigging
was left to his son Thomas, who possibly
died without issue.
9 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 8.
10 Feet of F. Herts. East. 33 Eliz.
11 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 24 Chas. I,
m. 31.
12 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 94.
13 Pipe R. 22 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
9; 25 Hen. II, 55 etannisseq.
14 Bracton's Note Bk. (ed. Maitland),
ii, 163-4.
lsAnct. D. (P.R.O.), A1016, 1011,
1013, 1019, 1021, 1058 ; B 4014,4153.
The heir of this John and of Richard de
Milkley was John's daughter Muriel
(ibid. A 5127, 9598).
16 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 183.
See also Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8, where
he is assessed under Standon.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
with Robert de Milkley, so that apparently they had
some interest in the manor at that date, probably a
grant of the reversion. In I 3 14 they received a grant
(made again at the request of Bartholomew de Badles-
mere) of a market on Thursday and a fair on the vigil,
day and morrow of the Decollation of St. John the
Baptist (29 August) at their manor of Puckeridge (by
which name Milkley was then known)." Robert
de Milkley was apparently still living at the manor,
and after his death in 13 I 5- 1 6 a rent of 100s. was
payable from the manor to Alice his daughter.18
William Baud forfeited in the rebellion of Thomas
Earl of Lancaster,19 and
Milkley was not restored until
1327,'° in which year a fresh
grant of market and fair was
made, the market to be held
on Saturday and the fair on
the vigil and day of St. Peter
and St. Paul (29 June).31 In
1 33 1 William Baud made a
settlement on his son John.38
William died at Corringham
in 1343 and John in Gascony
in 1346.23 Sir William Baud,
son of John, died before 1388,
when Milkley was in the possession of Thomas his
third son." He was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in
1446 and 1447.'5 In 1422 he granted the Tile-
house at the manor of Milkley with land and a
pasture called Mayeshull and free entrance and exit
for carrying tiles by three ways, viz. towards Pucke-
ridge, Old Hall Green and ' Schakelocks Lane,' to
William Colt for six years, a thousand tiles yearly
being reserved for roofing the houses there.86 Thomas
Baud died in 1430 and his son Thomas in 1449.27
Themanor then descended to Ralph son of Thomas, and
in 1483 to Thomas son of Ralph. In 1502 Thomas
Baud conveyed it to Sir William Say of Essendon, to
whom he was bound in a sum of ^ijOOo.'8 Agnes
his wife released her right to a third after his death
in 1521.89 With Berwick (q. v.) the manor was for-
feited to the Crown under Henry VIII,30 and in 1534
was granted to Sir Thomas Audley, afterwards Lord
Audley of Walden.31 It descended to his daughter
Margaret, who married Thomas Duke of Norfolk,
and was settled on Thomas Lord Howard, their second
son, who in March I 583-4 conveyed it to Simeon
Brograve, son and heir-apparent of John Brograve
of Westmill.38 It then descended with Hamells in
Braughing (q.v.).
The house called Mentley, now a farm, lies a little
to the north-west of Puckeridge. There are the
remains of a homestead moat near it. A mill at
Milkley is mentioned in I 342."
The rolls of courts held at Milkley in 1516 and
1558 are at the Record Office.3' Mention of the
tile kiln at Milkley occurs in the former roll.
The manor of RENNESLE1' (Reneslegh, Romesley,
xiii cent. ; Ranesleye, xiv cent.), on the south of the
parish near the Rib, was held about the middle of the
1 3th century by Walter de Furneaux and his wife
Alice, who granted it to Adam de Cretinge. He
in 1283 or soon after conveyed it to Anthony Bek,
Bishop of Durham.34a Possibly Robert de Wyleby and
John de Harecourt, the kinsmen and heirs of Anthony
Bek, reconveyed the manor to Sarah daughter of
Walter de Furneaux.35 In 13 17 a certain Gerard
Daudenard and his wife Sarah conveyed a moiety of
the manor held for the life of Sarah to John de
Horneby,36 who in 1 32 1 acquired another moiety
from Jordan de Beverley, called one of the heirs of Sir
Roger de Scotre.37
There seems to be no further trace of the manor
until 1 5 1 7, when it was held by Thomas Bird.38
In 1543 John and Nicholas Bird with their wives,
both named Elizabeth, conveyed it to John Gar-
diner,59 who died seised in 1550/0 having bequeathed
it to his son Thomas with a remainder to Richard
Farnfield.'1 The latter was holding it at his death
in 1609," and it descended to his son Walter,
who died in 161 1, Thomas his brother and heir
being then aged twelve.1' Before 1676 it had come
into the possession of Ralph Freeman," who with his
wife Elizabeth conveyed it in 1685 to Christopher
Cratford and Henry Clarke,45 probably in trust for
Benjamin Gardiner, who was holding in 1 700." It
descended to Sarah daughter of John Gardiner and
wife of Thomas Kilpin. She joined with her daughter
Martha in 1 731 in a sale to John Jennings, whose
17 Chart. R.
8 Edw. II, m. 20,
no. 44.
'8 Cal. Close
1 3*3-7. P- 94-
19 Pari. Wr
its (Rec. Com.),
i, App.
.78.
80 Cal. Close
1327-30, P- 21 i
323"7>
p. 94.
21 Chart. R.
1 Edw. Ill, m. 22,
no. 40.
28 Feet of F. Div. Co. 5 Edw. III.
23 Morant, op. cit. i, 241. For grants
by John of land in Puckeridge, Ac,
see Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 656, 2474 ;
A 11517.
" See Minet, op. cit. 162-5.
116 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 282.
M Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 407.
87 Minet, op. cit. 166.
,s Close, 18 Hen. VII, no. 15.
39 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 13 Hen. VIII.
« L. and P. Hen. VIII, ix, 481.
« Ibid, vii, 587 (10) ; xiii (2), 491 (6).
The manor (i.e. the rent from it) was
annexed to the duchy of Lancaster in
1558 (Pat. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary, m. 23).
ss Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 26 Eliz. ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 26 Eliz. At some
date before 1628 a conveyance of the
manor seems to have been made to the
Crown, for in that year the king granted
it to Edward Ditchfield and others (Pat.
4 Chas. I, pt. xxxv, rot. C, m. 1). They
conveyed it to Edward Brograve (Close,
6 Chas. I, pt. vi, no. 32), and according
to Chauncy it descended in his family
until 169;, when Elizabeth Wyke, heir
of Thomas Brograve, sold it to Sir Thomas
Brograve of Hamells (Hist. Antij. of Herts.
220). But all the conveyances dealing
with Hamells, Westmill, &c, during this
period mention Milklev also, and it seems
more probable that Edward Brograve
(who was of Gray's Inn) was 2cting in
trust for Simeon Brograve, and that the
whole transaction was for an alteration
in tenure.
33 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 2474.
34 (Gen. Ser.), portf. 14S, no. 18 ; 998,
no. 77.
3« Harl. Chart. 48 I. 48. The tenure
of this manor does not appear ; probably
it was held of Standon.
35 Adam de Creting had a son John,
who in 1328 brought a suit against Alice
le Boteler and her son John for one-third
of the manor of Plessis which Walter de
Furneaux and Alice had given to Adam de
Creting and he to Anthony Bek, whose
heirs apparently released it to Sarah
daughter of Walter de Furneaux, whose
son Walter granted it to Alice le
Boteler and John (De Banco R. Trin.
2 Edw. Ill, m. 60). At first sight it
would appear that this moiety of Plessis
must be the same as the manor called
Rennesley, but the date of the action when
compared with the date at which it was
acquired by John de Horneby (see text)
makes this impossible.
36 Feet of F. Herts. 11 Edw. II,
no. 272.
37 Abbre-v. Plat. (Rec. Com.), 338.
35 See Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxii,
88.
39 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 34 Hen. VIII.
<° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xciii, 107.
" Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 232.
42 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxi,
115.
" Ibid, cccxxv, 195.
" Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 28 Chas. II.
« Ibid. Trin. 1 Jas. II.
«6 Ibid. Mich. 12 Will. III.
360
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Smith of Woodhall.
Or a chcveron cotised
sable between three detni-
griffons sable, the two
in the chief facing one
another.
son George sold it to Ambrose Procter in 1786. He
devised it to George Procter, son of his nephew John,47
by whom it was sold in 1826
to Abel Smith of Woodhall.
His son Abel Smith, M.P.,
was lord in 1 873, 48 and the
manor is now held by his son
Mr. Abel Henry Smith.
To the south of Rennesley
Garden Wood is a moated
tumulus.
Another mesne manor held
of the manor of Standon was
BARTRAM S (Bertrammes,
xv cent.) alias BJRTRJMS
LAND, situated on the east
of the parish. It evidently
took its name from a family
of Bertram, one of whom,
William Bertram, appears as witness to a 1 3th-
century deed.49 In the second half of the 14th
century the minor was in the tenure of Robert
Marshall, from whom it descended to his son Robert
Marshall, who died seised of it in January 1402-3.50
His heir was Richard Torell, son of his sister Elizabeth,
who held the manor until his death about 1410.61
His son Thomas succeeded on reaching his majority.52
In 1436 Thomas Torell conveyed the manor to
Ralph Asteley and four co-feoffees.53 It descended to
Nicholas Asteley, whose widow Cicely was holding it
in 1 503 together with two water-mills called Wades
Mills.54 In 1 5 1 8 Robert Asteley and his wife Eliza-
beth conveyed it to Thomas Newce.55 Another
Thomas Newce was holding it in 1597.56 He or
possibly a son of the same name sold it in 1638 to
William Fenn 57 of Harrow, co. Middlesex, who,
according to Chauncy, was lord of the manor when
he wrote (l70o),5S but this was more probably a son
of the same name. George Fenn suffered a recovery
of the manor in 174 1.53 In 1746 Mary Fenn, senior,
and Mary Fenn, junior, conveyed the manor to
William Waddilove,60 possibly for a settlement on the
younger Mary on her marriage with William Wood-
ward, for he with his wife Mary was holding it the
next year.61 In 1754 William and Mary Woodward
conveyed it to Henry Lewis.62 In 1839 it was in
the possession of Mary de Home Hooper,63 daughter
of John Scott, the Quaker poet.
The manor of BROMETTS, B ROM ELLS, or
BROMLEY HALL was held of the lord of Standon
early in the 15th century by John Clerk, a netmaker
of London.64 His daughter and heir Margaret
Field. Gules a fesse
argent between three
eagles argent sprinkled
•with drops gules.
STANDON
married William Walden of London,65 but whether
she held it is uncertain, as it seems to have passed to
Nicholas Sterlyng,66 and from
him before 1462 to John
Field, who in March of that
year received an acquittance
of homage ' for the lands and
tenements of Bromeley ' from
Cecilia Duchess of York.07
This John was possibly son of
Roger atte Field, bailiff of the
manor of Standon in 1362
and 1366.68 The brass of
John who died in 1477 is in
Standon Church, also that of
his son John (1474). No
further record of this manor
has been found until 1548,
when Thomas Howe and Audrey his wife conveyed
it as the manor of Bromley Hall to Philip Gunter.69
In 1585 it was in the possession of Francis Gunter,70
and Thomas Gunter was holding it in 1 587.71 In
1636 it was sold by Blanche James, widow, to Richard
Spicer, M.D., and his wife Thomasine.72 John
Spicer, son of Richard, joined with Mary his wife and
Steward Spicer, his eldest son, in a conveyance of the
manor and of the capital messuage at Standon in
which he lived to Henry Uthwhat of St. Margaret's,
Westminster, in 1690.73 Elizabeth daughter and
heir of Henry Uthwhat married Edward Elderton,
afterwards of Mile End, Stepney. They became
bankrupt, and in 1 71 8 the manor was sold to Francis
Brownsword and Charles Cotton,74 who conveyed it
to Thomas Scott, a poulterer of London.75 Thomas
Scott died without issue and intestate in January
1738-9, leaving a wife Elizabeth and two sisters,
Ann Wilkinson and Mary Easton. In 1 741 pro-
ceedings in Chancery were taken by Ann Wilkinson
to obtain a partition of the estate, her brother's
widow having, according to her evidence, taken pos-
session of the whole property by right of dower,
and having with her agent Charles Easton, son of
Mary, committed waste there. A decree for partition
was obtained, but does not seem to have been carried
out.76 Mary Easton died in 1 746, and left an un-
divided moiety to her younger son Charles Easton of
Twickenham, co. Middlesex.77 He by will of 1785,
proved in 1786, left it to Charles Easton, son of his
brother Robert.78 In 1 82 2 Charles Easton conveyed
this moiety to Joseph Tringham of St. John's Wood.'9
Ann Wilkinson's moiety descended in 1757 to her
daughter Ann, wife of Thomas Reynoldson. She
47 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 232, quoting
from deeds of George Procter.
43 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hund. 173.
"Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5 112. The
names of Peter Bartram, Robert Bartram
and Thomas Bartram also occur as wit-
nesses to deeds (Harl. MS. 1240, fol. 82,
83A, 84).
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. IV, no. 19.
It is here said to be held of the king
owing to the minority of the Earl of
March (see Foreign R. 12 Hen. IV, m. A).
51 See Foreign R. 1 2 Hen. IV, m. A.
52 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V,
no. 19.
53 Feet of F. Herts. 14 Hen. VI, no. 81.
54 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5507.
55 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 10 Hen. VIII.
56 Ibid. Mich. 39 & 40 Eliz.
57 Recov. R. Mich. i4Chas. I, rot. 123.
55 Hist. Antia. of Herts. 221.
59 Recov. R. Trin. 14 & 15 Ge
rot. 1 ; 6.
<"> Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 20 Geo.
61 Ibid. Mich. 21 Geo. II.
62 Ibid. East. 27 Geo. II.
63 Tithe apportionment.
64 Harl. Chart. 45 G. 3.
65 Cal. Close, 1422-9, p. 553.
Clerk is here called chandler, but
sumably the same.
66 Harl. Chart. 45 G. 3. He may
possibly have been only a feoffee.
67 Add. Chart. 15476.
65 Mins. Accts. bdle. ml, no. 9, 11;
see also Harl. Chart. 51 C. 55.
69 Feet of F. Herts. Mich, 2 Edw. VI.
n,
John
s pre-
361
n Recov. R. Hil. 27 Eliz. rot. 76.
71 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 29 & 30
Eliz. m. 34 d.
72 Recov. R. Mich. 12 Chas. I, rot.
28.
73 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 3 Will, and
Mary ; Recov. R. East. 4 Will, and
Mary, rot. 89 ; Close, 4 Will, and Mary,
pt. v, no. 2.
74 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 5 Geo. I,
m. 27 d.
75 Deeds in possession of Mr. Grosvenor
Berry communicated by Mr. W. Minet.
76 Ibid.
77 P.C.C. Will communicated by Mr.
W. Minet.
73 Ibid.
79 Deeds in possession of Mr. Grosvenor
Berry communicated by Mr. W. Minet.
46
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
devised it by will proved in 1792 to her son Martin
Reynoldson, whose daughter Ann Easton Reynoldson
sold it in 1 824 to William Tringham. Both moieties
remained in the Tringham family until 191 I, when
the estate was bought by Mr. Grosvenor Berry, the
present owner.80
WIGFR1TH (also called REGRET or RE-
GRJCl'ES,sl and now RIGGORr'S) was another
reputed manor held of Standon. Robert Fitz Herbert
died seised of it in 15 15 and was succeeded by his
son Humphrey,83 whose son John Fitz Herbert 83
sold it in I 55 I to Henry Chauncy.84 He conveyed
it to William Holliland in 1562.85 David Holliland
sold it in 1 598 to Richard Hale,86 who died seised
in February 1 620- 1,87 William his son, aged fifty-
two, being his heir. In 1 706 Susan Baldwin,
spinster, was holding one-third of the manor.88
Later it was in the possession of the Jennings family,
and was offered for sale by auction with other lands
of George Jennings, son of Sir John Jennings of
Greenwich, in 1786. It was bought by St. Edmund's
College in 181 5-89 The farm lies to the south-west
of Old Hall Green.
The STONEHOUSE alias BRICKHOUSE estate
may perhaps be traced to John Field, who in 1477
died seised of nine messuages and other property in
Standon including an inn called the New Inn alias
the ' Swan ' at Puckeridge.90 His widow Agnes
Morton died seised of the same in 151 7,91 when
they descended to Dorothy wife of Sir William
Filoll, kt., as daughter and heir.92 A rental of
Filoll's lands includes tenements scattered over the
north-west of the parish,93 and among them is one
called ' Stonehaw in Stortford Street,' which proba-
bly represents the later form of Stonehouse. The
property descended to Anne Filoll, daughter and
heir, who married Sir Edward Willoughby. After
the death of her husband she and her son Henry
sold the ' manor of Standon alias the Stonehouse '
to Thomas Howe in 1541.94 In 1544 he alienated
part of the estate called Hallys and Ducketts (see
history of the chapel of Salebourne above) to John
Gardiner, and in 1550 sold the 'manor of Standon
alias the Brickhouse alias the Stonehouse ' to Thomas
Gardiner,95 from whom it passed in I 5 52 to Guy Wade
of London.96 Wade's will is dated 1557.07 His son
and heir Samuel died without issue about I 562,98 and
in 1567 Samuel's paternal aunt and heir Marion wife
of William Pickering of London sold the Stonehouse
to Thomas Stanley.99 It descended to his daughter
and heir Mary, who married Sir Edward Harbert
of Hendon, and they in 1 583 conveyed it to Sir
80 Deeds in possession of Mr. Grosvenor
Berry communicated by Mr. W. Minet.
a Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 2, no. 77.
s2 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, 95.
83 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 32 Hen. VIII.
81 Ibid. Mich. 5 Edw. VI.
85 Ibid. Mich. 4 & 5 Eliz.
86 Ibid. Hil. 4.0 Eliz.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvii,
Ralph Sadleir,luu with other lands called Palmers
and Mylmans which Thomas Stanley had acquired
from Thomas Wytton in 1567. It then follows the
descent of Standon and is mentioned in conveyances
of that manor as late as the reign of James I. If the
stone house or brick house of this estate is the same
as the tenement called the ' Stonehaw ' (see above)
which lay in Stortford Street, it is possible that this
is the old manor-house described by Salmon as lying
west of the town by the road leading to the main
road to Ware.1
By an early 13th-century deed Ralph Child of
Milkley settled a messuage in Standon and land in
Milkley, Hanley and Northfield by Ruggeberwe
(Ragborough) on his sister Isold.2 John Child was
assessed for property at Standon in 1307.3 The
Childs' property may be identified with the ' manor,
capital messuage or farm called CHILDS alias THE
HOLLE,' which belonged to Ralph Asteley at the
beginning of the I 5th century,33 and of which John
Watts (see Mardocks in Ware) died seised in 1616.4
Hole Farm, which corresponds with the situation of
this estate,6 may preserve the name.
The RECTORT MANOR alias STJNDON
FRIARS originated in a grant made by Gilbert de
Clare son of Richard de Ton-
bridge, probably early in the
1 2th century, of the church
of Standon, 140 acres of land
and his vineyard there to the
Knights of St. John of Jeru-
salem.6 Roger de Clare his
brother and successor further
granted them 'the mill which
is outside the gate of Standon
towards the south.' 7 It was
evidently this mill which the
lords of Standon subsequently
rented from the prior,8 who
in 1337 exchanged the rent with Elizabeth de Burgh
for lands in West Peckham and Swanton, co. Kent.9
The maintenance of a chantry ' in the chapel of the
manor ' was incumbent on the prior, and was prob-
ably a condition of the grant by Gilbert de Clare.10
The Prior of St. John of Jerusalem had amendment
of the assize of bread and ale from his tenants at
Standon.11 In 1330 the prior leased the manor to
William de Langeford for ten years,12 and in 1533
the manor and parsonage were leased to Richard
Wytherall (for whom see Youngs).13 After the Dis-
solution the manor and rectory were granted in
1540 to Sir Ralph Sadleir,14 and they have since
83 Recov. R. East. 5 Anne, rot. 145.
89 Information from the Rev. E. Burton,
D.D.
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. IV, no. 56.
91 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxxii, 38.
92 Ibid. >» Harl. Roll L. 33.
91 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 33
Hen. VIII, m. 7 d. ; Feet of F. Trin.
33 Hen. VIII.
« Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Edw. VI.
90 Ibid. East. 6 Edw. VI.
97 Add. Chart. 1996.
98 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 144,
no. 29.
99 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 9 Eliz.
m. 21 d. ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
9 Eliz.
100 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 26 Eliz.
m. 7 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 25 & 26
Eliz.
1 Salmon, Hist. 0/ Herts. 238.
2 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 51 12.
3 Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8.
s»Will of Ralph Asteley in Cant.
Archiepis. Reg. Stafford, fol. 135*.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccliv,
MS-
6 One of the boundaries of the Old
362
Hall Green property afterwards acquired
by St. Edmund's College is given in 1677
as ' the land lately of Sir John Watts '
(deed in possession of St. Edmund's
College).
6 Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199-1216 (Rec.
Com.), 16.
7 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. vi, 806.
8 Add. MS. 6042, fol. 72 (Mun. of
Mortimer Earl of March).
9 Ibid. ; Inq. a.q.d. file 240, no. 20.
10 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no.
37, 39 ; Cott. MS. Claud, E vi, fol. 10.
11 Assize R. 323.
12 Cott. MS. Nero, E vi, fol. 120.
13 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. lvii, foL 108.
For other 16th-century leases see Cott.
MS. Claud. E vi, fol. 10, 245 d.
» L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, 379 (26).
Standon Church : The Nave looking East
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
descended with Standon,15 being now held by the
Duke of Wellington.
Appurtenant to the manor of Standon Friars was
a grange at a place called Papwell to which were
attached the tithes of a part of the parish lying
between Old Hall Green and Latchford.16 The
name Papwell does not seem to survive now, but in
the 17th century the 'liberty of Poppwell or Pap-
well Walk ' occurs as the name of a division of the
parish for the collection of the hearth tax,1' and from
the fact that 155 householders were assessed there it
seems that this district must have included the hamlet
of Collier's End.18 Papwell Walk also occurs as the
name of a common field which seems to have lain
between Collier's End and Old Hall Green (see
above). There is no further record of this grange,
but part of the Old Hall estate acquired by Bishop
Talbot in 1787 consisted of copyhold held of the
rectory manor.19 The ' parsonage of Standon and
Papwell' mentioned in a 16th-century lease shows
that there was still a distinction between the tithes
of the two districts.20
The abbey of Croyland had a small estate in
Standon. According to the forged history of Ingulph
the abbey had 5 hides there confirmed by charters of
Edred and Edgar, and a house is said to have been
built there in 1032 by the Abbot Brichtmer.21
The abbey certainly had lands there in the 13 th
century.22 John Field had a lease of these lands
in 1470, and later his widow Agnes and her husband
Robert Morton held them.23 At the time of the
Dissolution the farm of the lands was 26/.24
In the 10th century a certain Ethelgiva devised
lands in Standon to the abbey of St. Albans, but
there is no further trace of them after this date.25
The church of ST. MART, situated
CHURCH in the middle of the village, consists of
chancel 38 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft. 6 in.,
north vestry, south organ chamber, nave 71ft. 6 in.
by 22 ft., north and south aisles 73 ft. by 12 ft.,
south porch 9 ft. by 7 ft. 6 in., west porch
14 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., south-east tower 14ft. square,
all internal dimensions. The walls are of flint
with stone dressings ; the tower is covered with
cement.
The earliest part of the existing church is the
chancel, which dates from about 1230-40. The nave
appears to have been rebuilt about the middle of the
14th century, but the west doorway is earlier, about
1320-30. The north and south aisles are of the same
date as the nave. The west porch and a detached
tower to the south of the chancel were added in the
15 th century. The unusual position of the tower is
probably due to the existence of the west doorway of
an earlier date. In I 864 the church was thoroughly
repaired, much of the external stone was replaced, the
whole building re-roofed, a vestry built north of the
chancel, the upper part of the tower repaired with
brick and cemented, an organ-chamber erected on the
STANDON
south side, connecting the chancel with the tower,
and a timber south porch added.
This church presents several interesting features
unusual in the Hertfordshire churches. The chancel has
a considerable elevation above the floor of the nave.
The floors of both nave and chancel have a perceptible
inclination upwards towards the east ; this is pro-
bably partly due to the slope of the ground, and there
is a belief, which, however, has never been investigated,
that a vault exists under the chancel. The other
unusual features are the detached tower on the
south, now connected with the chancel, and the west
porch.
The chancel is approached from the nave by a flight
of eight steps, the full width of the chancel, most of
them projecting into the nave ; the rise is 4 ft. I in.
There is another flight of five steps, also the width of
the chancel, from the floor of the chancel to the foot
pace round the communion table, with a rise of
2 ft. 3 in. ; there is also a slight slope in the floor
upwards towards the east.
The three single lights in the east wall are modern.
To the south of these lights is a moulded bracket sup-
ported by an angel bearing a shield. In the north
wall are two modern lancet windows and a doorway
to the modern vestry. In the south wall are a single-
light window and an arched opening to the organ-
chamber, both modern. In the same wall is a blocked
doorway. The fine chancel arch dates from about
1230-40. The arch is of two richly moulded orders,
with the dog-tooth ornament between. The jambs
are moulded, and have modern detached shafts of red
Devonshire marble. The moulded bases and the
capitals of carved foliage are original. The wall on
either side of the chancel arch is pierced by a squint
with pointed arch ; it was originally open down to
the floor, but the lower part was subsequently built
up. These openings have been repaired, but appear
to be coeval with the chancel arch.
The nave has north and south arcades of five pointed
arches. The arches are of two moulded orders with
moulded labels next the nave. The piers, of oolite,26
are of four grouped semi-octagonal shafts separated by
a fillet. The capitals and bases are moulded ; they
date from about 1340-50. Over each pier is a
clearstory window of two lights, the inner jambs of
which belong to the early 1 5th century, the rest of
the stonework being modern.
The west doorway is of early 14th-century date,
with moulded chinch arch and jambs of oolite. The
west window has four lights, with flowing tracery of
about 1340-50.
The east window of the north aisle is of three
cinquefoiled lights with flowing tracery. The west
window is also of three lights with flowing tracery.
The four windows in the north wall are of two lights
with traceried heads. All the windows are of mid-
I4th-century date, repaired. On the east wall of the
aisle is a bracket for an image, square with a plain
15 There is a grant to Tipper and
Dawe, fishing grantees, in 1592 (Pat.
34 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 1 [2nd pt. of roll]).
16 Cott. MS. Nero, E vi, fol. 121.
These may have possibly been the endow-
ment of an ancient chapel.
"Lay Subs. R. bdle. 248, no. 23
(.663).
19 The term * liberty' is probably used
on account of the earlier connexion with
the Hospitallers.
19 Information from the Rev. E. Burton,
D.D. m Cott. MS. Claud, E vi, fol. 10.
81 ' Hist. Croyland Ingulphi,' Rerum
Anglkanim Scriptorum veterum, i, 61 ;
Dugdale, Men. Angl. ii, 96.
23 Assize R. 6 Edw. I, Agard's MS.
index, fol. 46.
23 Harl. Chart. 44 C. 59-64, 44 D.
363
« Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
85 Cott. MS. Nero, D. 7
Dipt. 497-
2G The jambs of the n(
west doorways are also o
the arches are of clunch.
11, 124.
; Thorpe, Cod.
>rth, south and
f shelly oolite,
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
splay under. In the south-east corner is a piscina
with a pointed head and splayed edge ; the bowl is in
a projecting part of the sill. A moulded string-course
on the inside wall at the sill level is broken only by
the blocked north door, which has a pointed arch of
two moulded orders of 14th-century date.
The windows in the south aisle are similar to those
in the north, the section of the inner label in the
windows in the south wall being different. The
east window, which opens into the modern organ-
chamber, is unglazed. The stair to the rood-loft is
placed in the north-east corner of the aisle ; the I 5 th-
ee ntury four-centred doorway is set in a splay in the
aisle ; the upper doorway to the rood-loft, also with a
four-centred arch, opens into the nave. In the south
wall near the east end is a mid- 14th-century piscina
with pointed head and moulded jambs. The wall
is a two-light window with traceried head. The tower
is finished with an embattled parapet and a small
leaded spire.
The font has an octagonal basin, round which are
carved in relief two rows of continuous foliage, prob-
ably of early I 3th-century work ; the stem is modern,
but the original bases of detached shafts remain.
All the other fittings are modern.
In the organ-chamber is a large chest bound with
many iron bands and with six handles ; it is probably
of 16th-century date. Another chest, in the vestry,
bears the letters R.S. and the crest of the Sadleir family.
On the north side of the chancel is a large marble
monument to Sir Thomas Sadleir, who died in 1606,
and Gertrude his wife. Their recumbent effigies lie
under a semicircular canopy supported by columns ;
above the cornice are their arms. The knight is in
H15THCENT
□ Modern
Plan of Standon Church
string carried round the arch forms the label. A little
to the west of this a large modern ogee-arched recess
contains an ancient stone coffin without a lid.
The 14th-century south doorway has a pointed
arch of two moulded orders, with richly moulded
inner arch having a moulded label and head stops.
The south porch is modern.
The west porch has a pointed entrance moulded
archway which has been repaired. The side windows
are filled with modern tracery. The porch is of 1 5th-
century date.
The south-east tower is of three stages, with door-
ways on the north and west sides. The second stage
is pierced by loops. In each face of the belfry stage
armour and the lady clad in a long robe with ruff;
in front are the kneeling figures of a son and daughter.
On the south side of the chancel is the monument
to Sir Ralph Sadleir, who died in 1587. His recum-
bent effigy, in armour, lies in an arched recess, above
which is a cornice supported on Ionic columns ; in
front of the base are the kneeling figures of three sons
and four daughters ; above the cornice are his arms.
Above the tomb, on iron brackets, are two helmets,
a sword, stirrups, halbert and spurs, also a long standard
pole, bound spirally with strip iron, said to have been
captured by Sir Ralph at the battle of Pinkie27;
the banner itself is modern, the old one having dropped
to pieces.28
87 This pole was for a time removed to
Gilston Park (see Illui. Land. Nevus,
26 Apr. 1 8 5 1 ). There is a legend that it
was the pole of the Royal Standard of
Scotland, which Sadleir is said to have
captured (see memoir of him by Sir
Walter Scott in Slate Papers and Letters
of Sir R. Sadleir [ed. A. Clifford, 1809],
p. xix, and Life and Times of Sir P., Sadleir
by F. Sadleir Stoney [1877], 112).
2S Some armour, including a breast-
plate and helmet, pistol, spurs, and an
instrument for stringing a cross-bow,
which were over Sir Ralph's tomb, and a
piece of horse armour which had hung
over Sir William Coffin's, are now in the
possession of Rev. Franc Sadleir. Infor-
mation from Mr. T. U. Sadleir.
364
-«b=
Standon Church : Monument to Sir Ralph Sadleir
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
In the north aisle is an altar tomb with stone sides,
having indents of three shields ; on the top is a
marble slab, round the top edge of which is an
inscription, part of which is lost, but said to be to
John Field, who died in 1477. On the slab is his
brass, a figure clothed in the robes of an alderman.
He has a double chain of gold round his neck and a
rosary and a purse hanging from his girdle ; below
are small figures of two sons and a daughter. On
the same slab is the brass of his son John, in an
elaborate suit of armour, with his tabard emblazoned
with his arms ; the date of his death is missing. Below
are the figures of two sons and two daughters.
Above the figure of the alderman is a shield of the
arms of the city of London, and below is one charged
with a merchant's mark ; the shield above his son
has the arms of the Staple of Calais, the arms of
Field being on another shield below.
In the vestry is a mural tablet to Ann daughter of
Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, and wife of Ralph Sadleir of Standon, who
died in 1660.
In the east wall of the chancel, outside, is the
undated tomb of Richard Sadleir.
On the nave floor, near the east end, are four slabs
with brasses ; one to Sir William CofFyn, of the
household of King Henry VIII, died in 1538, a shield
with his arms above. Another brass is of a civilian, the
inscription and paternal coat of arms are gone ; the
maternal shield bears the arms of Wade. The third
brass has the figure of a man in armour, with inscrip-
tion and arms of — Wade, impaling another, died
1557; under the inscription are the old arms of
the Merchant Taylors' Company. The fourth brass
has inscription only to Richard Emerson, who died
in 1562. On the south wall of the chancel is a
brass inscription to John Riggewyn, 1412, and his
wife.
There are six bells : the treble by Thomas Mears ;
the second and fourth by Miles Graye, 1630, pre-
sented by Ralph Sadleir ; the third by Mears &
Stainbank, 1868 ; the fifth by J. Briant, 1792 ; the
tenor by Pack & Chapman, 1778.
The communion plate is modern.
The registers of baptisms and burials begin in
1 67 1, and of marriages in 1672 ; there are no
marriage registers from 1719 to 1728.
The church of Standon was granted
ADVOWSON by Gilbert de Clare to the Knights
Hospitallers probably at the begin-
ning of the 1 2th century (see rectory manor).
Before 1280 the church was served by a vicar, and
in that year the vicarage was formally endowed by
the prior with a messuage and 3 acres of land.29
After the Dissolution the advowson was granted with
the rectory and rectory manor to Sir Ralph Sadleir,30
and descended with Standon until conveyed by the
Duke of Wellington to Christopher Puller of Youngs-
bury. In 1896 it was sold to Mr. E. S. Hanbury,
the present patron.31
At the beginning of the 16th century there
was a brotherhood of our Lady in Standon Church.
Various bequests made to it occur in wills of that
date.32
STANDON
The Parochial Charities are regu-
CHJRIT1ES lated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners 10 April 1894. They
comprise the charities of:
1. John de Standon, by deed 1658, consists of
32 a. 3 r. 8 p., acquired by exchange under the Inci-
sure Act 1830 and producing ^32 5/. 5^. yearly.
2. Thomas Fysher, by deed 1 6 14, consists of
29 a. 2 r. 25 p. and a sum of £262 14/. tod. consols,
producing altogether about £j6 Ss. \d. yearly.
3. George Crowch, by deed 1554, trust fund,
£427 £2 ioj-. per cent, annuities, producing
£10 13/. j.d. yearly.
4. William Haynes, by deed 1635, consists of an
allotment of 2 a. or. 5 p., part of Puckeridge Common,
producing £2 lis. 2d., and a sum of £218 19/. lod.
consols, producing £5 9/. 4*/. yearly.
5. David Thomas, by deed 1702, consists of an
allotment of 2 a. 1 r. 35 p., part of Puckeridge Com-
mon, producing £2 4/. yearly.
6. Henry Gutteridge, established by admittance
entered on the Court Rolls of the manor of the
borough of Standon 17 December 1766, consists of
an allotment of 1 a. 3 r., part of Puckeridge Common,
producing £1 I is. 1 id. yearly.
7. Matthew Roe, by deed 1700, consists of
10 a. 3 r. 2 7 p., producing £13 5/. 3^., and £109 5/. gd.
consols, producing £2 14/. Sd. yearly.
8. The town charities of Richard Sadleir, estab-
lished as to an annuity of ^1 6s. Sd. by deed 16 1 2
and as to an annuity of £5 by deed 1676, now
consists of a sum of £2 II 15/. consols, producing
XS. 5'- 8<£ yearly.
The scheme divides the charities into :
(a) The educational branch, consisting of five-ninths
of the net income of Thomas Fysher's charity and
two-thirds of the net income of Matthew Roe's
charity being applicable in connexion with the public
elementary schools.33
(i) The eleemosynary branch, consisting of two-
ninths of the net income of Thomas Fysher's charity,
one-third of the net income of Matthew Roe's charity,
and the whole of the net income of the charities of
George Crowch, William Haynes, David Thomas,
Henry Gutteridge and Richard Sadleir which are
applicable in subscriptions to any dispensary, &c, or
provident club, or provision for nurses.
(<r) The general branch, consisting of the net
income of the charity of John de Standon, which is
made applicable towards the easement of the common
charges and expenses of the inhabitants and parishioners,
including the maintenance of a public elementary
school.
The remaining two-ninths of the net income of
Thomas Fysher's charity is directed to be paid to
Christ's Hospital, London.
For the year ended Lady Day 191 1 the educational
branch received £46 13/. Sd., the eleemosynary
branch received £44 2s. id., the general branch
received £28 gs. 6d., and Christ's Hospital £15.
In 1878 Thomas Chapman, by his will proved at
London 29 June, gave a sum of money, now repre-
sented by £427 7/. id. consols, the annual dividend,
amounting to £10 13/. Sd., to be applied in January
w Cott. MS. Nero, E vi, fol. 119.
30 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 379
(26).
31 Information from Mr. W. Minet.
83 See also article
83 Consistory Ct. of London, 1514-20,
V.C.H. Hens, ii, 99.
1. 39 d. ; P.C.C. 34 Bennett.
Herts. Schools,
365
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1909 blankets
in food, clothing or fuel to poor,
were distributed to forty recipients.
In 1875 Thomas Ginn, by his will proved at
London 12 June, gave £100 consols, the dividends
arising therefrom to be applied in or towards the
maintenance of Standon National Schools.
In 1878 William Rolph Thornell, by his will
proved 2 3 October, left a legacy, now represented by
£212 9/. id. consols, the annual dividends amounting
to £5 6s. to be applied at Christmas in providing a
bun and 6d. to each poor child attending the public
school, and any surplus to be distributed among old
widows of Standon almshouses.
In 1852 Miss Abigail Pratten, by her will proved
at London 13 August, gave £1,000, now represented
by £1,007 9/. 5</. consols, producing £25 3;. SJ.
yearly, the income to be applied in fuel and bread at
Christmas and Easter to poor widows and other
deserving persons. In 1909 coal was distributed to
seventy recipients.
The almshouses at Wadesmill were founded by
Rachel and David Barclay by indenture dated 19 May
1794. The endowment consists of a sum of £720
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 5 per
cent, consolidated guaranteed stock, producing £36
yearly. The almshouses are inhabited by four poor
widows, who receive 3/. weekly.
The several sums of stock belonging to the charitief
in this parish are standing in the name of the official
trustees.
STANSTEAD ABBOTS
Stanstede (xi cent.) ; Stanstede Abbatis, Abbotts
or Abbot (xiv cent.) ; generally Stansted Abbots
after xvi cent.
Stanstead Abbots is a parish of 2,612 acres,
bounded on the north-west by the River Ash, which
joins the Lea in this parish, on the south-west by the
Lea and River Lea Navigation, and on the south by
the Stort. Owing to so many rivers there is a large
amount of permanent grass in the parish, about two-
fifths of the whole extent.1 There are large patches
of wood in the higher part of the parish : E.isneye
Wood on the north-west, Newgate Wood and Black
Bushes on the north-east. The parish lies on the
London Clay, the chief crops being wheat, barley and
beans.
The old church of St. James and the manor-house
of Stanstead Bury lie on high ground at some distance
to the south-east of the village, which is situated near
the river on the road to Hertford. The neighbour-
hood of Hertford and Ware probably brought a
considerable amount of traffic through Stanstead,
which may account for the seven burgesses there
recorded in the Domesday Survey. Stanstead never
had a market, as far as is known, nor is there any
specific mention of burgage tenure later, but a 1 4-th(?)-
century conveyance of a messuage and land ' vendere,
dare, legare vel assignare ' 2 may, perhaps, point to a
survival of privileged tenure. To remedy the incon-
venient distance of the church from the village the
school was used as a chapel on Sundays in the 17th
century and served by a minister of its own.' It was
probably from this circumstance that Chapel Lane (so
called in 1712)' took its name.
The main street of the village is the High Street.
This at one end is continued as the road to Hert-
ford, and at the other end makes an angle with the
Roydon road, which just past the village branches
north to Hunsdon and south to Roydon. At the
east end of the street is the old Clock School, a
17th-century two-storied building with a tiled roof.
The school was founded by Sir Edward Baesh as
a free grammar school for the sons of inhabitants
in 1635. Although it has been much altered
and repaired, the schoolroom on the ground floor
still has the original beams in the ceiling and oak-
mullioned windows. Under the Endowed Schools
Act of 1879 the endowment was separated from the
rest of Sir Edward Baesh's charities, and by a scheme
under the same Act was devoted, under the name of
the Baesh Scholarship Endowment, to maintaining two
scholarships of £10 in Ware Grammar School for boys
from elementary schools in Stanstead Abbots. When
Ware Grammar School was abolished these scholar-
ships were made payable at Hertford Grammar School.6
The public elementary school opposite the corn-mill
was built in 1869 on a site presented by Mr. T. F.
Buxton. In the middle of the village is the Red Lion
Inn, an early 17th-century building much altered.
The date 1538, however, in modern form of figures
appears in the middle gable. The house is tiled and
has a projecting upper story and five gables ; in spite of
the rough-cast with which it is coated, there is visible
some plaster ornament in low relief of early 17th-
century date. Further along the Roydon road at the
bottom of Cat's Hill (Ketteshell, xiv cent.) are Sir
Edward Baesh's almshouses, built by the terms of his
will proved in 1653. They consist of six brick cottages
of two stories under one tiled roof and still retain the
original door-posts and moulded window frames of oak.
Netherfield, at the top of Cat's Hill, is the residence
of Mr. H. L. Prior, J. P. In the village are a number
of makings, the manufacture of malt being the chief
industry here as at Ware. The corn-mill, probably
occupying the site of the mill mentioned in the
Domesday Survey, is situated in Roydon Road. The
present mill is a flour-mill, which succeeded an old
timber-mill burnt down some years ago. The Mill
Race is carried from the Lea through the town, and
joins the Lea again to the south of the village, but
the present mill is worked by gas power. In Chapel
Lane is St. Andrew's Church, built by Mr. T. F.
Buxton, consecrated in 1881, and constituted the
parish church in 1 882,6 and the chapel of the Countess
of Huntingdon's Connexion, dating from about 1809,
1 Cf. the Domesday Survey (V.C.H.
Hern, i, 293), which records meadow
sufficient for sixteen plough-teams.
2 Harl. MS. 4809 (cartulary of Wal-
tham), fol. 155 d. From the account of
Stanstead in the Domesday Survey it
seems probable that it was onre ancient
which might account for the
burgage tenure.
3 Chan. Surv. of Church Livings printed
in Herts. Gen. and Antiq. i, 28.
4 Sea. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 42.
There was, however, an early chapel in
the parish. At the end of the 13th cen-
tury John son of John son of Robert
Clericus had licence from the abbot to
build a chapel in honour of the Virgin
Mary (Harl. MS. 4809, fol. icii).
5 V.C.H. Hertz, ii, 95.
6 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii,
28.
366
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
but rebuilt in 1874.7 To the north of the church is
Hill House, the residence of Mr. B. Richardson, and
Warrax, that of Mr. E. H. Barlow. The vicarage in
the Roydon road is part of the Baesh trust,8 and is
held on lease by the vicar.
The south-west part of the parish between the
Lea and the Stort lies very low, and the Rye Meads
adjoining the Stort are liable to flood. Apparently
in the 15th century the state of flood was permanent,
for the district round the Rye House was then known
as the Isle of Rye.9 The extent of the island,
which was imparked by Sir Andrew Ogard in 1443,
seems to have been about 157 acres,10 from the Lea
on the west to the ditch running from the Stort to
the Lea on the east. It thus included Rye Farm,
about mid-way along this ditch, and the fields formerly
called the Warren, now used as a sewage farm for
Ware.11 The lord of Rye Manor maintained a
bridge over the Lea, and he also kept up a causeway
through the Rye Meadows, which was used by
coaches, &c, travelling to and from Norfolk and
Suffolk (via Stortford) as a more direct way than the
main road, for the use of which they paid a toll
to the lord.12 The present road across the meadows
was made by Sir Charles Booth, and the tolls are
now taken by the owners of the Netherfield estate.
The chief historical interest in Stanstead Abbots
attaches to the Rye House. Richard Rumbold, a
maltster and old army officer, one of the most
desperate of the conspirators in the famous plot
within a plot, was lessee of the Rye House in 1685.
One suggestion which he is said to have made for the
assassination of the king and Duke of York was to
blow up the playhouse when they were both inside ;
a plan rejected by the other conspirators, who
probably remembered the failure of Guy Fawkes
in a similar attempt. When other proposals fell
through he suggested the use of the Rye House for
the murder, as from its lonely situation and high
inclosures it seemed to offer a suitable shelter for the
conspirators. Forty of these were to hide in the
Rye House and waylay the king on his return from
Newmarket. After the murder they were to
retire into the house, which, being guarded with a
moat and brick walls, could easily be defended
against the country people.13 Travellers from New-
market, after crossing the Rye Meadows, would have
to pass along a narrow lane with a thick hedge and
ditch on one side and a long range of buildings
belonging to the Rye House on the other, past
which were the moat and garden wall, and further on
a bridge over the Lea and another over the New
River. It was proposed to place a body of horse
and foot in the outer courtyard, who, when the king
and duke arrived, were to issue out into the lane, this
STANSTEAD ABBOTS
having been previously blocked by an overturned
cart.14 The plan was frustrated by the unexpected
return of the king and Duke of York to London
owing to a fire at Newmarket, and before another
opportunity occurred the plot was revealed by Joseph
Keeling, one of the conspirators, and the king's
vengeance fell on the whole Whig party.15 Rumbold
escaped, and fought in the rising in Scotland under
Argyle. He was taken prisoner when Argyle's
forces were routed, and although mortally wounded
was executed at Edinburgh, ' the pleasure of hanging
him,' as Macaulay said, being ' one which the con-
querors could not bear to forego.' 16 The contem-
porary official account of the plot gives a plan of the
house.17 North of the gatehouse, which occupies
the south-east angle of the site, were two small rooms
and a kitchen ; on the west there was a small stair-
case, and next to it a hall 30 ft. by 24 ft.ls In the
north-west angle was a well staircase. There was a
great parlour 35 ft. by 20 ft. at the west end and a
smaller one 17 ft. by 16 ft., also other apartments
and passages. The house was apparently built round
a court (daustrum) of brick, and outside had an
inner and outer court, the whole being surrounded
by a moat.19 Of the main part of the building only
the gatehouse remains. This was used as a workhouse
for the parish before the Poor Law Act of 1 8 34, when
the inmates were removed to Ware. In 1904 it was
acquired by Messrs. Christie & Co. (see Rye Manor).
It is now used as a show place, and an inn built in
the forecourt of the house is a famous resort of
excursionists and anglers. The ' great bed of Ware,'
apparently immortalized by the reference to it in
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, was brought here from
the Saracen's Head at Ware. It bears the date 1463,
but it did not probably exist before the latter part of
the 1 6th century. It is a four-post bedstead of carved
oak, and measures 1 1 ft. square and 8 ft. high.
Easneye Wood (Isneye, Hysenhey, xiii cent.) in the
north-west of the parish contains a tumulus. This
was opened in 1899, but only calcined bones of pre-
Roman date were found.20 In 1253 the Abbot of
Waltham Holy Cross had licence to make two roads
through the wood in place of two other roads out-
side it,21 and in 1332 another licence was obtained
for imparking it.22 A lease of the lodge in the park
with the lands belonging, of the Lady Grove, Stan-
stead Grove alias Almond's Frith, and all the woods
in the manor of Stanstead Abbots was made to John
Rodes of this parish for fifty-seven years in 1526.23
The farm of these lands was granted with that of the
manor to Anne Boleyn in 1532.24 In the reign of
Elizabeth John Raymond had a lease of Isney Park
together with the Great Farm of Stanstead.25 When
the estate was acquired by Thomas Buxton (see manor
7 Urwick, Nonconformity in Herts. 691 ;
see Close, 50 Geo. Ill, pt. xliii, no. 11,12.
8 See under Charities.
9 In the 13 th century a number of
persons were responsible for the upkeep
of bridges in ' La Rye ' (see Plac. de Quo
Warr. 285, 286).
10 See Sir Andrew Ogard's licence to
impark in descent of manor.
11 See East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
ii, 32.
12 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 250.
13 A true account and declaration of the
horrid conspiracy against the late king, &c.
(3rd ed. 1686).
14 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii (1),
32, quoting from A true acct., &c.
15 Drawings of the Rye House and
prints of Keeling, Algernon Sidney and
the Duke of Monmouth are in Illustr.
of Herts. (Add. MS. 32, 352).
16 Macaulay, Hist, of Engl, i, 276.
Macaulay gives him a high character and
condones his share in the Rye House plot.
17 Reproduced in an article in the East
Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii, 32.
18 This must be the ' aula ' whose
measurements are given as 34 ft. by
24 ft. in the Itin. of William of Worcester
(ed. Nasmyth), 86.
19 Ibid.
20 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, i,
■37-
21 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 427.
The name Adam de Isneistrete occurs
in 1279 (Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 349).
Possibly trie road skirting the wood was
so called.
23 Inq. a.q.d. file 205, no. 7 ; Cal. Pat.
'33°--i-» P- z59-
23 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 640.
u L. and P. Hen. Fill, V, 1499
(23)-
2» Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 1 1 3,
no. 47.
367
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Stanstead Abbots) Isney was still a thick wood.
He built the present house, now the residence of
Mr. J. H. Buxton, in I 869. 26 This house stands in a
park of 133 acres and is approached by an avenue of
trees nearly a mile long. In the abbot's manor were
also some lands called Joyses after a family of Joce who
had them in tenure in the 14th century.27 In I 304
the abbot leased a dwelling-house and land assigned to
the pittancer of the convent to Master John de
Manhale, clerk, for life,28 and in 1525 Roger Rodes
had a lease of the land called the Pitansry or Joyses
for twenty-one years at a rent of 5 marks payable to
the pittancer.23 These lands came with the manor
to the Crown at the Dissolution and the name sur-
vives in Pitansey Meadow.30 Other place-names
occurring about the 13 th century are Danesthe-
maneswode, Sturtereshull, Newstrate, Bokkeberwefeld,
Alfladesfelde, Kyngesfeld and Alfeyesholsme. The
frequent occurrence of 'holms' in this parish is
noticeable.
Newgate, the site of which is marked by Newgate
Wood, was an estate held in the middle of the 15 th
century by Andrew Ogard, lord of the manor of
Rye, and sold in 1558 by George Ogard to Robert
Grave.31 Bonningtons, about 3 miles north-east
of the church, formerly belonging to the Calvert
family (see Hunsdon), who made the pond there,
and afterwards the seat of Mr. Salisbury Baxendale,32
is for the most part a modern two-storied house, but
has an east wing which may date from the 1 7th
century. In Moat Wood, on the north-east of the
parish, there are traces of a homestead moat, but
nothing is known of its history.33
One inhabitant of Stanstead Abbots of more than
local fame was Joyce Trappes, daughter of Robert
Trappes, a goldsmith of London, who married first
Henry Saxaye, a London merchant, and, secondly,
William Frankland of the manor of Rye. Her
memory is famous from her numerous gifts for edu-
cational endowment. Jointly with her son William,
who was a student at Gray's Inn, she founded junior
fellowships and scholarships at Caius and Emmanuel
Colleges, Cambridge. William, to whom there is a
brass in the church, was killed whilst riding an
unbroken horse in 1 581, aged twenty-three.34 In
memory of him his mother founded the free school at
Newport Pond, Essex, and by will of 1586 gave
money and houses to Brasenose College to increase
the emoluments of the principal and fellows and for
the foundation of a fellowship. Her name was
included in the grace after meat in the college hall,
and the principal and fellows of Brasenose erected a
monument to her memory in the church of St.
Leonard's, Foster Lane, where she was buried.
There is a portrait of her in the hall of Brasenose
College and another in the master's gallery in the
combination room at Caius College, Cambridge.36
Thomas Bradock (1 576-1604), who translated Bishop
Jewell's confutation of the attack of Thomas Harding
on Jewell's Apologia Ecclesiae Anglic«nae, was vicar of
Stanstead Abbots from 1591 to 1593.36
The manor of STANSTEAD, called
MANORS later STANSTEAD ABBOTS, STAN-
STEAD BUR}', and sometimes STAN-
STEAD BAESH, was held in 1086 as 17 hides by
Ranulf brother of Ilger. It was then composed of
two separate estates, one consisting of I I hides which
had been held in the time of the Confessor by Alwin
of Godtone and which after the Conquest had been
given by R.ilf Taillebois to Ranulf as a marriage
portion with his niece (one other hide which had
belonged to the estate he attached to his manor of
Hunsdon), and the other of 7 hides which had been
held by fourteen sokemen, four of them the men ol
Anschil of Ware and the other ten the men of Alwin.
On Ranulf's estate in 1086 there were 13 hides in
demesne with two ploughs, whilst the tenants of the
manor had eight ploughs, although there was land
and also meadow for sixteen plough-teams. There
was pasture on the manor for the live stock of the vill,
woodland for a hundred swine, and a mill. Among
the tenants are mentioned seven burgesses, who paid
23/., including dues of meadow and wood.37 With
other lands of Ranulf38 Stanstead was acquired by
the Clares, lords of Chepstow and Earls of Pembroke,39
by whom it was held as two knights' fees.40 After the
manor was acquired by Waltham (see below) Richard
de Clare released the abbey from all knight service,
and the king also released him from the same service.41
This Richard, son of Gilbert the first earl, left a
daughter Isabel de Clare, who married William
Marshal, afterwards Earl of Pembroke. His sons all
died without issue, and the rent from the manor
payable by the abbey to the overlords after the mesne
lordship lapsed descended to his daughter Joan, who
married Warin de Munchensy, and to her daughter
Joan, wife of William de Vr.lence Earl of Pembroke.42
Through Isabella, sister and heir of Aymer son of
William de Valence and wife of John de Hastings, the
rent came to Laurence de Hastings, their son, created
Earl of Pembroke in 1339.43 His grandson John
Earl of Pembroke died without issue,44 his heir being
his kinsman Reginald de Greyde Ruthyn, who levied
a fine of the rent in 1400.45 Philippa, widow of
John de Hastings and afterwards wife of Richard Earl
of Arundel, held, however, 44/. in dower46 (i.e. one-
third of £6 13/. 4a1., or 10 marks), and later 5 marks
(one-half of £6 1 3/. 4^.) was in the possession of
2r> Cus8ans, Hist, of Herts. Braughing
Hand. 27.
17 See Abbrev. Rat. Orig. (Rec. Com.),
i, 249a; Cat. Pat. 1317-21, p. 280;
Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. II, file 93, no. 21.
»■ Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5716.
29 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 1499 (23).
30 See Charities.
51 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 1 Eliz.
m. 5 d. For some of this family see will
of Elizabeth Grave, probably mother of
this Robert (Herts. Gen. i, 35).
32 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughinv
Hund. 45.
» V.C.H. Herts, ii, 120.
:) A rubbing of the brass is at the
British Mil
RR, 17).
35 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; East H,
Soc. Trans, ii, 29.
36 Diet. Nat. Bi,
37 V.C.H. Herts
small holdings an
(ibid. 332a, 343*)
88 Cf. Stagenhoi
39 This branch
(Add. MS. 32490,
■s. Arch.
, 316b. Two other
nentioncd separately
n Walden St. Paul,
ivas descended froi
Gilbert de Clare, a younger son of Gilbert
son of Richard de Tonhridge. His son
Gilbert was created Earl of Pembroke in
113S.
40 Testa de NevM (Rec. Com.), 269,
270.
11 Ibid.
" G.E.C. Peerage ; see Cal. Chirt. R.
1226-57, p. 462. The money was raise"
by rent charged on certain lands withii
the manor. Thus we find in the 13th
century that certain tenements paid a rent
of 4*. to the 'veterem firmam' of Sta
stead and zs. to the pittancer of the con-
vent (Harl. MS. 4809, fol. 14; d.).
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. Ill, no. 47.
" Ibid. 13 Ric. II, no. 30 j 14 Ric. II,
no. 134.
45 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 2 Hen. IV,
no. 16.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Ric. II, no. : ;
2 Hen. IV, no. 54.
368
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Joan de Beauchamp, wife of Lord Abergavenny and
sister of Thomas Earl of Arundel son of the above
Richard " ; this descended to her son Richard Earl of
Valence. Burelly
Has
argent and assure an orle
sle.veg.
of martlets gules.
£ \jtE7
with a "*VJ*^
Worcester, to Richard's daughter Elizabeth de Beau-
champ, who married Sir Edward Nevill, and to their
son George Nevill Lord Abergavenny.48 After this
there seems to be no further trace of it.
At the beginning of the 1 2th century the manor
was held under the Earls of Pembroke by Roger de
Wancy, who mortgaged it to Bruno, a Jew of London,
for a debt of £280 ijs. \d. His son Michael de
Wancy, in order to obtain re-
lease from the debt, conveyed
half of the manor to the king
(Henry II), who granted it
in free alms to the Abbey of
Waltham Holy Cross. The
other half was also given to
the abbey by Michael
rent of £i2.J9 The
was confirmed by Wi]
Marshal, the overlord, with a
proviso that, if by escheat the
fee should come to him or his
successors, nothing should be
exacted from them except the
£12 reserved by Michael de
Wancy,6' the services due to the overlord bein? ex-
tinguished as stated above. The rent was paid by
the abbey to Michael's heir Henry de Wancy, ' a
Norman,' who seems to have forfeited at the begin-
ning of the reign of Henry III, when it was granted
by the king to Henry de St. Owen for his expenses
whilst in Gascony with the king's brother Richard
Earl of Cornwall.51 Afterwards it was paid to the
overlords as above.5*
In 1253 the abbey obtained a grant of free warren
in their demesne lands.53 The liberties enjoyed by the
abbey in their lands were as full as ' royal power could
make them.' In Stanstead they had inter alia toll,
team, soc, sac, infangentheof, utfangentheof, chattels of
Wa
LTH AM
Abbey.
Argent
sMe tl
a cross
ith five
ngr
ailed
islets
fitchy o,
thereon
STANSTEAD ABBOTS
thieves, amercements of murders, pleas of namii vetiti,
free fishing in the Lea throughout their demesne
lands, and free warren. Their men were quit of
shires and hundreds, ward, scot, geld, sheriff's aids,
toll in markets and fairs and in crcssing bridges,
roads and seas, and anyone accused had the right to
take his plea to the court at the Holy Cross and
answer there according to civil law." In 1522 the
abbey leased the manor for sixty-one years (reserving
the manorial rights) to John Rodes of London and
his wife Margaret." The manor was obtained from
the abbey by Henry VIII in I 531, who granted in
exchange the site of the monastery of Blackmore in
Essex, the priory manor and other lands.56 The next
year the king gave the farm and reversion of the
manor to Anne Boleyn on her creation as Marchioness
of Pembroke.5'
After the death of Anne Boleyn in 1532, Stanstead
Abbots remained in the Crown until 1559, when
Queen Elizabeth granted it to Fdward Baesh of
London,58 who in 1577 had licence to impark
300 acres of land there with a grant of free
warren.09 Edward Baesh died in 1587, when the
manor descended to his son Ralph. The inscription
to Edward in the church calls him general surveyor
of victuals for the royal navy and marine affairs in
England and Ireland during the reigns of Henry VIII,
Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. Ralph died in
1598 and was succeeded by his son Edward.60 On
the death of Edward in 1653 the manor passed to
his cousin Ralph, whose son Edward conveyed it in
1678 to Edward Byde and Ralph Skynner,61 pro-
bably in trust for Thomas Feilde. Thomas was
knighted in i68i6> and died in 1689, when
Edmund his son succeeded.63 Edmund's three
sons, Thomas, Edmund and Paul, held the manor
successively and died without issue.6* It passed to
their cousin Thomas Feilde, rector of Eastwick, to
his son William Henry Feilde and to the latter's son
of the same name.65 William Henry Feilde, jun.,
sold it to Thilip Hollingsworth of Thundridge, who
bequeathed it to his sister. She directed that at her
death it should be sold for the benefit of the children
of Paul Meyers of Forty Hill, Enfield. It was bought
by Dr. Abraham Wilkinson of Enfield, whose son sold
it to Thomas Fowell Buxton.66 Mr. Henry Buxton,
his grandson, is the present lord of the manor.
At the beginning of the 19th century the manor-
house of Stanstead Bury was the residence of Captain
Jocelyn, R.N., descended from Sir Robert Jocelyn,
bart., of Hyde Hall in Sawbridgeworth. He died in
1806 and was succeeded by his son Robert Salusbury
Jocelyn of Stanstead Bury.67 Later the manor-house
was used as a hydropathic establishment, and is now
the property and residence of Mr. Spencer Trowcr.^
" Chan.Inq. p.m. 14 Hcn.VI.no. 35.
The original amount seems to have been
£12 (Cart. Antiq. M. 22). Out of this £6
were granted by Walter Marshal, Earl
of Pembroke, to William J"ymer, who
released this s im to the com ent (Harl. MS.
4809, fol. 1394, 140). After this the rent
is generally given as £6 13*. \d. (ste
text), but sometimes as £8 [Cat. Chart. R.
1226-57, p. 462 ; Feet of F. Div. Co.
2 Hen. IV, no. 16).
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 6 E Jw. IV, no. 66.
*> Cart. Antiq. M. 22.
50 Ibid. 2 5.
51 Rot. Lit. Clans. (Rcc. Com.), ii, 21 A.
3
5» See Feet of F. Herts. 53 Hen
no. 612 (a composition between the
and William de Valence).
53 Col. Chart. R. 1226-57, p.
Their lands were increased by many
grants (see cartulary of Waltham,
MS. 4809, fol. 138 et seq.).
51 Plac. de Quo JVarr. (Rec. Com.).
55 Harl. MS. 303, fol. 10.
56 L. and P. Hen. Fill, V, 452, 6
" Ibid. 1274 (6), 1499 (23).
58 Pat. 2 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 8.
59 Ibid. 19 Eliz. pt. xii, m. 14.
60 See Feet of F. Herts. Mich
44 Eliz.
Ill,
ibbot
427.
small
Harl.
283.
22.
43 &
369
61 Ibid. Trin. 30 Chas. II.
«- Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 256.
« Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 12 Will. Ill;
Recov. R. Trin. 12 Will. Ill, rot. 82.
64 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of He, ts.
iii, 244; Recov. R. Hil. 3 Geo. Ill,
rot. 225.
65 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. ; Feet of F.
Herts. Trin. 6 Geo. IV.
66 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughir.g
Hund. 27. 67 Inscriptions in church.
66 It had for some time been held by
his family on lease before he became the
freehold tenant (information from Misi
Trower).
47
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
It b s building of two stories with attics, and is
partly built of brick and partly of timber framing
covered with cement. It was probably originally
a house of late 16th-century date, but it has been so
much altered and added to in the 17th and 1 8th
centuries that the old plan is lost. The west side is
the oldest part, and the cellar under this appears to be
the only 16th-century work remaining. In one of the
cellars is a blocked window in the east wall, probably
originally an outside wall ; in the south wall of the
same cellar are two small triangular-headed niches,
similar to those at Watton Place, Wymondley Bury,
and other old houses in the county. In an angle on
the west front is a timber-framed staircase, cemented
externally, probably of 1 7th-century date. The
north, south and east fronts are mainly additions of
the early I 8th century. In the window of a room
on the west side is some old heraldic glass ; one por-
have free warren, and to crenellate the house.71 Sir
Andrew Ogard was by birth a Dane, who received
letters of denization in England in 1436.72 He was
a 'knight, chamberlain, and councillor ' of John Duke
of Bedford, the regent,73 who granted him the
keepership of the castle of Prudhoe in Northumberland
and made him one of his executors.74 Later he
was appointed captain of the castle and town of Caen
in Normandy.76 He had estates in Norfolk and
Hertfordshire, and acted several times as J. P., com-
missioner, &c.,for the latter county.76 According to
a contemporary account the purchase of the manor of
Rye cost _£i,ioo ; the building of the inner court
with brick and of the rooms and inclosure [claustrum)
cost I 1,000 marks, whilst the granary and storehouse
with 16 horses and 30 cows were worth 2,000
marks. It also relates that whilst in England Ogard
had a chapel in his house with priests, clerks, and
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Stanstead Bury from the North-west
tion shows a sheaf of corn flanked by the initials I.F.
ot a member of the Feilde family. There is also a
shield of arms with the date 1563 above.69
The manor of Rt'E may be identified with the
half hide which was held in 1086 by Geofrey de
Bech.'0 There seems to be no further record of it
until 1443, but doubtless it followed the descent of
Thele in Hertford Hundred (q.v.), for in that year Sir
Andrew Ogard had licence to inclose the site of his
manor of Rye alias the Island of Rye and 50 acres of
land, 10 acres of meadow, 80 acres of pasture and 16
aires ol wood within the island, to make a park and
choristers.77 Apparently his expenditure was on a
lavish scale, and he is known to have been very rich
when he died. This was in 1454, when his son
Henry was four years old.78 The custody of the
heir was granted by Edward IV to Lawrence Bishop
of London,78 and in 1463 the manor was granted
during the heir's minority to the king's brother,
George Duke of Clarence.80
Henry Ogard bequeathed the manor of Rye to his
son Andrew,81 who died seised of it in 1526, leaving
a son and heir George.82 In 1559 George Ogard (of
Crmesby, co. Norfolk) sold the manor to William
69 It seems impossible to identify this
coat or to connect it with any owner of
the house. :« V.C.H. Hem, i, 335.
71 Chart. R. 21-4 Hen. VI, no. 44.
" Cat. Pat. 1429-36, p. 288.
73 Ibid. 1436-41, p. 80.
" Ibid. 189.
U 'bid. 14+6-52. P- 537-
76 Ibid. 3S2, 388 ; 1441-c, p. 471.
77 Itm. of WMiam of IVorceMr (cd.
Nasmyth), 86. The wording is some-
what obscure: ' custodiebat capellam in
domo sua de presbiteris, clericis et
choristis, qualibct die 16 cum 4 prcsbi-
370
teris,' so that there must ha
large number altogether.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen.
" Cal. Pal. 1461-7, p. 12.
80 Ibid. 226.
81 P.C.C. Will, Bennett, 38
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 7),
VI, no. 25.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Frankland of London, clothworker.83 He settled it on
himself and his intended wife Joyce Saxaye, whom he
married in February 1 565-6. 84 William died in
I 576 83 and Joyce in I 5 87.86 A settlement had been
made on William's eldest son William for life with
reversion to Hugh Frankland, his nephew, for life, and
then to the issue male of William. In 1606 Hugh
Frankland conveyed his interest in the manor to
William Frankland his nephew, William FYankland
the elder having died without issue.87 In 1 619
William Frankland and Lucy his wife sold it to Sir
Edward Baesh, together with the capital messuage
where William Frankland lived, the farm close by,
and fields called the Pond, Sayres Mead, Nunneholm,
the Little or Hither Park and the Further Park.88
The manor descended with Stanstead Abbots to the
Feildes. Miss Feilde, who inherited the property,
married Captain Upton, and soon afterwards the
estate was broken up. Part of it, the Netherfield
estate, was sold to Sir Charles Booth, bart., and
descended to his niece, who married Mr. H. L.
Prior.89 The Rye House with 50 acres of land was
sold about 1864 to Mr. William Henry Teale, and
from him was acquired in 1904 by Messrs. Christie
& Co.90
The church of ST. ANDREW,
CHURCHES erected in 188 1, superseded St.
James's as the parish church ; it is
built of brick faced with dressed flint, and is a
cruciform building in 15th-century style.
The old church of ST. JAMES, which is still
used for services, consists of chancel as at present I oft.
long by 1 7 ft. wide, north chapel 41 ft. 6 in. by
1 5 ft. 6 in., nave as at present 69 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in.,
west tower and timber south porch, all internal
dimensions. The walls are chiefly of flint rubble,
but parts are of brick with stone dressings ; the roofs
are tiled.
The earliest detail is of the 13th century, but it is
probable that the nave walls are older. The chancel
was built during that period and windows inserted in
the nave. The west tower is of early 15th-century
date, the south porch late in the same century, and
the north chapel was built of brick in 1577. The
original length of the nave was 47 ft., that of the
chancel being 32 ft., but at some period, probably
when the north chapel was built, they were altered
to their present dimensions. There is no chancel
arch or structural division between nave and chancel,
and externally one unbroken roof covers both, the
original chancel being marked internally by the lower
part of the rood screen, now forming the back of a
pew, and by the mouldings on the roof timbers.
The east window has three cinquefoiled lights
under a four-centred arch, and is of late 15th-cen-
tury date. In the north wall is an arcade of four
bays opening into the north chapel. The three
western arches belong to the arcade erected in 1577.
They are pointed arches with double ogee mouldings
and with octagonal piers and responds and moulded
capitals and bases ; the westernmost arch is narrower
than the other two. The easternmost arch has a
plain splay and square jambs, and probably was
STANSTEAD ABBOTS
opened at a later date. The whole of the arcade is
plastered. In the south wall are two windows of
two lights ; they are of 15th-century date, but most
of the stonework is modern. There are traces of some
13th-century lancet windows in the wall. Near the
east wall is a double piscina with two splayed lancet
arches, and a ledge at the back which supported a
credence shelf; they belong to the 13th century.
On a stone in the east wall of the north chapel,
outside, is inscribed the date 1577 ; it was built by
Edward Baesh. In the east wall is a window of
three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred arch,
and in the north wall are two windows of two lights
under square heads ; all the windows have been
restored.
There are no window openings in the north wall
of the nave, but there are remains of a blocked north
doorway. The wall is not in a straight line from
chancel to tower, and appears to have been altered or
rebuilt at some period— perhaps when the chancel
was erected — in order to suit its width. In the south
wall are three windows of two cinquefoiled lights
with tracery; they are probably of 15th-century
work, but most of the stonework has been renewed.
The westernmost window appears to be a 13th-
century lancet window enlarged in the I 5th century ;
parts of the inner splays of the earlier window remain.
The south doorway consists of two continuous splayed
orders and is of 13th-century date.
The 15th-century south porch is of plain open
timber work, the lower part of the sides is boarded,
the upper part open ; the gabled front has a cusped
barge-board and the arch over the entrance is three-
centred.
The roofs retain their 15th-century king-post
trusses and tie-beams, but the rafters are plastered.
The west tower is in two stages, with angle but-
tresses at the west ; the parapet is embattled and the
wood spire is lead-covered. At the south-east angle
a projecting octagonal stair-turret rises to above the
parapet. The tower arch is of two moulded orders,
the outer order continuous, the inner stopping upon
shafted jambs with moulded capitals and bases. The
west doorway is of two moulded orders, the inner one
forming a pointed arch, the outer being carried
square over it. The west window is of three cinque-
foiled lights with tracery in the head. The belfry
windows are of two lights.
The basin of the font is of 13th-century date ; it
is circular, and on the rim are the original iron
staples for securing the cover ; on the south-west side
is a small incised cross. The base appears to be of
13th-century date, reversed, but the octagonal stem
belongs to the 15th century.
The lower part of a I 5th-century rood screen now
forms the back of a pew in the nave. Under the
tower arch is a screen made up from the 16th-
century canopy formerly over the pulpit.91
The oak pulpit is of 16th-century work and the
communion table of the late 17th century ; the high
plainly-panelled pews belong to the 1 8th century.
In the east window of the chapel are some remains
of old glass with the royal arms of Elizabeth's time
83 Recov. R. East. 1559, rot. 447.
84 Ct. of Req. bdle. 6;, no. 34.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), clxxviii,
86 P.C.C. Will, Spencer, 17.
87 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 4 Jas. I.
88 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 17 Jas. I,
m. 34 ; Mich. 17 Jas. I, m. 47 ; Feet of
F. Herts. East. 18 Jas. I. His father
Ralph Frankland joined in the sale (Com.
Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 17 Jas. I, m. 47).
371
89 Information from Mr. H. L. ]
90 Information from Mr. W. Da
Bachelors Hall.
91 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Tra
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
and the date 1573 ; in the north window are frag-
ments of Baesh's arms with his motto 'Bouldein God'
and other lettering. On the north and east walls are
remains of painted inscriptions only partly legible.
In the chapel is the monument of Sir Edward
Baesh, died 1587 ; he is represented in armour, his
wife being opposite to him, both kneeling. Above
them is a round-arched canopy flanked by classical
columns supporting a cornice on which are his arms ;
below are the kneeling figures of his children.
On a slab against the south chancel wall is the
brass of a knight in armour of late I 5th-century date.
On the chancel floor is the brass of William Saxaye,
who died in 1 581 ; he is represented in robes and
with a ruff. On the nave floor near the pulpit is a
small brass of a man and woman with their hands
joined together ; there is no inscription, but it is of
the middle of the 16th century. On a large slab is
a shield with the arms of Boteler, and on another a
co. Surrey.92 The priory also held a carucate of
land in right of the church,93 which in 1291 was
assessed at ^20.94 The church was appropriated
and a vicarage ordained before the end of the 12th
century.95 The tithes were leased out by the priory,
and after the Dissolution were granted for twenty-one
years to John Carye.96 In 1553 the rectory and
advowson were granted to Thomas Sidney and
Nicholas Halswell,97 probably trustees for Edward
Baesh. The advowson subsequently defended with
the manor 9S (q.v.) until 1847, when it was purchased
by W. K. Thomas, from whom it passed into the
hands of trustees.99
The charity of Sir Edward Baesh,
CHARITIES founded by deed 10 November 1635,
and by his will proved in P.C.C
28 May 1653, consists of the vicarage-house and
grounds containing la. 33 p ; land in Chapel Lane
containing 1 1 p. 3 yds., producing £2 yearly ; alms-
Stansteao Abbots Church : South Porch
shield of arms not identified. In the churchyard
near the porch is a mutilated coffin slab with remains
of a cross.
There are three bells : the treble by John Briant,
1790 ; the second inscribed 'God save the King,
1617' ; the tenor of 1605, both by Robert Oldfeild.
The communion plate consists of one cup and
three patens, all of I 7 14.
The registers are in four books as follows : (i)
baptisms 1695 to 1774, burials 1678 to 1774; (ii)
marriages 1754 to 1772 ; (iii) baptisms and burials
1774 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1774 to 18 I 2.
The advowson of the church of
ADFOIf'SON St. James was given by Roger de
Wancy to the priory of Merton,
houses with 30 p. of land ; also the Railway Hotel,
let at £~o yearly ; also property formerly described
as ' a piece of meadow ground called the Pitansey
Meadow alias Parentase,' now consisting of (j) gas
works, cottages and land containing 2 a. 3 r. 23 p. ;
(i) makings, private dwelling-house and pounds con-
taining 2 a. I r. 3 1 p. ; and (c) a meadow containing
3 a. 1 r. 7 p., the whole producing £43 yearly. Also
a rent-charge of £1$ issuing out of the manor of
Stanstead Baesh ; the block-house and yard contain-
ing 3 p. 5 yds., producing £j 16/. yearly, and land in
Netherfield Lane containing 2 a. I r. 15 p., producing
£3 yearly. The official trustees also hold the sum of
£ng is. 5</. consols, producing £$ 9/. \d. yearly,
arising from sale of land and accumulations.
8- Dugdale, Mm. \i, 247.
■ Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 54.
9< Pope Nicn. Tax. (Rec. Cum.), 18:
also Feu J. Aids, ii, 459.
95 See Merton Cartulary, Cott. MS.
Cleop. cvii, fol. ccxix.
96 /.. and P. He,,, V1U, xviii, p. 556.
97 Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. I,
372
98 Inst. Bks. P.R.O. sub
682, 1767, 1781.
99 East Herts. Ar.k, Sac.
1660,
Stanstkad Abhots Old Church from the South-west
Stanstead Adbots Old Church : The Nave looking East
I
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
The vicarage-house and grounds and the land in
Chapel Lane designated the ecclesiastical charity of
Sir Edward Baesh is regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners dated 3 June 1902. The
vicarage-house is for the use of the vicar of Stanstead
Abbots, subject to the payment of I zd. yearly to the
non-ecclesiastical branch, and the yearly income
derived from the land in Chapel Lane is applied
towards the salary of the clerk to the parish church.
In 1908 the net income of the non-ecclesiastical
branch was applied in payment of Js. weekly to the
six poor widows in the almshouses, and a premium of
£g 8/. was paid for apprenticing a poor boy.
THORLEY
Sir Edward Baesh by the above-mentioned deed
also gave a rent-charge of £20 out of the manor of
Stanstead Baesh for a schoolmaster of a free grammar
school in Stanstead. This sum is annually paid to
the governors of Hertford Grammar School.100
In 1802 Randle Cheney gave a sum of ^20
3 per cent, reduced annuities, now a like sum of
consols in the name of the official trustees, producing
10/. yearly, the interest to be applied in the repair
of the tomb in the churchyard of the testator's wife
and any surplus to the poor.
The dividends are accumulated and distributed
from time to time among the poor.
THORLEY
Torlei (xi cent.) ; Thorleia (xii cent.) ; Thorley
(xiii cent.).
Thorley is a small parish of 1,536 acres adjoining
internal angle. The south wing contains the old
parlour ; the north end of the hall and probably a
north kitchen wing have disappeared. The eastern
Thorlev Hall : West Front
the county of Essex on the east.1 The road from
Sawbridgeworth to Bishop's Stortford passes through
the east of the parish. The parish lies on the London
Clay and consists for the most part of agricultural
land, the chief crops being wheat, barley and beans.
Thorley Wood in the south-east is the only wood of
any size. From the road the ground slopes upward
towards the west, this higher part lying about 300 ft.
above the ordnance datum. On the high ground
about three-quarters of a mile from the road are
situated Thorley Hall (now a farm-house) and the
church of St. James. Thorley Hall stands in a
moated inclosure to the east of the church. It is a
building of two stories, the older parts of which on
the west are timber-framed and plastered. It pro-
bably dates from the early part of the 1 6th century.
It now consists of the southern end of the old hall,
with a south wing and a projecting staircase in the
100 See above and article on 'Schools,' J'.C.H. Hern,
part of the south wing is modern and the whole of
the south front has been encased with brick. The
hall was originally open to the roof, part of which
remains, but a floor is now inserted under it. The
original roof, of which only one queen-post truss
remains, has a span of about 25 ft. ; the tie-beam,
which is 1 2 in. square, has been cut away between
the queen-posts, which stand on coarsely moulded
octagonal bases, the profiles of which resemble capitals
more than bases. The tie-beam and straining-beam
above are supported by curved brackets and the
purlins are strutted ; the tie-beam with the brackets
and wall-pieces under is splayed ; the roof is ceiled
on the rafters and at the level of the straining-
beam. There is a wide fireplace with ingle seats at
the south end of the hall, now the kitchen, and
above the tiled roof is a large early 17th-century
brick chimney stack of square shafts set diagonally.
1 The manor of Thorley l.ea partly in Essex.
37.1
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The old parlour adjoining the south end of the hall
is lined with early 17th-century oak panelling with a
fluted frieze. The room above projects about 18 in.
on the west ; its orginal fireplace, now in a passage,
is built up. The external plastering on the west
front is in flush-beaded panels decorated with combed
work. Close to the house is a large barn of pre-
Reformation date ; it measures externally about
146ft. by 33 ft., and is divided into nine bays;
there are two large transeptal entrances on the east
side. The building is timber-framed and weather-
boarded and rests on dwarf walls of thin bricks ;
the roof is tiled, and the end g.ibles are slightly
hipped.
The stocks and whipping-post stand in the church-
yard protected by an iron railing. The rectory and
school (built in 1875) lie a little to the north-east.
Close by are some gabled cottages of two stories with
tiled roofs (once forming one house) of about 1600.
This is all the village of Thorley there is, if village it
can be called. Probably Thorley was originally part
of the vill of Sawbridgeworth.2 Thorley Street is a
hamlet on the main road.
Thorley Place is the residence of Mr. G. S. Streeter,
the lord of the manor ; Stone Hall, close by, is the
residence of Mrs. Clark. Thorley House is the
property of Mr. Laurie Frere. On the east of
Thorley Street a group of buildings is formed by
Twyford House, Twyford Bury, and Twyford Mill.
Twyford House is the residence of Mr. Laurie Frere.
It came into the Frere family through the marriage of
Elizabeth Raper Grant (daughter of William Grant
and Elizabeth daughter of John Raper who married
Elizabeth daughter of William Hale of Twyford
House) with George Frere, who died in 1854. His
son Mr. Bartle John Laurie Frere, who died in 1893,
was of Twyford House. Twyford Bury is the resi-
dence of Mr. T. Cornwell.
No inclosure award has been made for the parish,
but there were common fields when the tithe com-
mutation award was made. Thorley Common lay
on the north-east of the parish, Limestead Common
to the west of Butler's Hall on the south side of the
road leading from Thorley Place to that house,
Dunnings Common on the north side of the same
road, Harris Common to the south-east of Butler's
Hall.3 Appurtenant to Thorley Hall were lands in
some of the Sawbridgeworth common fields adjoining
Thorley,4 an additional argument in favour of the
intimate connexion between the two parishes. Other
place-names found in Thorley are the Vineyard, a
field north of the road leading from the main road to
the church, Further Park near Thorley Houses, the
Moors, Church Field west of the churchyard, Mill
Field (marking the site of the mill) on the north of
the church, Alderbury Pasture opposite the rector)',
and Sedgwick, a very large field on the north of
Thorley Place.6
The manor of THORLET was held
MANORS in the reign of Edward the Confessor by
a certain Godid, a ' man ' of Asgar the
Staller. After the Conquest it was purchased from
the king by William Bishop of London, to whom
Godid remitted her right. Before 1086, however, it
had been acquired by Geoffrey de Mandeville (else-
where the successor to the lands of Asgar the Staller),
and he was holding it at the time of the Domesday
Survey, although the Bishop of London was still trying
to make good his claim.6 The manor was then
assessed at 4 hides and had land for eight ploughs, of
which four were on the demesne ; a mill is mentioned
in the extent.7 The overlordship descended with the
honour of Mandeville.
Pain and Ernald de Thorley were landholders
in Thorley at the end of the 12th century,8 and
were possibly tenants of the manor. Richard de
Thorley was defendant in an action of common
fishery at Thorley in 123c),9 and Arnold son of
Richard was holding the manor later in the cen-
tury.10 He conveyed it to William Gerbergh of
Yarmouth (Gernemuth), who in 1269 was forcibly
ejected by William de Clifford,11 who claimed free
warren in Thorley in 1275.12 About the same time,
however, judgement was given for William Gerbergh in
an action brought by him against William Clifford.13
Shortly alterwards Margery daughter of Arnold de
Thorley quitclaimed the manor to William Gerbergh,14
whose son Thomas claimed view of frankpledge and
assize of bread and ale as liberties pertaining to the
manor as part of the honour of Mandeville in 1278.15
In 131 1 Theobald de Merk, who in 1 303 was
assessed with Thomas Gerbergh and the Prior of
Merton (for whom see below) of a third of a knight's
fee in Thorley, conveyed his 'manor of Thorley' to
John Gerbergh and his wife Alice.16 John was suc-
ceeded by Thomas Gerbergh, who died before 1379,
when his widow Alice was holding the manor.17 She
married secondly Stephen Wyvele,18 and in 1389
released all right in the manor.19 In Hilary term
I 389-90 William son of Roger Gerbergh conveyed the
manor to Thomas de Pinchbeck and others,20 probably
for a settlement. A later conveyance to the same in
139321 seems to have been in trust for John Corbet,
who had a grant of free warren in the manor in I 395. 22
Thomas son of John Corbet granted it in 14 14 to
Richard Marshall,23 evidently in trust for John
Leventhorpe, to whom John son of Thomas Pinch-
beck remitted his right in 141 9. '->4 John Leventhorpe
obtained an inspeximus of the grant of free warren in
1438.25
From this date the manor descended in the Leven-
thorpe family with Shinglehall and Mathams in
- They were both held before the
Conquest by Asgar the Staller, but Asgar
had put a tenant into Thorley. The
assessment of 1086 also shows that it was
once part of a larger area (see account of
hundred).
3 Tithe commutation at Bd. of Agric.
(Thorley).
4 Ibid. (Sawbridgeworth).
5 Ibid. (Thorley).
6 V.C.H. Herts, i, 332.
7 Ibid.
s Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 171.
• Cal. Chit, 1224-31, p. 575.
10 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 188.
" So deposed before the justices
itinerant in 1275 (Hrnid. R. [Rec. Com.],
i, 188).
12 Ibid.
"Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), !88.
The result of the action is here given
with the enrolment of the charter of
conveyance.
14 Ibid. 190.
15 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
277, 288. A certain William de Thorley
had half the manor at this date, possibly
a life interest in it.
374
16 Feet of F. Herts. 5 Edw. II,
106. Letitia widow of William le Ma
was holding one-third in dower.
" Close, 3 Ric. II, m. 27 d.
18 Ibid. 11 Ric. II, Pt. i, m. 2 1 d.
"Ibid. 12 Ric. II, m. 8d.
80 Feet of F. Herts. 13 Ric.
no. 110.
21 Ibid. 17 Ric. II, no. 151.
''- Chart. R. 18 & 19 Ric. II, m.
no. 9. » Close, 2 Hen. V, m. 3.
u Ibid. 7 Hen. V, m. 15 d, 14 d. ;
Chan. Misc. bdle. 62, no. 23.
,a Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 23;.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Sawbridgeworth (q.v.) until 1672, when Sir Thomas
Leventhorpe, bart., conveyed it to William Kiften.26
In 1691 William Kiffen, Henry Kiffen, merchant,
and Rachel his wife joined in a sale to Jchn Billers,27
a haberdasher of London, after whose death in I 71 2
his son William sold it in 1 7 14 to Moses Raper of
London.28 Raper died in 1748,29 and was succeeded
by his brother Matthew, who married Elizabeth sister
(or daughter) and heir of Sir William Billers. Matthew
died the same year,30 and the manor descended to his
son Matthew Raper, F.R.S. Raper left no issue, and
devised Thorley (by will of I 775) to his brother John,
who had married Elizabeth daughter of William Hale
of Twyford House in this parish, and who succeeded
in 1778. Elizabeth daughter and heir of John Raper
married William Grant, M.D., a Scotchman, but
died in 1778 before her father,
whose heir at his death in
1783 was his grandson John
Peter Grant, then an infant.31
The latter suffered a recovery
in 1805.32 His trustees sold
the manor in 1 8 10 to Edward
Law, first Lord Ellen-
borough.33 It descended to
the fourth Lord Ellenborough,
who in 1895 sold the manorial
rights to Charles Gayton of
Much Hadham. In 1 906
they were bought by Mr. G. S.
Streeter, the present lord of
the manor.34
One half-hide in Thorley still remained to the
3ishop of London in 1086 after his dispossession of
the rest by Geoffrey de Mandeville, and was held of
him by a tenant named Roderi.34a This is probably
the 'manor of Thorley in Stortford ' which was held
of the Bishop of London in 1294 by Hugh de Birne,
who then died seised leaving a brother John.34b As
there seems to be no further trace of this estate, it
was probably afterwards attached to the Bishop of
London's manor of Stortford.
MOORHALL was a small estate of the priory of
Merton in Thorley. The grantor is unknown, but
in 1291 the lands of the Prior of Merton were taxed
at £4. Js. zd.3s The prior claimed view of frank-
pledge in 1278, but as he could only show the
general charters to his house his claim was not
allowed.36 In I 535 the 'rent of assize with rents
and farms in Morehall in Thorley ' held by Merton
was assessed at £5 6s. 8d.37 The estate was granted
as the manor of Morehall to Sir Henry Parker, Lord
Morley, in 1544,38 who in the same year alienated
it to Clement Newce.39 It descended with the
Newces 40 (see Berwick in Standon) until as late as
161 I, when William Newce died seised of it,41 and
it appears to be the Morehall held with Tedenhoebury
in Sawbridgeworth by the Taylor family in 1779.42
It now belongs to Mr. A. N. Gilbey of Swakeleys,
Uxbridge.
Law, Lord Ellen-
bcrough. Ermine abend
engrailed between tivo
cocks gules •with three
pierced molets or on the
bend.
THORLEY
In 1468 William Wetenhale died seised of a tene-
ment called MJUNDEl'lLE, consisting of 20 acres
of arable, 4 acres of meadow and 6 acres of pasture,
held of John Leventhorpe by suit of court.43 These
from their name were apparently some lands which
the Mandevilles had for a time kept in their own
hands.
In 1555 the messuage called Maundevile with lands
and rent in Thorley was conveyed by George Wheten-
hall to John Elliot, merchant of London.43*
The church of ST. JAMES consists
CHURCH of chancel 3 1 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., small
north vestry, nave 43 ft. by 23 ft. 6 in.,
south porch, and west tower 1 2 ft. 6 in. by 1 1 ft.,
all internal dimensions.
The walls are probably of flint rubble and are
coated with cement, the dressings are of stone.
The nave and chancel were built in the early part
of the 13 th century, but the south doorway, of
12th-century work, remains. The chancel arch
appears to have been rebuilt in the 14th century
and the west tower added early in the following
century. In the 19th century the church was
repaired and the vestry and south porch were built
and all the walls covered with cement.
The three-light east window in the chancel is
modern. In the north wall are two 13th-century
lancet windows, one of which has been restored, and
a doorway of the same period. In the south wall is
another 13th-century lancet. There are two other
windows with modern tracery. In the same wall is a
piscina with cinquefoiled head and moulded jambs,
and adjoining it is a triple sedile with ogee-arched
heads, moulded and cusped, all under a square moulded
label with head stops, and with cusped spandrels; both
sedilia and piscina belong to the late 14th century.
The 14th-century chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders with semi-octagonal responds and moulded
capitals and bases.
At the east end of the north nave wall is the
doorway to the rood stairs, and above is the doorway
formerly giving access to the loft. Of the three
windows on each side of the nave the central one is
a 13th-century lancet, the others are probably of the
15th century with modern tracery. The south
doorway is of 12th-century work and has been much
restored ; the arch is semicircular of two cheveron-
moulded orders, the outer one having a double
cheveron ; the jambs have twisted shafts with scalloped
capitals. In the south wall at the east end is a
trefoiled recess, chiefly of cement, which was probably
a piscina.
The west tower is of three stages, unbuttressed,
and is finished with an embattled parapet and slender
wood spire. At the south -east angle is a projecting
stair turret which is carried up to the belfry level ;
the doorway to this stair, which is inside the tower,
has a four-centred moulded arch. A filleted roll in
the jamb mouldings has a foliated capital supporting
an upper member which dies into the arch. The
'6 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 24 Chas. II.
27 Ibid. M.ch. 3 Will, and Mary.
28 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 268.
29 M. I. in church.
30 Ibid.
31 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Branching
Hund. 100.
33 Rtcov. R. Trin. +5 Geo. Ill, rot.
"9-
33 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 51 Geo. III.
'* Information from Rev. J. E. I.
Procter. 3<* V.C.H. Herts, i, 308a.
3,f> Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I, no. 14.
35 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), it,.
3e Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 289.
37 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 49.
38 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (i\ 2 78
(57)-
375
39 Ibid. 6ro (ri6), p. 38;.
111 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxix,
2.
•' Ibid, dxxvii, 99.
« Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 19 Geo. III.
« Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. IV, no. 47.
[e left an infant son William.
«a Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 & 2 Phil.
rid Mary.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
tower arch is of three moulded orders and moulded
jambs, the inner members of which have moulded
capitals and bases. The west doorway has a two-
centred arch with continuous mouldings, under a
square moulded label, with head stops. In each
spandrel is a quatrefoiled circle containing a shield ;
the shield on the north is charged with a mitre, that
on the south with three leopards. To the south of
the doorway is a small plain recessed stoup. The
tracery of the three-light west window is modern. On
each face of the belfry stage is a two-light window
with quatrefoil in the head, nearly all in cement.
The basin of the font is square, and on each side
are five shallow round-headed panels ; it belongs to
the 1 2th century and stands on a modern base.
Under a window-sill on the south wall of the
nave is a brass inscription to John Duke, farmer at
Thorley Hall, who died in 1606.
There are three bells : the first inscribed ' John
pittancer for the garments of the monks in 1336.45
Apparently before this date the advowson had been
acquired by the Bishop of London,46 probably in the
same way as Sawbridgeworth 47 (q.v.). If the appro-
priation ever took place, the living was a rectory in
1535,48 from which the Abbot of Walden received a
pension of 53/. \d. This was surrendered to the
Crown in 1538 4a and granted in the same year to
Sir Thomas Audley.50 The advowson remained with
the see of London until the latter part of the 19th
century. The patronage is now vested in the see of
St. Albans.61
Francis Burleigh, presented by Queen Elizabeth
during a vacancy of the see of London in I 594, was
one of the translators of the Authorized Version of the
Bible.52
Thomas Turner, who was rector from 1680 to
1689, was in 1688 elected preiident of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, where his tenure of office was marked
Thorlev Church from the South-east
White, James Cramphorn, Churchwardens, 1682 ' ;
the second, 'God save the King, 1628' by Robert
Oldfeild ; the third, by William Wightman, 1682.
The communion plate consists of cup and cover
paten, 1562, one paten, 1809, another, 1818, a
flagon, 1839, and a pewter flagon.
The registers are in three books, as follows :
(i) baptisms, burials and marriages 1539 to 1750;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1750 to 18 1 2, marriages
1750 to 1754. ; (iii) marriages 1754. to 1812.
The church of Thorley was part
ADVOWSON of the endowment of Walden Abbey,
founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville
(ob. 1144).41 It was appropriated to the office of
by the erection of Turner's, now called Fellows'
Buildings.53
In 1686 Thomas Hoy by his will
CHARITIES gave a rent-charge of 6s. per annum
to the poor. This sum is received
out of a farm called Rumbold's and is applied in
bread given to a poor widow.
In 1706 the Rev. Thomas Turner, S.T.P.,a former
rector, by his will gave a sum of £50 to be laid out
in land, the rents and profits to be applied in binding
a poor child apprentice to some honest trade. A
piece of copyhold land containing about 3 acres
situate in the common field called North Field was
purchased, which produces £4 yearly, and a child is
« Had. MS. 3697, fol. 18.
45 Ibid. fol. 244..
46 The Bishop of London presented
in 1327 (see Cussans, Hist, of Herts.
Brau riling Hund. 104.).
«7 Hurley, the cell to Westminster,
had part of the tithes of Thorley {Pope
Nkh. Tax. [Rec. Com.], 18; see Saw-
bridgeworth).
48 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 452.
ts Feet of F. Herts. East. 30 Hen. VIII.
'» L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii (1), 575.
376
It came subsequently to Henry Higham
(see Chan. Inq. p.m. [Scr. 2], ccxvii, 10;).
51 Information from Rev. J. E. I.
Procter, rector •, see Sawbridgeworth.
52 Ibid.
63 Diet. Nat. Bior.
Thorley Church : The South Doorway
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
THUNDRIDGE
apprenticed from time to time, a premium of £10 augmented in 1909 by Admiral F. Vander Meulen
being paid in 1907. by a sum of ^100, the two gifts being represented by
In 1884 Mrs. Georgiana Martha Vander Meulen .£244 17s. lid. 2J per cent, annuities with the
by declaration of trust gave a sum of £115, the official trustees. The annual dividends, amounting
interest to be paid to the rector for the time being to £6 zs. 8d., are applied in the upkeep of the
for the upkeep of the churchyard. This charity was churchyard.
THUNDRIDGE
Tonrich (10S6) ; Tunrigge, Thanrugge, Thorn-
rugge (xiii cent.) ; Thunrigge, Thunrych, Thurrich
(xiv and xv cent.) ; Thundriche (xvi cent.).
Thundridge is a small parish of 2,206 acres bounded
on the north-west by the River Rib, which divides it
from the parish of Standon, and on the north-east by
the Nimney Bourne. The main road to Buntingford
intersects the parish on the west. Of the total area
rather more than half is arable land, but there is
a considerable amount of pasture in the valley of
the Rib. The chief woods are Sawtres Wood on
the north in the bend of the river, Steere Woo.l
further south, and Buckney Wood to the south of
this. Gardiner's Spring, a small wood to the west
of Buckney Wood, preserves the name of the 1 7th-
century owners of the manor. The land rises from
the valley of the Rib on the north and is for
the most part between 200 and 300 ft. above the
ordnance datum. The soil varies, the subsoil being
gravel and clay. No inclosure award has been made
for the parish. Burleigh Common and Halfyard
Common are still in several ownership, but Ashridge
Common, which from its name must have been an
open field, is now owned by one person only. All
three are arable.1
There is no village of Thundridge properly speak-
ing ; all that remains of the original settlement are a
I Jth-century chimney stack of brick which belonged
to the manor-house called the Bury (pulled down in
I 8 1 2)/ the ruins of a cottage which once formed part
of the stables of the Bury, and the tower of the old
church, all situated close together in a bend of the river
about half a mile east of the Buntingford road. The
church is surrounded by fine chestnut trees, pines and
yews, and in summer the spot is beautiful in spite of its
deserted appearance. To the south of the church is
Thundridge Hill, the slope of which is occupied by
a long field planted with lines of elm trees. Leading
to the church from the west is an avenue of elms
known as the Causeway. This at the further end is
continued to Wadesmill by a picturesque path along
the side of the river.
The hamlet of Wadesmill is built along the road
to Buntingford and lies partly in the parish of Thun-
dridge and partly in High Cross (formed from the
ancient parish of Standon), the bridge over the Rib
forming the boundary. The part of the village on
the eastern bank of the river is known locally as
Thundridge. The church of St. Mary occupies a
good position on high ground further along the road
to the south. The vicarage stands some little distance
from it in Poles Lane. The main street of the village
was the street parallel with the main road, now known
1 Information from Mr. F. C. Puller.
s Mi J J. and Herts. N. and Q. ii, 151;
view in Gent. Alag. Ixxxi, 609.
3 If this is so the present road must be
a return to the original course of Ermine
Street.
* J. H. Hinde, 'The Old North Road,'
Arch. Aetiana, iii, 237.
5 Cott. MS. Nero E vi, fol. 122*.
G Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 159, no.
7 Will. Ill, pt.
377
as Back Street. The main road is said to have run
along here before it was diverted to its present route,
this new part of it being still known as New Road.3
In Back Street is the old White Hind Inn and next to
it stood the smithy, now pulled down. A row of
cottages on the same side as the 'White Hind' was
built by Mr. Hanbury in 1888. The mixed elemen-
tary school on the other side of the road was built in
1900, superseding one opposite the church which is
now used as a reading-room. The infants' school
near the church was opened in 1894, taking the place
of one which stood in front of the present house. The
situation of the hamlet on the main road to Cam-
bridge brought much traffic through it when travelling
was by coach. At the beginning of the 19th century-
more than 100 horses were often stabled at the
Feathers Inn on the other side of the bridge. The
turnpike at Wadesmill was one of the first three put
up in the county.'
Poles, on the north-west of the parish, is the seat
of Mr. E. S. Hanbury ; the house, which is modern,
stands in a park of about 100 acres. Swangle's Farm,
to the south-east of the old church, preserves the
name of a family of Swangle who appear in the
neighbourhood in the 14th century.5 On the south-
east of the parish is a farm called Castlebury. The
original form of this name is Casewellbury. At the
end of the 1 5th century there is record of a mill
called Casewell Mill,6 and in 1694 half a messuage or
farm called Casewelbury, or Carswelbury, was sold by
Humphrey Taylor, citizen and mercer of London, to
Sir Henry Wincombe of Bucklebury, co. Berks.,
bart.7 From Castlebury a by-road runs south-west to
Newhall Green in Ware parish and east to Baker's
End in Thundridge. Baker's End 8 communicates by
road with Nobland Green on the north-east and with
Rush Green on the north by a road which passes
through Halfyard Common. The number of these
small greens in the neighbourhood is noticeable.
Anastasius Cottonus Jacksonus Lightfoot, son of
John Lightfoot, rector of Great Munden, the Hebrew
scholar and Biblical critic (and named after his father's
friends Sir Rowland Cotton and Sir John Jackson),
became vicar of Thundridge in 1 66 1. Another divine
of some note, William Webster, was instituted in
1740. He was a voluminous writer, chiefly of
theological works, but in 1740 he published a
pamphlet on the woollen manufactory from materials
furnished by a merchant in the trade called The
Consequences of Trade to the Wealth and Strength of any
Nation, by a Draper of London, which had a large sale ;
this he followed next year by a refutation of his own
arguments called The Draper s Reply.
Other spellings are Cassullbery on a map
of 164S and Cassalbery on Norden's map.
8 Bequest to Christopher Bedle of
no. Baker's End, 1572 (Herts. Gen. i, 370) ;
house and land called Gymmes at Baker's
37. End (ibid, ii, 85).
48
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Before the Conquest the manor of
MANORS THUNDR1DGE, sometimes called
H'JDESMILL, was held by Alnod
under Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1086
it formed part of the possessions of Odo Bishop of
Bayeux, of whom it was held by Hugh de Grent-
mesnil. It was assessed at I hide only. There was
land for four ploughs, but there were only three on
the manor, one of which was on the demesne ; there
was meadow for four plough-teams, woodland for
sixteen swine, and a mill ° (possibly on the site of
Wadesmill). After the forfeiture of the Bishop of
Bayeux the manor was held of the king in chief by
the successors of Grentmesnil, and this tenancy
follows the descent of the manor of Ware (q.v.).
In the 13th century the immediate tenants of the
a messuage and dovecote, I carucate of land, 10 acres
of meadow, 30 acres of wood, 40 acres of pasture,
with rents of assize and rents from customary tenants.14
In the following year Elizabeth died holding half the
manor,15 leaving a son Sir Hugh de Bussy, kt., by a
former marriage. Apparently this half was acquired
by the other heirs, for there seems to be no further
trace of it. In 1303 Joan the second heir, then a
widow, conveyed her part of the manor to Adam de
Swillington for life.16 Afterwards, before I 3 12, she
married Adam de Swillington 17 (of Swillington, ne:ir
Leeds), with whom she was jointly seised. He
obtained a grant of free warren in February I 327-8 18
and died in or before 1330.19 The manor then
passed to Sir William Disney, apparently the son of
Joan by her first marriage. He in 1 347 settled it on
Wades Mill, Thindiudge
manor were the family of Dive of Balderton, co. Not-
tingham, and Kingerby, co. Lincoln. It was held by
William de Dive, who died before 125 1, when his
heir John was under age and a third of the manor was
held in dower by his widow Ermentrude.10 In 1277
John Dive obtained a grant of free warren in his
demesne lands of Thundridge.11 John died seised in
1292-3, leaving two sisters, Joan then the wife of
Ralph de Trehamtone and apparently widow of Sir
William Disney,12 and Elizabeth, then wife of John
D'Aubyn.13 The extent of the manor is given as
his son and daughter-in-law William and Joan Disney.20
From William the younger it passed to Sir William
Disney, his son,21 to John of Norton Disney, co.
Lincoln, son of William, who was killed at Towton
in 1 46 1,22 and to his grandson and heir William, who
died seised of it in 1 540. 23 Richard, his son and heir,
conveyed it in I 543 to John Gardiner of London and
his wife Joan.24 John Gardiner died in I 5 ; 5. His son
Thomas died without issue and the manor passed to
his brother Henry, who had two sons Henry and James.
After the death of Henry, James conveyed it to his
B I'.C.H. Herts, i, 311a.
10 Cur. Reg. R. 145, m. 17 d.
11 Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, p. 204.
la Gen. iii, 375 ; Thoroton, Notting-
hamshire, i, 359.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. I, no. 42.
" Ibid.
15 Ibid. 22 Edw. I, no. 44.
16 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Edw. I,
17 See ibid. 5 Edw. II, no. 84.
18 Chart. R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 28
19 Cal. Pat. 1 3 30-4, p. 29.
w De Banco R. 352, m. 3 1 1 ;
F. Div. Co. 21 Edw. Ill, no. 12.
378
31 For fine levied bv him in 141 1 set
. 374. Feet of F. Div. Co. 12 Hen. IV, no. 71.
» Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 105 ;
3. 29. Gen. loc. cit.
» Ibid, xliv, 120 ; Gen. loc. cit.
;et of « FeetofF.Herts.Mich.35Hcn.VIH;
Recov. R. Hil. 35 Hen. VIII, rot. 126.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Gardiner. Party or
and gules a Jesse betiveen
three hinds tripping all
countcrchanged.
nephew Edward Gardiner, son of his sister Elizabeth
by Simon Gardiner her first cousin.** Edward was
sheriff of the county in
1628"; he died in 1650,
leaving a son Edward, who
also served as sheriff in 1657."
On his death in l664Thund-
ridge descended to a younger
son John, and then, according
to Chauncy, to his son Henry,
who died in 1693, and to
Henry son of Henry, the
owner in 1700.88 Clutter-
buck, however, gives a rather
different account, making the
manor descend to John, the
fourth son of the above-
mentioned John, to John his son, who died in 1760,
to another John his son, and then to Gilbert son and
heir of John. Gilbert Gardiner sold part of the
estate called Poles, and later another part called
Downfield29, and in 1 8 1 1 he with Dorothy Gardiner,
widow of John, sold the manor with the mill at
Wadesmill to Daniel Giles of Youngsbury.30 It then
descended with Youngsbury in Standon (q.v.), and
Mr. C. B. Giles-Puller of Youngsbury is the present
lord of the manor.
The manor of SAJfrTRES (Sawtrey, Sawtrees), an
estate on the north of the parish, situated in the
bend of the River Rib, was held of the manor of
Ware. At the beginning of the 15th century it
seems to have belonged to Sir Nicholas Thorley, kt.,
and to have passed from him to his kinsman and heir
Walter Estoft, who conveyed it in 145 1 to John
Viscount Beaumont and others.31 In 1533 Walter
Wadeland and Thomas Montgomery conveyed it to
Richard Welles and others.32 Francis Roberts died
seised of it in 1632, his grandson Sir William
Roberts, son of his son Barn, being his heir.33 Sir
William Roberts, ca'led of Willesden, co. Middlesex,
sold the manor and capital messuage in 1638 to
Robert Turner, D.D., canon
residentiary of St. Paul's
Cathedral,3,1 excepting three
copyholds in Ware and an
acre of land in Ware Park. It
descended to Thomas Turner,
Dean of Canterbury, and to
his son Francis Turner, Bishop
of Rochester 1683-4, Bishop
of Ely in 1684 (afterwards
suspended from the latter
bishopric for refusing to take
the oath of allegiance to
William and Mary), who in
1695 sold the manor to
Richard Crawley of London.35 After this the descent
of the manor is fragmentary. Jane Smith suffered a
recovery of it in I732,3G Edmund Pepys and his wife
Sarah did the same in I 765," and Lee Steere Steere
in 1824." It was acquired from the Steere family
THUNDRIDGE
about forty years ago by Mr. Arthur Giles-Puller,
and has since descended with the Youngsbury estate
(Standon, q.v).
The church of ST. MART 3.1 Wades-
CHURCH mill consists of chancel 26 ft. 9 in. by
20 ft. 9 in., north vestry, nave 56 ft.
9 in. by 25 ft., and west tower; all internal dimen-
sions. The church was built in 1853 of squared
rubble with stone dressings, to take the place of the
old church, of which only the tower remains.
The old church was pulled down in 1853 on the
erection of the church at Wadesmill. There was a
chapel here in the time of Hugh de Grentmesnil, who
was tenant in io86.39 The dedication is given variously
as ALL SAINTS "> and ST. MARK Chauncy says
it was called Little St. Mary's.41 The tower is built
of flint rubble with stone dressings, and is of three
stages, with angle buttresses on the west ; it was
erected in the 15th century. The tower arch is
blocked and the stonework much defaced. Under the
arch has been inserted a 12th-century doorway with
semicircular arch, with cheveron and billet mouldings,
all much decayed; above the doorway a 14th-century
window has been inserted. It has two trefoiled lights
with tracery under a square head ; it is in good con-
d.tion. Both doorway and window appear to have
come from the old church. On the south wall, in
the first stage, is a square panel inclosing a quatrefoil
piercing with a rose in the centre ; in the west wall is
a doorway with a four-centred arch under a square
head, with tracery in the spandrels, and above it is a
window of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-
centred arch. The second stage has narrow single
lights on the north, south and west faces and a
sundial on the south. Each face of the belfry stage
has a window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoiled
opening in the head, under a four-centred arch. The
tower has been buttressed on the east, and the upper
stages are secured with iron bolts.
The bells, of which there are four, are now in the
modern church. The treble is inscribed ' Johannes
est nomen ejus' by an unknown founder ; the second
is dated 1623; the third 1631, both by Robert
Oldfeild ; the fourth by John Dier, I 580.
The communion plate consists of flagon, 1775,
cup, 1837, and paten, 1837.
The registers are in five books as follows : (i)
baptisms, burials and marriages 1556 to 1670; (ii)
baptisms, burials and marriages 1682 to 1738 ; (iii)
baptisms and burials 1 7 38 to 1 812, marriages 1738
to 1751 ; (iv) marriages 1754 t0 '806 ; (v) marriages
1806 to 181 2.
The advowson of the old church
ADVOWSON of ST. MART follows the descent
of the advowson of Ware (q.v.), to
which church it was a chapel. Hugh de Grentmesnil
gave both church and chapel to the Priory of Ware.
In the composition made between the parishioners of
Ware and Thundridge and the Prior of Ware in 123 I
(see advowson of Ware) it was agreed that the Prior
and vicar of Ware should serve the church daily by
85 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antia. of Herts.
iii, 278; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 11
JaS. I.
26 List of Sheriffs (P.R.O.), 64.
27 Ibid.
28 Chauncy, Hist. Antij. of Herts. 213.
29 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
3C Deed in possession of Mr. C. B.
Giles-Puller of Youngsbury.
31 Close, 32 Hen. VI, m. 15.
32 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 25 Hen. VIII.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxv, 65.
34 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. ^Chas.!,
m. 10.
379
» Close, 7 Will. Ill, pt. vii, no. 17.
36 Recov. R. Mich. 6 Geo. II, rot. 184.
37 Ibid. East. ; Geo. Ill, rot. 203.
38 Ibid. Trin. ; Geo. IV, rot. 197.
39 See advowson,
40 Lond. Epis. Reg. Gilbert, fol. 170.
«' Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 214.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
a chaplain, who should reside there and who should
he provided by the parishioners with a house, 4 acres
of arable l.ind, id. every Sunday with blessed bread,
21. in Christmas week or bread to that value, and
3J. 2d. per annum." After the Dissolution the
advowson came with that of Ware to Trinity College,
Cambridge. The church was served by a vicar of its
own until 178 I, when the vicarage was consolidated
with that of Ware."
In 18 10 the parsonage and glebe land were sold
for the redemption of the land tax with which the
vicarage was charged, and the house was then pulled
down." When the church of St. Mary was built by
Mr. Hanbury in 1853 the Master and Fellows of
Trinity College gave him the advowson, reserving
the great tithes. The vicarage was then again separated
from Ware and a residence built for the vicar/5
Mr. E. S. Hanbury is the present patron.
The charity of Jane Wall, founded
CHJRITIES by will dated in 1573, is regulated by
schemes of the Charity Commissioners
1862 and 1875. The property originally consisted
of about 19 a. of land in Thundridge and 4 a. 2 r. of
land in Much Munden. The land at Thundridge
was exchanged under the Act of I & 2 George IV for
25 a. I r. 37 p. of land situate near Nobland Green.
The real estate has been sold from time to time, and
the trust fund now consists of £2,126 ys. yd. consols
with the official trustees, producing £53 3/. yearly.
The charity of an unknown donor, which is
regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
14 December 1 909, consists of an annu.il rent-charge
of 40/. issuing out of the Youngsbury estate.
The income of these two charities was applied in
1909 as to £22 10s. in clothing tickets to about
forty-eight families, £18 in bread tickets to fifty
families, £z\ to parish nurse, and £9 lew. in scholar-
ships and assistance to children leaving school.
In 1 908 Miss Katharine Jane Green, by her
will proved at London 24 November, gave £4.0
consols, the interest to be applied in coals to be
given at Christmas, and equally divided between the
six oldest poor women, either widows or spinsters.
The stock is held by the official trustees.
WARE
Waras (xi cent.) ; Wares (xii cent.) ; Warre (xiii
cent.).
Ware is a large parish now divided into the civil
parishes of Ware Urban and Ware Rural, the latter
including an area of about 4,208 acres, of which 31
acres are water, whilst Ware Urban comprises the
town of Ware and has an area of 628 acres, of which
16 are water. Thus the town occupies but a small
part of the ancient parish, being surrounded by open
country, but the population is almost entirely massed
in the town, except for that part of it scattered in the
hamlets of Widbury, a mile to the east, Fanhams Hall,
a mile north-east, and Wareside, 2 miles north-east.
An inclosure award for Ware Marsh was made in
1 861 and one for Ware Wengeo Common in 1854.2
The parish is intersected by the main road from
London to Cambridge through Buntingford and
Royston, from which the Watton road branches oft"
immediately to the west of the town, whilst the road
to Hertford forms the boundary for a little way on the
south. The Broxbourne and Hertford branch of the
Great Eastern railway has a station in the town, and
at Mardocks is a station on the Buntingford branch of
the same line. On the west the parish is bounded by
the River Rib, which joins the Lea at a point on the
south-west of the parish near Ware Park Mill.
The River Lea, which joins the Thames at
Blackwall about 20 miles distant, has always p'.ayed
an important part in the history of Ware. It has
long formed the principal means of communica-
tion between the eastern side of Hertfordshire and
London, and it was therefore of great importance for
the carriage of corn and other commodities to the
capital. The efforts of Hertford to preserve the
monopoly of this trade and of Ware to secure it
caused an acute rivalry between the two towns.
Disputes constantly arose with regard to obstructions
in the river at Ware, made in order to block the
passage of the Hertford ships. In 1 275 the lord of
the manor prevented ships from passing up and down
by the erection of a weir between Ware and Hertford,3
and in I 300 a commission was appointed for removing
obstructions caused by mariners and boatmen placing
their vessels across it.4 Obstruction to navigation was
frequently caused by the weirs, mills, pools, stakes and
kiddles erected in the river, and after the statute of
25 Edward III commissions were periodically issued
for the removal of all those erected later than the reign
of Edward I and for preventing tolls being taken from
the boats at these weirs, &c.5 In 1439 the river
seems to have been completely stopped up by these
impediments. 6
Efforts to improve the navigation of the river were
made in the 1 6th century and later. An Act of
Parliament was passed in I 57 1 for bringing the Lea
(or Ware) River to the north of London by means of
a new cut to be made by the City. This was to
serve for barges and other boats carrying corn, victuals
and articles of merchandise between Ware and London
and also for ' tytlebotes ' and wherries carrying pas-
sengers. The part of the river between Ware and
this new cut was to be cleansed and made deep
enough for the passage of barges.7 In 1739 an Act
was passed for improving the navigation from Hertford
to Ware and from Ware to the new cut,8 and a further
Act, passed in 1767, for improving the navigation
from Hertford to the Thames empowered the trustees
to make new cuts between Hertford and Ware at
43 Lond. Epis. Reg. Gilbert, fol. 170.
13 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
iii, 280.
44 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
40 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Braughin%
Htmd. 163.
1 The writer is indebted in this history
uf Ware to Mr. R. T. Andrews of Hert-
ford, who kindly lent his bibliography of
Ware.
2 Blue Bk. Inch Awards.
3 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188, 190.
4 Cal. Pat. 1 292-1 301, p. 547.
5 Ibid. 13-7-S1, p. 474; 1381-;,
PP- '44. 472; i42--9» PP- 4°2, 551 >
1429-36, pp. 350, 356 ; 1436-41, pp. 83,
371, 453 ; 1476-S;, pp. 22, 344 ; Pari.
R. iv, 292, 332, 3S1 ; L. and P.
Hen. rill, ii, 2138.
0 Cal. Pat. 1456-41, p. 371.
7 Stat, of Realm (Rec. Com.), iv (1),
553-
s Local and Personal Act, 12 Geo. II,
cap. 32.
380
Thundridce Old Church: The Tower
Ware Chlrch from the North-east
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
the places where the old channel was stopped up."
Manifold Ditch and Black Ditch, now filled with stag-
nant water, formed the original channel of the Lea.10
The management of the river is vested in thirteen
conservators chosen by different representative bodies,
including the Corporation of London and the Metro-
politan Water Board. The fishing rights are held by
the conservators.
Half a mile distant from the town is the head of
the New River, which is fed by a spring in the
meadow called Chadwell 10a in this parish and by some
deep wells in the parish of Great Amwell, as well as
by a cut from the Lea using part of the old Manifold
Ditch. The scheme for making this river was pro-
posed by Hugh Middleton, commissioner for the
water supply of London in the reign of James I,
with the object of supplying fresh water to the north
of London. An Act of Parliament empowering the
corporation of the city of London to make the trench
was passed in 1605.11 Middleton had offered to
bear all the expense, but long before it was finished
he had to petition for a royal grant, and the king in
161 2 promised to pay half the expenses. The river
was finished in 16 1 3, and in 16 19 the shareholders
were incorporated.13
Palaeolithic implements and a neolithic celt have
been found in Ware.13 Ermine Street ran through
the parish on the west, and many Roman coins and
antiquities have been found in Bury Field, close by
Ware lock, whilst excavating for Messrs. Allen &
Hanbury's factory in 1899.14
The town is situated on the west side of the parish
on the River Lea, a little to the east of the line of
Ermine Street. The main road to Buntingford and
Royston runs through it, forming the High Street
and the continuation of it called Baldock Street
(Baldokstrete 1 5 1 2).15 High Street is the chief
street of the town, and contains many 17th and
I 8th-century houses. The detached groups of houses
on the north side seem to be encroachments on the
market-place, which, now a square space in front of
the town hall, may have been originally a triangle in
shape with the base at the church.16 The market
dates back to 1 199, and must have been of considerable
importance in the development of the town. The
oldest houses are probably those on the south of the
market-place which have back premises extending down
to the river. Later extension of the town has been
almost entirely on the north, first between High Street
and Musley Lane and then north of Musley Lane.
In the High Street probably the oldest house is
no. 65, formerly the Christopher Inn,17 but now a
house and shop occupied by Mr. Harradence. The
main building facing on the road has been much
altered in the 1 8th and 19th centuries. It has a
large archway with late 1 5 th-century details opening
into a courtyard. The wing running south in the
east side of the courtyard seems to have formed part
of two 15th-century timber and plaster houses, which
WARE
had a narrow alley between them running through
what is now a coal cellar in the middle of the wing.
The upper stories of these houses project and were
apparently connected by a bridge from which a
gallery ran on the west side of the south house.
There are many I 5 th-century details still remaining
in the building. Near this house is a plastered timber
and brick house with the date 1624, but altered in
the 1 8th and 19th centuries. It contains some good
panelling and two fine overmantels. In an upper
room are the initials ,HS and the date 1624. On
the north side of the High Street is a 1 7th-century
house of timber and brick with a tiled roof known as
the Blue Boot Store. It has been considerably altered
to adapt it for a shop, but two interesting plaster ceil-
ings remain, bearing shields of arms (two lions passant
between three crosslets). Another 1 7th-century house
on the north side is Gilpin House, called in memory
of the famous ride. At Blue Coat Yard, formerly Place
House, a little off the High Street, is an 18th-century
house which was till 1760 a branch house of the
Blue Coat School or Christ's Hospital, London. This
house stands in a courtyard which is entered by a
brick gateway of the iSth century. Over the gate-
way is a niche which formerly contained a figure
of a blue coat boy now moved to the Blue Coat
School at Hertford. On the west side of the court-
yard are twelve picturesque cottages of about the
middle of the 1 7th century and on the east some
18th-century buildings formerly belonging to the
school. There is a group of 17th-century houses
with overhanging stories on the north side of Ware
Bridge.
In Baldock Street is a 16th-century house (no. 23),
which has been much altered in the 1 8th and 19th
centuries. It has an archway leading to the yard
behind the house. On the ea;t side of Wadesmill
Road is a 17th-century house now covered with
plaster and on the west side a group of red brick mak-
ings of the 17th century, one with a brick mullioned
window. In Crib Street are several 17th-century
houses including the Green Dragon, the Albion and
Red Cow Inns. They are all of timber and plaster with
tiled roofs and mostly with overhanging upper stories.
The present iron bridge over the Lea was built in
1845 by G. Stephenson. There was a bridge over
the river, probably on the site of the existing bridge,
as early as 1 191. It is mentioned then as having
been broken down by the men of Hertford ls who
were trying to force all traffic to make the passage of
the Lea at Hertford instead of taking the more direct
route through Ware. The bailiff of Hertford claimed
rights over the bridge as appurtenant to the borough
of Hertford, and the early bridge was kept closed to
carts by a bar, the keys of this and also of a chain
across the adjoining ford being held by the king's
bailiff of Hertford. It was not until the Barons' War
in the reign of John that the bridge was opened to
traffic.19 The tolls were then constantly disputed
9 Local and Persi
cap. 51.
10 R. T. Andrews,
Lea,' St. Albans a,
Arch. Soc. Trans. I i
lta One of the
St. Chad.
11 At first the •
nal Act, 7 Geo. II r,
' Navigation of River
d Herts. Archil, and
88, p. 51.
wells called after
rater was conveyc
through wooden pipes. Some of these
could recently be seen in Oxford Street.
Andrews, * Chadwell Spring, East Herts.
Arch. Soc. Trans, i, 7.
12 Local and Personal Act, 3 Jas. I,
cap. 18 ; 4. Jas. I, car. 12 ; Cussans, Hist,
of Herts. Branching Hind. 131 ; Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1611-1S, p. 517.
13 V.C.H. Herts, i, 227.
14 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, i, 187.
381
15 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 71.
16 A 'house in the old market place,'
bequeathed in 1572, points to encroach-
ments before this date (Herts. Gen. i,
334>
11 Information from Mr. Harradence ;
see Exch. Dep. East. 14 Chas. II, no. 50.
ls Pipe R. 3 Ric. I, m. 12 d.
"Assize R. 313 (32 Hen. Ill), m. 6 J.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
between the bailiff" of Hertford and the lord of the
manor of Ware.18" Finally the borough asserted its
right and the tolls were afterwards farmed with the
borough, or occasionally leased apart by the king.2"
In 1258 the townsmen of Hertford again broke down
the bridge, dug a channel in the ford and blocked
up the London road with a ditch.21 But in spite
of all their efforts it was impossible permanently
to prevent the traffic from taking the more direct
route.21"
There are still a great number of inns in Ware
surviving from the time when the main road brought
many travellers through the town. The 'White Hart,'
mentioned in 151 I,2-' the 'Saracen's Head' about the
same time, the 'Bull' referred to in 1 5 4 7 23 are all in
the High Street; the 'George' in Amwell End is
mentioned in 1622.24 The great bed of Ware was
kept at the ' Saracen's Head ' before its removal to
Rye House (see under Rye House). Other early inns
are the 'White Horse,' mentioned in 1626,25 the
'Bell' in 1616,26 the 'Bear' in 1494,27 the 'Crown'
in 160328 and 1725.29 In 1 681 a certain Thomas
Collup was presented before the justices of the peace
as owning an inn called the ' King's Head,' worth
£100, which he would not sell, or let, or live in, and
allowing the house to drop down for want of repair
and the timber to be stolen, whilst he begged his
bread from door to door and his wife and daughter
were chargeable to the parish.30 A hostel or inn
called the ' Katherine Wheel,' whose site is unknown,
belonged in the middle of the I 5th century to William
Pery,31 a maltman of Ware,32 and remained in his
family for some generations.33
The parish church of St. Mary is at the west end
of High Street, on which the churchyard abuts. At
the corner close by the church is a smithy. The
Priory estate lies between the High Street and the
River Lea. The priory was founded as a house
of Grey Friars in 1338 by Thomas Lord Wake of
Liddell, who granted the friars a messuage and 7 acres
of land on which to build an oratory, houses, and
other buildings.34 After the Dissolution the site was
granted to Thomas Birch (see manorial descents).
Besides the friary there was an alien house at Ware,
founded as a cell to St. Evroul when that monastery
was endowed with the church of Ware and land in
the parish by Hugh de Grentmesnil. He or one of
his successors also gave certain lands for the board of
himself and his heirs whenever they stayed at the
monastery, and Joan de Bohun, lady of the manor
(q.v.), ensured accommodation by building a house
for herself in the close of the priory.35 On the sup-
pression of alien houses it was granted by Henry V
to his new foundation at Sheen.36 There are no
remains of the priory, but the old rectory (now called
the manor-house) may possibly mark the site of the
monastic buildings.
The girls' school at the School House, Amwell
End (which used to be known as Amwell House, and
was the residence of the Quaker poet John Scott),
represents the old Ware Side School. This was
founded before 1633, when Humphrey Spencer left
£100 to the feoffees for teaching four of the poorest
children of Ware Upland to read and write. It was
built on part of the site of Corpus Christi Barn 37 in
Dead Lane, which by some unknown donor had been
devised to the poor of Ware. The school was rebuilt
in 1747. It was an elementary school in 1834, but
had become by usage a grammar school befoie 1866.
In 1889 it was amalgamated with the Chuck
Memorial School, founded by Mrs. Elizabeth Moore
Chuck in memory of her husband in 1857. A
grammar school was then established under thirteen
governors appointed by the Hertford County Council.
This was converted into a girls' school in 1906, and
Amwell House was bought for its accommodation.
Another early school was Ware Free School, which
in 1612 is described as carried on in the Town
House. In the 17th century it was called a grammar
school. The schoolhouse was a wooden building,
and stood in a corner of the churchyard by the old
brewery ; the lower room was let as a beer cellar.
The noise and fumes which reached the school caused
its removal before 1872.38 In 1 8 89 it was amalga-
mated with the Wareside and Chuck Memorial
School.
The elementary school near the church was built
in 184439 and the one in New Road about 1S60.4"
In the New Road is Christ Church, built and
endowed by Robert Hanbury of Poles,41 to which
an ecclesiastical district, formed from Ware and Great
Amwell, was assigned in 1858.42
Malt-houses occupy the greater part of the town
to the north of High Street as far as Musley Lane.
19« Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 56 ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i,
190.
-° See Hertford ; Abbrrv. Rot. Orig.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 256 ; Duchy of Lane.
Misc. Bks. xiii, fol. 9 ; Mins. Accts. bdle.
1094, no. 10. Within recent years the
tolls have been acquired by the urban
district council (Dawes, Rec. of Ware).
21 Abbre-v. the. (Rec. Com.), 148.
21a There were other bridges also in
Ware. The A bbot of Wall ham was respon-
sible for the upkeep of two bridges between
Ware and Hertford in Lokmead. The
king, whenever he proposed to hawk in
the neighbourhood, woul'l issue injunc-
tions to the sheriff to enforce the repair
of the bridges round Hertford and Ware
on those chargeable for it (Cal. Close,
■307-13. P- 5 57! 1 34-6-9. P- 397)-
Later, in the 17th century, many indict-
ments were made in the court of quarter
sessions against the persons responsible
for the repair of the numerous bridges in
Ware which were constantly allowed to
fall into decay (Sen. R. [Herts. Co.
Rec], i, 105, 107, 108, 124, 134, 196,
368; ii, 23, 27).
22 P.C.C. Will, Fetiplace 5 ; Ct. of
Req. bdle. 103, no. 53 ; Aug. Off. Proc.
bdle. 31, no. 29 ; bdle. 94, no. 41.
23 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. I Edw. VI.
24 MSS. ofGatveley Family (Hist. MSS.
Com.), n+.
26 Recov. R. Trin. 2 Chas. I.
"* Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. vii.
-'' P.C.C. Will, Vox 11.
29 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xi, App. iv,
450. See p. 290 of this volume tor the
accounts of Lady Rutland for a supper at
Ware.
29 Ibid, xv, App. iv, Si.
*>Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 313,
337-
31 Early Chan. Pioc Idle. 153, no. 6.
32 Son of John Pery (see Anct. D.
[P.R.O.], A 5218).
83 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5193, 1134,
5203, c.202, 1133, 978, 1088; Feet of
F. Herts. East. 6 Edw. VI.
31 Cal. Pat. 1338 40,p.i4. 'LeFreire
Crosse' is mentioned in tiie court rolls of
the manor (see Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 71).
The tenants within the town were bound
to make a bridge there. The site of this
cross is not known.
35 De Banco R. no. 44 (12 Edw. I),
m. 97. It is this house (not the friary)
which in early records is known as Ware
Priory.
36 Pat. 3 Hen. V, pt. ii, m. 30.
87 This probably had some connexion
with the gild of Corpus Chriiti (see under
the church).
38 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 88. In 1661
Thomas Gaudey of Ware was indicted in
the court of quarter sessions for keeping
a school at Ware without the bishop's
licence (Sat. R. [Herts. Co. Rec], i,
140).
39 See Close, 1844, pt. ex, no. 13.
40 Ibid. 1S61, pt. xi, no. 5.
41 Cussans, op. cit. Branching Hur.ti. i,
1,5 ; Close, 1857, pt. cxv, no. 9.
42 Lond. Gas. 7 Sept. 1858, p. 4052.
382
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Further north still, between Musley Hill and High
Oak Road, are the buildings of the Union (super-
seding the old workhouse in Crib Street which was
sold in I 841), and on Musley Hill are the waterworks
of the Ware Urban District.
Although Ware primarily owed its
BOROUGH importance to advantages of situation,
its history is closely bound up with
the manor, which for a long time was held by
powerful lords such as the Earls of Leicester. It
was to Robert de Quincy as lord of the manor that
the grant of a market was made in 1 199 (see manor).
The lords of the manor also tried to establish two
additional markets for cattle and corn on Wednesday
and Friday, the market days of Hertford. These
were held for some time before the proceedings under
Quo Warranto by Edward I, when they were probably
stopped.43 As in other market towns, there is early
trace of burgage tenure in Ware. The origin of this
is perhaps to be found in the charter of Robert Earl
of Leicester,44 by which he granted to the men of
Ware that all who had received or should receive a
dwelling from his court at Ware45 should hold that
dwelling from him and his heirs in free burgage at a
rent of zs. This charter was confirmed by Roger de
Quincy and a royal inspeximus was obtained by the
men of Ware in 1447.46 The area of burgage tenure
probably corresponded with the manor of Ware Infra.47
No doubt a great impulse to trade was given by the
opening of the bridge to traffic at the beginning of
the 13th century, when the road through Ware
became the normal route to the north. It is said to
have been after this date that weavers and dyers of
cloth began to settle in the town.48 Various local
assessments show that from the 13th century Ware
has always been the largest place in the hundred,49 far
outrivalling in importance the neighbouring borough
of Hertford, which is spoken of in 1343 as 'Hert-
ford by Ware.' 50 There is abundant evidence of
the trade carried on at that period, chiefly in corn
and malt,51 the River Lea forming the waterway for
the carriage of these to London. The toll (avalagium
et karkiam batcllorutn) from the boats at Ware was
granted by the king to the Countess of Leicester,
lady of the manor (q.v.), in 1 207, but, later, disputes
arose between Margaret Countess of Leicester and
the bailiffs of Hertford, who claimed the right of
providing ships for foreign merchants and others and
of taking toll (/return) from them, and tried to limit
the countess's right to providing ships for her own
use and that of the men of her manor, merchants or
others, the bailiffs taking the toll. A compromise
was made by which the tolls from all ships laded at
WARE
Ware, or at any place where the king or countess
was entitled to the customs, were to be divided
between the countess and the bailiffs, reserving, how-
ever, free carriage to the countess for her corn, hay
and similar articles, and to the men of Hertford free
passage for their ships laded at Hertford.52 About
the same date the countess gr.mted to the canons of
Holy Trinity, London, free carriage of their corn by
ship from Ware to London at the same price as they
had paid in the time of her father and mother, viz.
I a', on a quarter of hard corn.53 Although the term
' foreign merchants ' used above probably only means
merchants from other towns, there were a number of
aliens (chiefly from the Low Countries) living in Ware
in the 15th century,54 and possibly some of the malt
manufacturers were foreigners.55
The town seems to have been governed by royal
bailiffs in addition to the bailiffs of the manor.56
Later the constables took over the administrative
functions of the bailiffs.57 Although often called a
borough it never had any charters besides the one
mentioned above, neither did it send members to
Parliament nor appear before the itinerant justices by
jurors separately from the hundred. On the other
hand, besides the burgage tenure mentioned above,
there is evidence of corporate action on the part of
the inhabitants.58 Certain feoffees were seised at the
beginning of the 1 6th century of two messuages called
the White Hart and the Saracen's Head for meeting
the common expenses of the town, such as providing
soldiers, paying taxes and tallages, maintaining a beacon
beside the Lea and the bridge over it.59 These houses
had once been the property of the brotherhood of Jesus,
so that perhaps this brotherhood (which is treated
below) may have had some share in the government
of the town.
Ware ceased to be called a borough after about the
1 6th century. In 1849 n was p'aced under the con-
trol of a Local Board ; now by the Local Govern-
ment Act of 1 894 it is governed by an urban
district council. Ware Union, formed in 1835,
comprises fifteen parishes. The town is also the
head of a petty sessional division.
The position of Ware on the road to London
brought many travellers to the town. Visits to it
were paid by Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, and
Edward III, who were probably entertained by the
lord of the manor.60 In 1238 the king issued a
prohibition of the tournament proposed to be held
at Ware on Monday after Ascension Day,61 but in
1 241 a tournament was held there, at which Gilbert
Marshal Earl of Pembroke met with injuries of
which he died at Hertford Priory on 27 June.61
43 Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 188;
Assize R. no. 323, m. 6 d.
44 It is uncertain which earl this is. The
last Robert Earl of Leicester died in 1 204.
45 ' Omnibus qui mansuram de curia
mea de Ware acceperunt vel accipient.'
46 Cal. Pat. 1446-52, p. 51.
47 The area of the borough must have
been a definite one ; see Ct. R. portf. 1 78,
no. 71, for an agreement by the homage
that anyone whose pigs were found
coming (transeuntes) into the ' borough '
by the sub-bailiff should pay $d.
48 Assize R. 3 1 8, m. 6 d.
49 See also Assize R. 336 (for gaol
delivery at Ware) and Cal. Close, 1341-3,
p. 220.
50 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 460.
51 For conveyances of shops, &c, see
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5222, 5191, 5192,
5207, 5239 j see also Cal. Pat. 1377-81,
p. 429.
52 Cur. Reg. R. 94, m. 17 (Hil. 10
Hen. III).
53 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1089.
64 Cal. Pdt. 1429-36, pp. 548, 551,
575, 178, 586.
■'■, In 1339 the bailiffs received an
order to restore malt to a certain Master
Reymond Peregrini (Cal. Close, 1339-41,
p. 135 ; see also 1323-7, p. ;o). In a
will of 1 504 is a bequest to ' the Dutch-
man, the beer brewer' (P.C.C. 4 Hol-
grave).
27
56 See Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 50. Unlc
these are the bailiffs of Hertford.
b7 See Early Chan. Proc. bdle.
no. 105, 106.
5sIn 1338 acquittance of the fifteent
was made ' to the men of the town 1
Ware ' (Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. ill).
49 Aug. Off. Misc. Bks. xiv
et seq.
60 See Letters Patent and Close dated
there, Cal. Pat. 1216-25, pp. 371, 384 ;
1 281-92, pp. 486, 516 ; 1301-7, pp. 124,
126, 127, 314; 1317-21, pp. 37, 89;
1345-8, p. lS; Cal. Close, 1302-7,
pp. 20, 239 ; 1343-6. P- 676-
61 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 2^6.
6J G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Pembroke.
383
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The men of Hertford were summoned to meet the
king (Edward III) at Ware in 1337 when war with
France was imminent, and Giles de Badlesmere and
three others were sent to lay before them the decisions
of the council and the king's plans for defence.63
Again, in I 3 39 the Sheriff of Wilts, was directed by
Richard II to go to Ware with sixty knights and
esquires and 100 archers to join the Duke of York,
Lieutenant of England, who was fighting for the
king.04 The town was a rendezvous for the county
in 1569, when the sheriff and justices met there and
signed the articles for the uniformity of public
worship.65 James I came to the town for hawking
in 1606,66 and later paid it several visits on his way
to or from Theobalds.07 Of more historical interest
is the rising of Will;am Parr Marquess of Northamp-
ton (lord of the manor of Waters Place) in the reign
of Mary. He assembled 500 men there and pro-
claimed Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England. He
was indicted at Ware, and afterwards sentenced to be
drawn from the Tower to Tyburn and there hanged
and quartered, but was ultimately pardoned by the
queen.68 Here too in 1647 Lilburne's mutinous
regiment defied the authority of Parliament, and was
only reduced by Cromwell and Fairfax seizing fourteen
of the mutineers, of wrhom one was executed.69 In
the reign of Henry VIII Ware was made one of the
post towns,70 the postal arrangements being under
the control of the postmaster, supported by the
constables.71
There is little of importance to record in the later
history of the town. Malt-making has always been
the principal industry, and Ware one of the chief
malt-producing towns in England. In 1788 a riot
was caused by the oppressive conduct of the excise
officers, who, on the plea of obstructions caused by
the inhabitants in the collection of revenue, brought
troops into the town and caused a number of persons
to be arrested. A petition on behalf of the town was
made to Pitt by William Plumer and Lord Grimston,
which resulted in the Board of Excise being ordered
to remove the objectionable supervisor of excise and
the troops being recalled. The inhabitants were let
off with a warning to allow the revenue to be peace-
ably collected. It was then stated that there were
thirty-three makings in the town, in which 1,370
quarters of malt were made every week, seventy men
being employed in them.72 At the present day many
of the makings are disused owing to the depression
in the trade. Brewing and brick-making are carried
on in the parish ; the brickfields are to the west of
the town near the river. Messrs. Allen & Hanbury
have a chemical manufactory close by Ware Lock.
The market is now no longer held. About forty
years ago an attempt was made to establish a corn
market (as successor to one which had been held at
Ware but had been discontinued owing to the market
at Hertford), and a house was built for a corn exchange.
The project failed, however, and the house is now
used as the town hall. Fairs held under the charter
made to Robert de Quincy in 1254. (see manor) are
still kept.
In the 17th century the field called Bury Field or
Berry Close, near the river, was used by the in-
habitants of Ware as a shooting ground and any
' musterynge or trayninge of the country' generally
took place there.73
The highways of the parish were under the
control of three surveyors, two for the town (Ware
Infra) and one for the upland (Ware Extra). The
upland surveyor was responsible for the repair of 3
miles of highway from Ware Town's End to Widford
Mill '4 and other cross roads, and the town surveyors
for the highways leading to Wadesmill and Westmill.
Great difficulty was experienced by these surveyors
from the refusal of the inhabitants to do their share
in mending the roads.75 The road from Ware to
London was proverbially bad,76 owing to the clay soil
and to the heavy loads of malt carried along it. In
1 63 1 the justices of the peace for Hertfordshire reported
that the repair of the highway would be of little use
unless the king ordered that wagoners between Royston
and London should use carts with two wheels and not
more than five horses with one cart, and that malt
should be brought on horseback from Royston to Ware
between Michaelmas and May.77 This order was
carried out, but the maltsters did their best to evade
it.78
Among the inhabitants of Ware may be men-
tioned William Warre, Guaro, or Varon, S.T.P.
(fl. c. I 300), who was born in this parish, from which
he took his name. He spent most of his life in Paris,
where he is said to have taught Duns Scotus, who
mentions him twice in his works.79 William Vallans,
poet and friend of Camden, was born in the
neighbourhood in 1578. His poem 'A Tale of Two
Swannes ' (1590), one of the earliest examples of
blank verse outside the drama, is chiefly descriptive
of the towns of Hertfordshire.60 The musician Simon
Ive was also born at Ware, and baptized in the church
20 July 1660.81 In the parish registers are many
entries relating to the Fanshawe family, and the most
famous member of it, Sir Richard Fanshawe, diploma-
tist and author, is buried in St. Mary's chapel in Ware
Church, to which his body was removed by Lady
Fanshawe, who bought a site there for the purpose.
Lady Fanshawe, well known by her Memoir,82 was
buried beside her husband, and their son Richard,
63 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 504.
64 Ibid. 1401-5, p. 61.
65 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1547-80, p. 35
66 Ibid. 1603-10, p. 329.
67 Ibid. p. 506 ; Nichols, Prog, of J,
in, 493 ; MSS. of Lord Montagu of 1
lieu (Hist. MSS. Com.), 96.
68 Warr. for Gt. Seal, Chan. Ser.
16, file 979.
'•'•Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. 2
V.C.H. Hern, ii, 32. See A remonst
from his Excellency Sir Thomas Fair fa.
his councell of Warre, 1647.
'•" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App.
25-
71 See Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 58 1-90, p.
10a ;
ranee
x and
567;
Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 421 ; H. Joyce,
Hist, of Post Office.
72 Verulam MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), i,
136.
» Exch. Dep. Trin. 20 Jas. I, no. 4.
74 This was before the road was diverted
(see under Widford). Widford Mill was
pulled down some years ago.
n Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 8;, 86,
30, 46, 315 ; ii, 263, 264. A curious
indictment was made in the court of
uuarter sessions in 1838, when Richard
Blow, a yeoman, was accused of digging
ten ditches, erecting ten stiles, ten gates,
ten stone walls, ten mounds of earth, 100
posts and 100 rails, and planting l,coo
3H
trees and 1,000 shrubs, and ploughing up
the public highway leading from Tailing
Town to Fanham Hall Lane and also the
old footpath from Tatling Town along
Black Bush Lane and a close called Crane-
field into Fanham Hall Lane (ibid, ii,
387)-
76 See MSS. Lord Montagu of Bcaulieu
(Hist. MSS. Com.), 137 ; Cal. S. P. Dom.
1619-23, p. 495.
11 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1631-3, pp. 66,
409.
76 Ibid. 1633-4, pp. 232, 305, 478.
7S Diet. Nat. Biog.
«" Ibid. 8I Ibid.
62 Ed. Nicolas, 1829.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
second baronet, was also buried there in 1694.83
Several of the incumbents of Ware have been men
of some note. Charles Chauncy (1 592-1672), a dis-
tinguished Oriental and classical scholar and professor
of Greek at Trinity College, Cambridge, was presented
to the vicarage in 1627. As an opponent of Laud,
he was accused of making a schism in Ware and was
imprisoned by the high commission in 1634.84 He
submitted, but afterwards wrote a retractation before
sailing for America in 1637. During the Common-
wealth he was invited home by his old parishioners at
Ware, but was persuaded by the overseers of Harvard
College to become their second president, a post which
he held until 1672. He was married at Ware to
Catherine Eyre in 1630, and his eldest son Isaac,
afterwards a Nonconformist minister, was baptized
there in 1632.85 William Webster, a voluminous
writer, was instituted to the vicarage in 1 740, and
held the living until his death in 1758.86 Another
Greek professor at Cambridge, Thomas Francklin,
became vicar in 1759. He was a popular preacher,
and in 1767 was made a royal chaplain. He was
also a friend of Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds,
and through their influence was made chaplain to
the Royal Academy. He vacated Ware on being
appointed rector of Brasted in 1777.87 Joseph W.
Blakesley, a distinguished scholar and tutor at Trinity
College, Cambridge, was vicar from 1845 to 1872.
He was well known as the ' Hertfordshire Incumbent '
from his letters to the Times on social and political
subjects; he was appointed Dean of Lincoln in 1872.
John Trusler (173 5-1 820), a man of most eccentric
genius, was curate at Ware in the early part of his life.
Among many wild schemes projected by him was one
of sending circulars to every parish in England and
Ireland proposing to print in script type 150 sermons
at the price of Is. each, in order to save the clergy
both study and the trouble of copying. This plan is
said to have met with considerable success.88 From
1 778—9 William Godwin, author of Political Justice,
was a minister at Ware. Alexander Cruden, compiler
of the famous Concordance, was a tutor there in his
youth. The antiquary John Nickolls, son of a Quaker
miller in the parish, was born at Ware in 1 710 or
171 1. He acquired the letters formerly in the
possession of John Milton, which he published as
Original letters and papers of state addressed to Oliver
Cromwell 1649-58. His collection of 2,000 prints of
heads at his house at Queenhithe, collected from the
bookstalls about Moorfields, furnished the material
for Joseph Ames's Catalogue of English Heads.89
The hamlet of Wareside on the east of the parish,
which is served by Mardocks railway station, was
formed into a consolidated chapelry in 1844,90 the
church of Holy Trinity having been built in I 840.
The National infants' school was built in 1895 and
the mixed school in 1 872. To the west of Wareside
is Reeves Green, to the north-east of it are two other
WARE
greens, Babb's Green and Helham Green, joined by
Hogtrough Lane, while to the north-west of it is
Newhall Green. Fanhams Hall on the main road
about half a mile west of Newhall Green is a brick
house covered with rough-cast with stone dressings.
The roofs are tiled. The principal rooms are panelled
and some of them have elaborate plaster ceilings.9"3
From Newhall Green Long Lane runs south to Bulters
Green, passing Morley Ponds. Morley House, close
by, has a moat. There was also a moat (now not
much more than a vallum) at Prior's Wood Farm to
the west of Waters Place.
At the time of the Domesday Survey
MANORS WARE was a large and important manor
rated at 24 hides and valued at £45,
whilst under King Edward it had been worth the
exceptionally large sum of £50. 91 Before the Con-
quest it had been held by Anschil of Ware, and was
evidently his seat.92 In 1086 it was held by Hugh
de Grentmesnil, who probably acquired it in exchange
for land in Bedfordshire of Ralph Taillebois,93 who
elsewhere appears as the grantee of Anschil's lands.94
At the time of the Survey there was land for thirty-
eight ploughs, meadow sufficient for twenty plough-
teams, woodland to feed 400 swine, two mills worth
i\s. and 375 eels, an inclosure for beasts of the chase
and 4 arpents of vineyard newly planted.95 The last
two appurtenances of the estate point to a residence
there of Hugh de Grentmesnil.96 The chief estates
of this powerful lord were in Leicestershire, and
there is an early connexion between his family and
that of the Beamonts, Counts of Meulan and after-
wards Earls of Leicester. According to Ordericus
Vitalis, Ivo son of Hugh de Grentmesnil was one of
the four lords of the town of Leicester, and, being in
disgrace at court, he pledged his share (apparently
the largest one) to Robert Count of Meulan, who
about 1 107 received a grant of the county of
Leicester and is generally considered the first Earl of
Leicester. According to the chronicler, Robert never
made any restoration to Ivo's son and heir. It is
possible that this, son was Hugh de Grentmesnil, and
that he was the father of Parnel de Grentmesnil, who
in 1 168 married Robert Earl of Leicester, grandson
of the above-mentioned Robert, who thus acquired
the vast estates of the Grentmesnils,97 and among
them the manor of Ware.98
Earl Robert, Steward of England, died on a voyage
to Jerusalem in 1 190, when he was succeeded by his
second son Robert, called Fitz Parnel, who in 1 1 99
received the grant of a weekly market on Tuesdays at
Ware.99 This grant was made shortly after he had acted
as steward at the coronation of King John. He died
without issue in 1 204 ; his mother, Parnel Countess of
Leicester, survived him, and apparently held the manor
of Ware in dower, for in 1207 the king granted her
avalagium et karkiam batellorum and a market and bridge
at Ware for her life as Earl Roger had them.100 Parnel
83 Notes Gen., &c., of the Fa?:s/iaife
family ; Diet. Nat. Biog.
64 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; see Cat. S. P. Do.:.
1629-31; T634-5.
85 Diet. Nat. Bio;.
86 Ibid. w Ibid. es Ibid.
89 Ibid.
90 Land. Gaz. 30 Apr. 1844, p. 1454.
9°aSee Archit. Re-v. Dec. 190? (July
)905-Dec. 1905, p. 242).
91 V.C.H. Hem. i, 326i.
9! Ibid. 326*, 38;.
93 On the fief of Hugh de Beauchamp
(the successor of Ralf Taillebois) in Bed-
fordshire were several estates 'held in
exchange for Ware' [V.C.H. Herts, i,
283).
91 Anschil is probably identical with
Aschil, a thegn of King Edward, who
held Stotfold and who was succeeded
there by Ralf Taillebois (ibid.).
to V.C.H. Herts, i, 326*.
385
as Ibid. 2S3.
'" G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Leicester.
93 The manor was in the king's hands
by forfeiture of the Earl of Leicester in
1 1 73, when the sheriff accounted fot
£19 51. spent in stocking it (Pipe R.
19 Hen. II [Pipe R. Sot], 20).
99 Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199-1216 (Rec.
Com.), 5*.
"u Rot. Lit. Pat. 1201-26 (Rec. Com.),
69/..
49
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
evidently died before 121 2, when seisin of the manor
of Ware was allowed to Saer de Quincy Earl of Win-
chester,1 who between 1 1 68 and 1173 had married
Margaret the younger sister and co-heir of Robert
Earl of Leicester.2 The Earl of Winchester was
Justiciar of England from 121 1 to 1214. He was
one of the twenty-five barons who were guardians of
Magna Carta, and took an active share in bringing
over Prince Louis in January 1215-16, to whom he
adhered even after the accession of Henry III, being
joint commander of the barons' army April-M ay
1 2 1 7. Two years later he joined the Crusade during
the siege of Damietta, and died abroad on 3 Novem-
ber 12 19. He was buried at Acre.3 Whilst still in
favour with John, in 1205-6, he had obtained a
grant that he and all lands and fees of the honour
of Leicester should be quit of shires and hundreds
and sheriff's aids.4 A view of frankpledge was there-
fore held by the lords of Ware,6 and the area of their
jurisdiction is called a liberty. His son and heir
Roger Earl of Winchester granted the manor of Ware
in 1253 to his brother Robert de Quincy,6 to hold
of him and his heiri at the yearly rent of half a mark
and by service of a knight's fee.7 The Earls of
Winchester held it of the king by three parts of a
knight's fee.8 The overlordship remained with the
earl and his descendants. Roger died without male
Quincy. Gules s
•voided lozenges or.
m
Ferrers. Vair
and gules.
issue in I 264, leaving three daughters, Margaret wife
of William Ferrers, fifth Earl of Derby (her step-
mother's father), Elizabeth or Isabel, who married
Alexander Comyn Earl of Buchan, and Helen or
Ela, who married Sir Alan la Zouche of Ashby-de-la
Zouch.9 Ware was for a time held of all the heirs
jointly,10 but ultimately became vested in the Ferrers.
Margaret had as part of her inheritance the manor of
Groby, co. Leicester, to which Ware was appurtenant,
and this she settled on her second son William.11
William, son of William, was summoned as a baron,
Lord Ferrers, to Parliament in 1300, and was the
ancestor of the Lords Ferrers de Groby,12 with whom
the overlordship of Ware descended.13
In 1254 the king by a charter dated at Bordeaux
granted to Robert de Quincy, the tenant, a yearly
fair at his manor of Ware on the eve and day of the
Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the three days
following.14 Robert died in 1257, leaving two
daughters, Joan and Hawise.16 Joan, who married
Humphrey de Bohun, died seised of Ware in 1284,16
when it passed to Hawise widow of Baldwin Wake
of Liddell, co. Cumberland. The custody of John
Wake, son and heir of Hawise, and of the manor of
Ware was granted to Queen Eleanor in 1285.17
John Wake did homage for his lands in 1 290, and
was summoned to Parliament as Lord Wake in 1295.18
In I 297 he granted Ware to the king, who regranted
it to him and his wife Joan in fee-tail, with reversion
to the king.19 John Lord Wake died in 1 300.
During the minority of his son Thomas the king
assigned the custody of the manor and town to
William Trente for three years, in discharge of a debt
due to him for wine purchased from him by the
king's butler, Henry de Say, and for money advanced
by him on the king's behalf to Gilbert de Clare
Earl of Gloucester.20 Later the custody was granted
to Queen Isabella.21
Thomas Lord Wake was one of the barons who
took part with the queen against Edward II, and
was by her made justice of all forests south of the
Trent and Constable of the Tower of London. In
the reign of Edward III he was made Governor of
Hertford Castle and also of the Channel Islands.
He took part with Edward Balliol in his claim to the
crown of Scotland in 1329.22 Later, in 1 342, he
served in the French wars. His wife was Blanche
second daughter of Henry Earl of Lancaster, who
after his death in I 349 23 held the manor in dower '2i
and granted 4 acres from it to the Friars Minor of
Ware.25 The extent of the manor at this date was
576 acres of arable land, 48 acres of meadow, 40 acres
of meadow in the park, 36 acres of wood, a water-
mill and a fulling-mill, perquisites of court worth
£5 (an exceptionally large sum), a fishery from
' Stretende ' to ' Newemededych ' and half a fishery
from 'Stretende' to 'Bemsford.' Thomas Lord Wake
had no issue and his heir was his sister Margaret,
widow of Edmund Earl of Kent, the youngest son of
Edward I. She died in I 349, and was succeeded by her
second son and heir John Earl of Kent, who also died
before Blanche, in I 3 5 2.26 His heir Joan Lady Wake
married Thomas de Holand Earl of Kent, and after
his death in 1 360 she married Edward Prince of
Wales and was the mother of Richard II. Her son
and heir by her first husband, Thomas de Holand
Earl of Kent, succeeded to her estates in 1385.27
He died seised of Ware in 1397, and it then
1 Rot. Lit. Chus. (Rec. Com.), i, 1 1 S.
a G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Winchester.
3 Ibid.
4 Hunter, Rot. Selecti, 9.
5 See Assize R. 325.
6 Saer de Quincy had two sons named
Robert : the eldest, who died v.p. in
1 21 7, and the fourth, who is mentioned
in the text (Diet. Nat. Biog. s.v. Quincv).
'Feet of F. Div. Co. 37 Hen. HI,
no. 77.
8 Testa de Net-ill (Rec. Com.), 265,
269A. The Countess of Leicester, how-
ever, is said to have held Ware as 6 caru-
cates of land for the service of one knight
(ibid. 279),
9 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Quincy.
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. II, no. 36.
11 Ibid. 12 Edw. I, no. 27.
12 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Derbv.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. ill.no. 75;
46 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 37 ; 9 Ric. II,
no. 54 ; 11 Ric. II, no. 26 5 17 Ric. II,
no. 24 ; 20 Ric. II, no. 30, and other
inquisitions given below.
11 Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 324; Chart. R.
37 & 38 Hen. Ill, m. 7.
15 Cal. Gen. (cd. Roberts), i, 112.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. I, no. 27 ;
Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 250.
17 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 1 So.
18 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Wake.
19 Cal. Pat. 1 292-1 301, pp. 296, 303
304.
20 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 21S; Cal.
Close, 1307-13, p. 39; Abbrev. Rot.
Orig. i, 169.
" Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 77.
22 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Wake.
23 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill,
no. 75.
2i Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 53. She
died in 1380 (Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II,
no. 59).
25 Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 EJw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 37.
26 Ibid. 26 Edw. HI, no. 54.
87 Ibid. 9 Ric. II, no. 54.
386
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Holand, Earl of
Kent. ENGLAND
with the difference of a
border argent.
descended to his son Thomas Earl of Kent 2S (created
Duke of Surrey in 1397), who two years later was
taken prisoner and beheaded
by the populace at Cirencester
during the contest with
Henry IV. His lands were
forfeited, and Henry IV
granted Ware, the manor,
town and lordship, to his son
John. These were valued at
j£i20 a year.29 Later the
manor was restored to Edmund
Earl of Kent, brother and heir
of Thomas, who died without
issue in 1408.30 His heirs
were his sisters, of whom
Eleanor, the wife of Thomas
de Montagu Earl of Salisbury,
inherited Ware. The extent of the manor taken on
the death of the earl, who survived his wife, included
a capital messuage, 70 acres of arable land, 80 acres
of meadow, 30 acres of pasture, a water-mill let for
100/., rents of free tenants amounting to £30, per-
quisites of court worth 6s. Sd., and the park worth
nothing beyond the fee of the parker and the keeping
of the deer.31
Alice, only daughter and heir of the Earl of Salis-
bury and Eleanor, married Sir Richard Nevill, after-
wards Earl of Salisbury. Their
son Richard succeeded on his
marriage to the Warwick
estates, and was confirmed as
Earl of Warwick in 1449.
He was the 'Kingmaker' of
the Wars of the Roses, and
was slain at Barnet in 147 1,
leaving no male issue. His
daughter Anne married first
Edward Prince of Wales, who
was killed after the battle of
Tewkesbury, and secondly,
about a year afterwards,
Richard Duke of Gloucester,
who became King Richard III in 1483.32 The king
in 1485 granted an annuity of £10 from the issues of
Ware to William Porter, a yeoman of the Crown.33
Sir Robert Brackenbury, Constable of the Tower,
was appointed steward of the manor.34 Queen Anne
died in 1485 ; her heir was Edward Earl of War-
wick, son of Isabel, sister of Anne and co-heir of
Richard Earl of Warwick, who, having spent all his
life in prison,35 was condemned for conspiring high
treason with Perkin Warbeck, a fellow prisoner, and
was executed on Tower Hill in 1499, aged twenty-
four. He, however, never held Ware,36 for after the
death of Richard III King Henry VII granted it to
Nevill, Earl of Salis-
bury. Gules a sal tire
argenfwilh a label gobony
argent and azure.
WARE
his mother, Margaret Countess of Richmond (who
had already received a grant of the nomination of
officers within the lordship), for life.37 After her death
in 1509 it came into the hands of the king, who in
the same year appointed Sir Thomas Lovell, treasurer
of the household, steward of the manor.38 The next
year William Compton, groom of the stole, was made
bailiff of the town and manor, keeper of the park,
meadows, fishery, and two mills.39
In 1 5 1 3 Lady Margaret Pole, sister and heir of
Edward Plantagenet Earl of Warwick, was reinstated
as Countess of Salisbury.40 Two inquisitions were
taken on the manor of Ware,41 after which it was
restored to her. Accounts for the manor about this
date show that the fishery called the truncage was leased
with the park for £$ 1 y. 4,/., the mill for £26 1 y. 4W.
During the year 1515 four views of frankpledge and
four other ' little courts ' were held, the perquisites
amounting to £2 9/. 3^., whilst the perquisites of the
court of pie-powder amounted to 14/. 2d. for that year.
The extent included the site of the manor called Le
Bury, a capital messuage with a grange called Kydes-
well, and a wood called Wolkechyn, all leased out at
farm.42 As the last remaining member of the old royal
house of England, the Countess of Salisbury aroused
the jealousy of the king and was attainted in 1539
and beheaded in I 541, two years after her eldest son
Henry Pole Lord Montagu had suffered the same
fate.43 The manor thus came again into the hands
of Henry VIII, who in 1539 granted the fishery and
' custom called troncage ' in the water at Ware to
John Noode, a yeoman of the guard.44 In 1542
Thomas Wrothe was appointed bailiff of the manor
and keeper of the park in reversion after Oliver
Frankeleyn, who held these offices by grant from the
Countess of Salisbury.45 Leases of ' the stable within
the close called Le Bury,' of the meadows called
Chaldewell and Berymede, of Newnney Wood, and
the field called Newnney or Woodfeld were made
by the king at different times,46 and in 1 544 he
leased the two corn-mills to Thomas Lennard of
Ware for forty years.47
In 1 548 the manor and park were granted by King
Edward VI to his sister, the Lady Mary, for life.48
On her accession as queen, Mary granted them to
Francis Earl of Huntingdon and his wife Katherine,49
who was daughter of Henry Pole, son of the Countess
of Salisbury, and who with her sister and co-heir
Winifred was restored in blood and honours by Act
of Parliament in 1 5 54-5. 50 Katherine received a
confirmation of Ware from Queen Elizabeth in I 570,
with the exception of the park, mills, and fishery 51 ;
the park and fishery were, however, granted to her
son Henry Earl of Huntingdon two years after-
wards.52 Later the countess sold the manor to
Thomas Fanshawe of Fanshawe Gate, co. Derby,
29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Ric. II, no. 30 ;
G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Wake.
99 Cal. Pat. 1399-1401^. 195.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Hen. IV,
no. 51.
» Ibid. 7 Hen. VI, no. 57.
32 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Salisbury.
38 Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 529.
34 Ibid. 521.
35 See Stat. 5 Hen. VIII, cap. 12.
36 In a later inq. (Ser. 2, xxviii, 71) he
is said to have held it until his death, but
this is probably wrong. It was claimed
and kept as Crown prooerty owing to
Richard III having held it (T.R. Misc.
Bks. 155, m. 17), although Richard, as
shown above, only held it in right of his
wife.
37 Pat. 2 Hen. VII, pt. i, m. 21 ; T.R.
Misc. Bks. 155, m. 17.
38 L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 276.
89 Ibid. 992, 1395.
40 Diet. Nat. Biog.
41 Eich. Inq. (Ser. 2), file 299, no. 9, 10 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 71.
42 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, 1593 and
6S69.
« G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. SalisLury.
44 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), 1354
(is).
« Ibid, vii, 1251 (15).
46 Ibid, xv, 282 (112) ; xviii,449(78);
xix (1), 610 (4); Pat. 36 Hen. VIII,
pt. xxii, m 6 ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix
(1), 812(45, "»).
*> L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 166
(19)-
48 Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. v, m. 32.
49 Ibid. 1 Mary, pt. vii, m. 20.
5U G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Montacute.
51 Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. x.
52 Ibid. 14 Eliz. pt. iii.
387
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
i between thi,
■ lis sable.
reserving to herself a yearly rent of £80. In 1575
he acquired the park and piece of ground where the
disused fish weir had been
from the earl,53 who in 1581
sold him also the reserved
rent,5J and in 1 587 he bought
the two water-mills and a
fulling-mill from Robert
Lennard.55
Fanshawe was Remem-
brancer of the Exchequer,
was M.P. for Rye in 1 571,
in the five succeeding Parlia-
ments for Arundel, and in
1597 for Much Wenlock in
Shropshire. He died in 1 60 1
at his house in Warwick Lane,
London.86 His son Henry Fanshawe, M.P. for
Westbury, co. Wilts., in 1 588, and for Borough-
bridge, co. Yorks., in 1597, succeeded him as
Remembrancer of the Exchequer. He was a friend
of Prince Henry, and was knighted in 1603.57
His garden at Ware became famous for its fruit,
flowers, and herbs,68 and many of the trees in the
park were planted by him. He was also a collector
of pictures, prints, drawings, medals, and stones,
which he placed first in his house at Warwick Lane,
but by his will of 1 600 bequeathed to Ware Park,
to be placed in the gallery or other fit place and not
to be dispersed.59 He died at Ware, and was buried
in the church, March 161 5-1 6,60 when the manor
descended to his eldest son Thomas, who also held
the office of Remembrancer of the Exchequer. He
was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of
Charles I in February 1625-6,61 and was M.P. for
the county of Hertford in 1661. During the Civil
War he fought on the king's side, and his property
was sequestrated by Parliament. He was allowed to
compound for Ware upon the Articles of Barnstaple,
having resided in the town and garrison within seven
months of the surrender of the garrison.62 Charles II
shortly after his accession raised him to the peerage
as Viscount Fanshawe of Dromore in Ireland,63 but
the sequestration of his property had nearly ruined
him, and in 1668 he sold the manor to Sir Thomas
Byde,64 M.P. for Hertford in 1672. Skinner Byde,
the eldest son of Thomas, died in 1684-5 during his
father's lifetime. Thomas son of Skinner succeeded
to the manor ; he married Katherine daughter of
John Plumer of Blakesware.65 His son, Thomas
Plumer Byde, suffered a recovery of the manor in
1749.66 The latter's sons, Thomas Hope Byde and
John Hope Byde, did the same in 1774.67 Thomas
Hope Byde built the present manor-house on the site
of the older one.68 John Hope Byde, who succeeded
him, by will of 1829 devised the manor to trustees
for sale ; a decree in Chancery was obtained for this
purpose, but it was not until 1846 that Ware was
bought by James Cudden of Norwich. He sold the
manor in 1853 to Daniel de Castro, who died in
1867. Two years later it is said by Cussans to have
been conveyed by his trustees to George Rastwick of
Woking,69 but it is doubtful whether this is correct.
Mr. William Parker was owner in 1858 or earlier,
and was succeeded by his son Mr. J. H. E. Parker.
His son, Mr. W. F. Parker, is the present lord of the
manor.7'1
The manor-house, an 18th-century building, stood
in Ware Park, which lies on high ground and contains
very fine avenues of elms and limes. The house was
destroyed by fire in 191 1 and is now being rebuilt.
The estate is skirted by the mill stream, the mill
being situated at the junction of this stre.im with the
Lea and Rib.
A full list of the liberties belonging to the lord of
the manor appears upon a quo warranto brought
against Thomas Fanshawe in 1585, when he claimed
biter alia market, court of pie-powder, view of frank-
pledge, assize of bread, wine, ale, and other victuals,
election and nomination of constables and other
officers in the court leet, waif and stray, pillory and
tumbrel, park, free warren, goods and chattels of
felons, deoJands, treasure trove, return of writs of the
Exchequer and of the Pleas of the Crown.
A book containing copies of the court rolls of
Ware from 1665 to 1706 is among the additional
manuscripts at the British Museum.71 Separate
courts were held (on the same day) for Ware Infra
and Ware Extra. Possibly the former was originally
held for the burgage tenants. At the view of frank-
pledge held for Ware Extra, the tithings of Ware
Extra, Thundridge, and Ware Upland presented ; a
constable and headborough were chosen for each cf
these tithings. At the view held for Ware Infra a con-
stable and headborough were chosen, also two ale-
conners. A custom of the manor was for tenants to
grant customary lands from three years to three years
up to nine years. It was also customary for tenants
to cut down and carry away trees growing on their
lands without leave from the lord. There are still
two manors of Ware Infra and Ware Extra, but no
courts have been held of late years.
All the manors described below were held of the
manor of Ware.
BLAKESWARE (Blakysware, Blacksware, Blakys,
Blacks, Blages), an estate lying on the north-east of
Ware, took its name from the family of Blake, who
belonged to this parish. Stephen le Blake was
assessed at Ware in 1 307. 72 John le Blake, sen..
John le B'ake, jun., and Nicholas le Blake were all of
some note locally at the beginning of the 14th
century.73 Nicholas le Blake had leases of the manor
63 Close, 17 Eliz. rt. x (m. not
numbered).
54 Ibid. 28 Eliz. pt. xi ; Feet of F.
Herts. Mich. 23 & 24 Eliz.
» Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 29 Eliz. The
fulling-mill was perhaps the windmill
concerning which Thomas Cox brought a
suit against Robert Lennard in 1570
(Chan. Proc [Ser. 2], bdle. 11,
no. 72).
i6 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), eclxxvii, 103.
" Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 104.
58 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Cussans, op. cit.
Braughing Huna1. 40 (quoting Sir Henry
Wotton's description of the garden).
i9 Notes, &c, of the Fanshawe family,
45-
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix,
1 1 1.
01 Shaw, Knights of Engl, i, 163.
62 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1648-9, p. 322 ; Cat.
Com. for Comp. 1S64.
'-' Cat. S. P. Dom. 1661-2, p. 68.
61 Feet of F. Herts. East. 20 Chas. II ;
Recov. R. East. 20 Chas. II, m. 153,
188
a Berry, Herts.
Gen. II
cs Recov. R. Trin. 22
& 23
G
II.
fc' Ibid. 15 Geo
III, m
427.
fis Cussans, op.
cit. B
raughi
'S
Hu
net.
40.
63 Ibid.
'° Information
from
Mr.
R
T.
ndrews.
71 No. 27977.
n Subs. R. bdle
120, n
0. 8.
73 See Inq. N01
. (Rec
Con
■).
43
2;
Cat. Close, 1 346-9, p. 513.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
of Newhall (q.v.) from the Abbot of Waltham Holy
Cross in 1344 and 1 365. He, or his son Nicholas,
was alive in 1380, when letters of protection for
him were revoked because he had not gone to Calais
to join in the defence of that town as he had pur-
posed.74 In 1387 'Nicholas Blake the younger' was
grantee in a conveyance of lands in Ware.75
The holding of the Blakes came before 1479 into
the possession of Thomas Braughing, when it was
held by him of the lord of Ware Manor as the 'manor
called Blakes.' He in that year made a settlement
on his son Thomas and his wife Joan ; Thomas the
younger died seised of the manor in 1496. 76 John
son of Thomas was holding in I 5 1 9 77 and Richard
Braughing and Elizabeth his wife in 1522.78 The
latter conveyed it to John Yeolyn and others, pro-
bably trustees, for in 1560 Simon Clare and John
Clare levied a fine of the manor.79 The next year
Simon Clare and Agnes his wife conveyed it to
Sir Thomas Venables of Kinderton, co. Chester.80
After his death Anne Brooks, the mother of his son
Thomas, married Ralph Davenport,81 and held the
manor with reversion to Thomas, who was attainted
in 1580.82 His lands, however, seem to have been
restored to him, for he was carrying on transactions
with the Crown concerning the reversion in 1583.83
After Anne's death, however, the profits were taken
by Thomas Harris, to whom Venables released all
right in 1597.84 Harris conveyed Blakesware to
John Goodman.85 Goodman, sen., with John Good-
man, jun., levied a fine (Hilary 1616-17) with
Katherine Tirrel, widow,86 who two years afterwards
joined with John Goodman and Grace Goodman,
widow, in a conveyance to Moses Tryon.87 Tryon
with Elizabeth his wife conveyed to George Hanger
in i620-i.87a It was acquired from George and
John Hanger in 1635 by John King, D.D., canon of
Christ Church, Oxford, whose son John King sold it
in 1655 to Heneage Featherstone, created a baronet
in 1660. By Featherstone it was conveyed in 1664
to Sir Thomas Leventhorpe, who rebuilt the house,
and afterwards in 1678 sold the estate to Sir Thomas
Clutterbuck, kt.,88 English consul at Leghorn and after-
wards commissioner for victualling the Mediterranean
fleet, for which he was knighted. He died in February
1682-3, and was buried in Ware Church. After his
death the estate was conveyed to John Plumer, Sheriff
of Hertfordshire in 1689, from which date it descended
with Gilston (q.v.) to Sir Henry George Ward, who
sold it in 1850 to Martin Hadsley Gosselin of Ware
Priory.89 After his death in 1868 the estate was
held by his widow until her death in 1892, when it
devolved on her eldest son Sir Martin Le Marchant
Hadsley Gosselin, Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign
Affairs from I 898-1 902 and minister plenipotentiary
at Lisbon from 1902 to 1905. He died at Busaco,
Gosselin. Gules a
chcveron between three
crescents ermine.
WARE
Portugal, in 1905 and was succeeded by his son
Captain Alwyn Gosselin, the present owner.
The manor-house built by
Sir Thomas Leventhorpe was
pulled down by Mrs. Plumer
after William Plumer's death
in 1822, Mr. Plumer having
some years previous to his
death moved to Gilston.90 It
was a fine brick mansion
situated on the south of the
Blakesware estate, with a large
courtyard and terraced gar-
dens, with the Quarters and
the Wilderness to the rear.91
Charles Lamb, whose grand-
mother Mrs. Field was house-
keeper in the Plumer family and who used to
stay with her at Blakesware during his childhood,
describes it in one of his essays under the name of
Blakesmoor. There are drawings of the ruins among
the Additional Manuscripts at the British Museum.92
The present house was built by Mrs. Hadsley Gosselin,
grandmother of the present owner, in 1878. The
chapel was built by her son Sir Martin Gosselin and
was opened by the Cardinal Archbishop of West-
minster in 1896.
Blakes Bushes and Little Blakesware also preserve
the name of Blake.
WIDBURY alias GRIMBOLDS alias WHITE-
BOROUGH HILL lies on the east of Ware. The
name occurs as Witerberwe in 1 308 93 and survives
in Widbury Hill, Widbury Hill Farm and Widbury
Wood. The estate took its first name from a family
of Grimbold (Grymbaud), who were living at Ware
in the 14th century.94 In 1353 Juliana Grimbold
released a moiety of a messuage situated in Ware to
John son of William atte Water.95 The Grimbolds'
lands in Ware came later, about the end of the 15th
century, into the possession of Thomas Rede, a citizen
of London. His daughter and co-heir Agnes married
Robert Lytton, whose son William died seised of half
the manor of Grimbolds in 1517.96 Robert his son
and heir was aged five ; he had livery of seisin in 1533.
Another quarter of the manor was held in 1520 by
John Smith and his wife Joan, who was perhaps a
daughter of Rede's other co-heir. They conveyed
it in that year to Richard Hill and others.97 Gilbert
Hill was in possession in 1579.98 He was said to
hold a third part of the manor of Grimbolds and a
capital messuage called Whitborowe Hill.99 There
is no further trace of the remaining parts of the
manor, so that probably he had the manorial rights.
In a rental of his lands a dove-house and pond are
mentioned, and he received quit-rents from ' The
Bear,' 'The Bull,' 'The Checker,' and from a
'* Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 530.
75 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5195.
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xi, 94. By
his will (P.C.C. 22 Home) he desired to
be buried in the Lady chapel of the
parish church. He made a bequest to
the brotherhood of Jesus in the same
church.
77 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 1 1 Hen.
VIII.
78 Ibid. Trin. 14 Hen. VIII.
79 Ibid. Div. Co. East. 2 Eliz.
89 Recov. R. Hil. 1561, m. 653 ; Feet
a F. Herts. Trin. 4 Eliz.
81 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 2; Eliz.
m. 10.
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccvii,
106.
83 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 25 Eliz.
m. 10.
84 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 9 Eliz.
85 Fine in the same term.
86 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 14 Jas. I.
87 Ibid. East. 16 Jas. I.
s7a Ibid. Hil. 18 Jas. I.
s-i Deeds in possession of Mr. Gosselin.
83 Cussans, op. cit. Braughing Hund.
141.
50 See Ainger, Charles Lamb, 20, 119;
Essays ofElia (ed. Ainger), 400.
91 Cussans, op. cit. Braughing H. 142.
92 Add. MS. 32352, pp. 90, 91.
93 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 169.
94 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 132 ; De Banco R.
273, m. 99 d. ; 274, m. 124 ; 269, m. 48:
270, m. 12 d. ; Chan. Misc. bdle. 62,
no. 36, 81.
9* Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 966.
96 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 5.
97 Feet of F. Hert?. Trin. 12 Hen. VIII.
93 Ibid. Mich. 21 & 22 Eliz.
99 Ct. of Wards, Extents, Sec, no. 618.
389
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
house against the market-place occupied by John
Lennard.100
Gilbert Hill died in 1583, his son Richard being
aged four.1 During Richard's minority his sisters
Philippa wife of Edward Meade and Elizabeth wife
of Thomas Calvert held his Ware estate.2 After attain-
ing his majority he sold the manor to James Stanley,3
who died seised of it in 1 6 1 1 .4 His son Thomas appa-
rently sold it to Alexander Weld, who was holding it
in 1665.5 His son Alexander 6 possibly left a daughter
Sarah, who married Robert Jones ; they held it (in
Sarah's right) in i7io,7and later Robert Jones joined
with George Bruere and Anthony Thompson, the
heirs of Alexander Weld, in selling it to Walter
Plumer, called of Cavendish Square.8
Widbury House (as it is now called) was burnt
down about ten years ago. It was rebuilt by the
present owner, Mr. J. H. Buxton of Easneye.
The manor of WATERS alias MJRTOCKS, now
MARDOCKS (Mattocks, Mallocks, Maddoks, Mar-
docks, Mardox), on the east of the parish, probably
took its first name from its situation in a bend of the
River Ash. The family of Atte Water held land in
Ware in the 1 4th century and later. There is record of
John atte Water in 1 3 3 1 ,9 of Robert son of William in
1348,10 of John son of William in 1353 and 1354,11
of William in 1356, 1398 and 1408,12 of Richard
son of William, who granted the lands settled on him
by his father to Thomas Braughing and other feoffees
in 1324,13 of William atte
Water in 1 40 1, 1403 and
1420,14 and of Thomas atte
Water of Ware, ' gentilman,'
in 1427. 16 The manor of
Waters, held of the manor of
Ware, first appears by name
in the reign of Henry VII,
when it was in the possession
of Sir Thomas Bourchier, kt.,
who died seised of it in 1492.
His nephew Henry Earl of
Essex succeeded him.16 He
apparently retained the capital
messuage called Waters Place
(see below), but alienated the manor of Waters,
which in 1 505 is said to have been in the possession
of Hugh Chapman and Agnes his wife.17 They
Bourchier. Argent
a cross engrailed gules
between four luater-bou-
gets sable.
seem to have acquired it from Margaret Martok,
against whose executors they brought a suit in
Chancery for having kept back the title deeds. In
this suit it is called the manor of John at Waters.18
This accounts for the alternative name of Martocks,
which began to be used in the 1 6th century.
From Hugh Chapman the manor descended to his
son Robert, to John son of Robert, to Henry son of
John, and then to John, probably son of Henry.19 In
I 590-1 (Hilary Term) John Chapman conveyed it
to Theophilus Adams,20 probably in trust for John
Watts,21 who in 160 1 settled it on his son John on
his marriage with Mary daughter of Adam Bayninge
of Little Bentley, co. Essex.22 Sir John Watts
(knighted in 1 603),23 alderman of London, died in
1616.24 His son John died before 1652, when
Mary Watts, widow, with John Watts, evidently her
son, conveyed the manor to John Buck of Hamby
Grange in Leverton, co. Lincoln,25 created a baronet
in 1660.26 In 1664 Sir John Buck conveyed it to
Sir Cyril Wich and Matthew Pinder,27 evidently
trustees for Thomas Bird, who was in possession in
1666.28 It descended to his nephew and heir
Richard, who sold it in 1701 together with the
capital messuage called ' Mattox,' the mill, and fields
called Bridge Mead, Down Mead, Dickholm Mead,
Grimswood Mead and Queach Valley 29 to Arthur
Windus. In 171 1 the heirs of Windus joined with
mortgagees of the manor and creditors of Windus in
conveying it, with the mill belonging, to the trustees
of Felix Calvert of Hunsdon, for a settlement on
Felix and his wife Elizabeth, with reversion to their
eldest son Peter.30 He, according to Clutterbuck,
sold it in 1767 to Norton Hutchinson, whose eldest
son the Rev. Julius Hutchinson succeeded.31 The
latter conveyed the estate to Ambrose Procter, by
whom it was devised to his great-nephew George
Procter.32
In 1 8 14 George Procter rebuilt the manor-house
near the mill and afterwards (18 18) let it to Sir James
Mackintosh, who had been appointed professor of law
and general politics at Haileybury College and who
lived there until 1824, when he resigned the pro-
fessorship.33 In 1826 Procter sold the manor to
Dr. Abraham Wilkinson of Forty Hall, Enfield, who
lived there for a short time and then let it to William
Tugwell Robins, solicitor in the case of Wellesley v.
100 Rentals and Surv. (Gen. Ser.),
portf. 8, no. 45.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxvi,
116.
2 Ct. of Req. bdle. 136, no. 49.
3 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 43 & 44
Eliz. ; Trin. 2 Jas. I.
4 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii,
179.
4 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 17 Chas. II.
6 Ibid. Mich. 12 Will. III.
7 Ibid. Herts. East. 9 Anne.
8 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 13 Geo. II,
m. 1 ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 13 Geo. II.
In this conveyance (1739) it is called the
manor, capital messuage, or farm of
Grimbalds alias Whitborough Hill.
9 Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 303.
10 Ibid. 1346-9, p. 513.
11 Ibid. 1349-54, p. 523 ; Chan. Inq.
a.q.d. file 312, no. 11 ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.),
A 966.
12 Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 325 ; Anct.
D. (P.R.O.), A 5195, 5196, 5216.
13 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 3420, 3388.
14 Cal. Pat. 1401-5, pp. 66, 147;
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1073.
15 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 372.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vii, 3.
Sir Thomas Bourchier by his will (P.C.C.
I Dogett) desired to be buried in the
parish church of Ware, and the bones of
Isabel, his late wife, to be taken up and
laid by his bones. He left many orna-
ments to the church.
17 Ct. of Req. bdle. 4, no. 84 ; bdle. 16,
no. 60.
18 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 128, no. 6.
19 See Notes of F. Div. Co. East.
7 Eliz. ; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 31,
no. 75 i bdle. 70, no. 22 ; bdle. 224,
no. 65 ; bdle. 227, no. 55 ; bdle. 223,
no. 81.
» Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33 Eliz.
81 For Thomas Watts of Ware, yeoman,
probably father of this Thomas, see will
printed in Herts. Gen. i, 369.
22 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 43 & 44 Eliz.
28 Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 128.
24 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccliv, 135.
390
25 Recov. R. Mich. 1652, m. 35 ; East.
1656, m. 228.
26 G.E.C. Baronetage, iii, 141.
" Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 15 & 16
Chas. II.
28 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 19 Chas. II,
m. 2 ; see also Feet of F. Herts. East.
22 Chas. II ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. East.
10 Will. Ill, m. 6 ; Recov. R. Mich. 1 1
Will. Ill, m. 42.
29 Close, 1 Anne, pt. vi, no. 11.
so See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 12
Will. Ill ; Recov. R. Trin. 12 Will. Ill,
m. 118; Feet of F. Mich. 10 Anne;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 10 Anne,
m. 10. For dealings with it by the Calvert
family see Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 9 Geo. I ;
Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. I, m. 77 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Trin. 28 Geo. II ; Recov.
R. Hil. 7 Geo. Ill, m. 234.
31 See Recov. P. East. 19 Geo. Ill,
m. 47.
32 Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 305. See
Berwick in Standon.
33 Diet. Nat. Biog.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
Mornington. He resided there until 1835, after
which the house was occupied by Edward Downs of
Lincoln's Inn for ten years and subsequently by
Captain Moorsom, C.E., of Birmingham. It was
then left unoccupied until 1863, when being in a
•tate of decay it w-as pulled down. The manor was
sold in 1865 by Edward Smith Wilkinson to Thomas
Fowell Buxton of Easneye in Stanstead Abbots.34
Mr. J. H. Buxton is the present owner. Mardocks
Mill, now pulled down, was situated on the River Ash.
Henry Bourchier Earl of Essex, who apparently
retained the capital messuage and some of the lands
of the manor of Waters (see above), which henceforth
was known as the manor or tenement of WATERS
PLJCE, died without male issue in March 1539-40.
On his death the viscounty of Bourchier became
extinct.35 His daughter Anne married William Lord
Parr, and a settlement of Waters Place was made on
them in 1542.36 In 1543 Lord Parr was created Earl
of Essex, although he had that same year repudiated his
wife and obtained an Act of Parliament declaring her
children bastards.37 He was created Marquess of
Northampton in February 1 546-7, but was attainted
in 1553. Waters Place came to the Crown, where
it remained until 1563, when Elizabeth granted it to
the marquess for the maintenance of Anne.38 After
her death without legitimate issue in January 1 570-1
the queen granted it to Walter Devereux Viscount
Hereford39 (great-grandson of John Devereux, husband
of Cicely, sister of Henry Bourchier Earl of Essex),
who was one of the few peers of the old blood who
remained faithful to the queen during the conspiracy
of the Duke of Norfolk and who was made Earl of
Essex in 1572.40 In that year he conveyed Waters
Place to William Garnett,41 from whom it was
acquired in 1573 by Ralph Baesh.42 He died in
1 598, leaving a son Edward, aged four.43 After this,
apparently, it was owned by Robert Hellam in 1643
and by John Andrewes in 1652.44 Waters Place is
now owned with Mardocks by Mr. J. H. Buxton.45
The estate of COSTNS or COUSl'NS, sometimes
called a manor, was held in the reign of Henry VI
by John Hotoft. His widow Joan had it at her
death in 1445.46 With Waters Place it was settled
on Lord Parr and his wife Anne in I542,47 and
descended to Ralph Baesh, who died seised of it.
In the survey of his lands it is mentioned as the
' farm called Cosyns.' 48 The house now called
Great Cousins, near Fanhams Hall, is the residence
of Mr. Henry Page Croft, M.P., J.P.
WARE
BRAUGHTNS was the holding of another local
family. Thomas Braughing was one of a number
of grantees of land from Richard atte Water in
1444.49 He or his son Thomas died seised of the
'manor called Braughyns ' in 1490, leaving a son
Thomas, aged forty.50 There is no further trace of
this estate as a manor.
In 1326 John de Hengham, clerk, granted all his
tenements in the vill of Ware called LE NEH'E-
HJLLE,51 viz. two messuages, 200 acres of land,
7 acres of meadow, 1 £ acres of wood, to the Abbot
and convent of Waltham Holy Cross,82 to hold of
the chief lords of the fee by the customary services.
This estate remained in the possession of the convent
until the Dissolution. Leases of it were granted to
Nicholas le Blake in 1344 and 1365.53 After the
Dissolution it was granted (in 1543) under the name
of the manor and tenement called Newhall, with two
woods called Abbottes Gardeyn containing i£ acres,
and Tyle Wood, containing 3 acres, to Richard
Andrewes and Nicholas Temple,54 probably trustees,
as they immediately alienated to John Dodyngton.55
He died seised of it in January 1544-5, leaving a
son and heir John, aged twenty-two,56 who conveyed
it in 1548 to Thomas Thorogood.57 No further
trace of it has been found until 1783, when William
Ward and Anna Maria Gardiner, spinster, conveyed
it to William Leake.58 The estate is now owned by
Mrs. Croft of Fanhams Hall. The house and farm
buildings are inclosed by a homestead moat, one side
of which is now filled up.58"
The manor of HALFHIDE or WESTMILL is
said to have been held by a family of Halfhide,59
of whom a pedigree is given by Chauncy, who,
moreover, wrongly identifies it with the Westmill
held by Ralph de Tany in 1086.60 In 1483 this
manor was in the possession of Richard Bull and his
wife Anne in right of Anne,61 and they conveyed
in that year to Robert Gobye and Thomas Bacon.
In 165 1 George Bromley was holding it.62 Accord-
ing to Chauncy, George son and heir of George
Bromley sold it to Thomas Feltham, and it descended
to Ralph Feltham, who was holding in 1722.63 In
1743 Ralph Feltham conveyed the manor to Crowley
and John Hallet,64 trustees, apparently in trust for
Thomas Hall,65 whose brother and heir Humphrey
Hall was holding in I 766. 66 It is said by Cussans
to have been sold in 1770 to John Scott, the
Quaker poet, and after the death of his daughter
Maria de Home Scott, who married Joseph Hooper,
84 Cussans, op. cit. Braughing Humi.
143.
85 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Essex.
86 Feet of F. Div. Co.Hil. 33 Hen.VIII.
37 G.E.C. Peerage.
38 Pat. 5 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 20.
39 Ibid. 13 Eliz. pt. x, m. 36.
40 G.E.C. Peerage, s.v. Essex.
11 Recov. R. 1572 Trin. m. 1018.
4" Feet of F. Herts. East. 15 Eliz.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccliii, 81 ;
Ct of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
« Sets. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 76.
45 Information from Mr. R. T. Andrews.
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24. Hen. VI, no. 3 1.
4?Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33 Hen.VIII.
48 See ref. under Waters Place.
49 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 338S.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vi, 78.
51 There was apparently also an Old
Hall in Ware. The name survives as
late as 1599, when presentment was made
that the highway between Ware and
Widford, near 'Old Hawle,' was very
ruinous (Sess. R. [Herts. Co. Rec], i, 30).
There was also an Old Hall Mead south
of Hartham in Hertford.
52 Chan. Inq. a.q.d. file 184, no. 9;
Cal. Pat. 1324-7, p. 277 ; Add. Chart.
17671, 17672.
"Add. Chart. 17678, 17681.
54 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xviii (1), 9S1
(56)-
« Ibid. 981 (64).
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiv, 102.
57 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 1 Edw. VI.
88 Ibid. Mich. 24 Geo. III.
5Sa See ' Moated houses, moats and
remains of moats,' by R. T. Andrews,
Herts. Mercury, 8 Nov. 1902.
59 A John de Halfhide and Joan wife
of Walter de Halfhide were assessed at
391
Ware in 1307 (Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 8).
Alexander and Walter Halfhide were
jurors in the inquisition on Blanche de
Wake in 1 380 (Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II,
no. 59).
60 Hist. Antia. of Herts. 209.
61 Feet of F. Herts. 22 Edw. IV,
no. 66. In 1452 there is a conveyance
of a manor of Halfhide from John and
Alice Shipton to Richard Merston (ibid.
30 Hen. VI, no. 157), but there is no
proof that this manor was in Ware.
Alice and Anne may, however, have been
co-heirs.
62 Ibid. Div. Co. East. 1651.
63 Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. I, rot. 13.
64 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 17 Geo. II.
05 Cussans, op. cit. Braughing HunJ.
145.
60 Recov. R. Mich. 7 Geo. Ill, rot.
29.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
iury. Or a bend
led "vert plain
coined sable.
to have been sold by trustees to Robert Hanbury.67
After Robert Hanbury's death in 1884 it descended
to his son Mr. R. C. Han-
bury, whose son Mr. E. S.
Hanbury is the present owner.
The manor-house of Westmill
was near the Watton Road.68
On the foundation of the
GRETFRIARS at Ware their
house was endowed with 7
acres of land by Thomas Lord
Wake,69 and later Blanche
Lady Wake granted them an
additional 4 acres from the
manor of Ware.70 Probably
other grants were made to
them. After the Dissolution the site of the priory
with the orchard, gardens, and ponds was farmed by
Robert Birch for 20/. The 'osierhope' was farmed for
zod'.71 In 1 544 the site and the 'osierhope' were
granted to Thomas Birch, a yeoman of the Crown,72
who died seised of these and of a messuage called the
Sign of the Bear in 1550.73 His grandson Thomas
Birch sold the site and osierlands to Job Bradshaw in
1 62s.74 The descent, as given by Cussans,78 is that
it passed from Bradshaw to Richard Hator, and in
1685 became the property of Robert Hadsley of Great
Munden, whose son Robert died without issue, having
bequeathed the estate to Jeremiah Rayment, who
took the name of Hadsley. On his death in 1778 it
passed to his widow for life, then to his daughter
Maria Hadsley, on whose death in I 847 it devolved
on Martin Hadsley Gosselin, son of Admiral Thomas
Le Marchant Gosselin and Sarah daughter of Jeremiah
Rayment. After Martin Gosselin's death in 1868
it was sold by his widow to Clement Morgan of
St. John's Wood, London. Later it was bought
by Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, the conchologist, on his
retirement from the practice of law. While he
lived there it was a meeting-place for many British
and foreign artists. He was J. P. for Hertford and
sheriff of the county in 1877. After the death of
his wife he moved to Kensington and in 1 88 1 sold
the priory to Mr. Robert Walters, J. P., the present
owner.76
The house, which is a residence of two floors with
attics, lying a little to the south of the church, is con-
structed out of nearly the whole of the southern
range of the cloisters of the Franciscan friary, not
quite half of the western range, and the great hall
which runs westward at right angles to the western
range. A small two-storied wing projects on the
south side of the south range. The rubble walls of
the house are plastered and have stone dressings ; the
roofs are tiled. Nothing e.irlier than late I 5th-century
work survives. The modern additions are of brick
and timber plastered.
In the south-west angle of the cloisters, which
were about 8 ft. wide, a modern porch has been
erected, which forms, with the two ends of the
cloisters, the present entrance hall of the house.
The south wall of the southern range, on the ground
floor of which is the drawing room, is not original.
On the first floor of this range are bedrooms formed
out of the ancient frater. The small wing projecting
southward contains a smoking room on the ground
floor and bedrooms above. The modern staircase is
at the western end of the southern range, and beyond
it are the kitchens and offices. On the ground floor
of the western range is the dining room with bed-
rooms above. The undercroft of the great hall is
now occupied by six rooms and a corridor. The
hall over it, measuring 48 ft. by 22 ft., was in four
bays with an open timber roof.76a Above the rooms
now occupying this space are attics formed by the
insertion of a floor at the level of the old tie-beams.
The north side of the southern range has six of the
original cloister windows of three cinquefoiled lights,
but these have been much altered, and some of them
are blocked. In the northern range only two of the
cloister windows remain ; one of them, which lights
the dining room, has been almost entirely renewed.
The end window in this and the southern range
having had their tracery removed are now arches
between the modern porch and the entrance hall.
One other window in this part of the house is old,
but it is now blocked. It is on the west side of the
kitchen, between it and the modern pantry where its
external label shows. In the hall wing are six
original windows of detail like those of the cloisters ;
all have been plastered and restored. One is on each
floor on the south side of the wing, three are on
the upper floor of the north side ; one on this side
is so considerably above the ground floor level that
it has the appearance of an old stairway window.
The rest of the windows of the house are modern,
those on the north side of the hall wing being
imitations of the original windows. Of the thin
ashlar buttresses which divided this wing into four
bays four remain, three on the south and one on
the north side. The inside of the house has been
so greatly altered that little original work is visible.
There is, however, a 15th-century doorway in the
south-west corner of the cloisters, a little niche sur-
vives in the north-east corner of the hall, an old
doorway, now blocked, is in the cross wall of the
undercroft, and most of the roof timbers about the
house appear to be old.
The houses of Holy Trinity, London, St. Paul's,
St. Helen's Within Bishopsgate, and Bermondsey, also
had lands in the parish.77
The church of ST. MARY stands
CHURCHES in the middle of the town. It consists
of chancel 40 ft. 6 in. by 2 3 ft., south
chapel 25 ft. by 15 ft. 6 in., vestry and organ chamber
on the north, north and south transepts, each 23 ft. by
22 ft., nave 78 ft. by 22 ft., north and south aisles,
each 1 3 ft. wide, west tower 1 5 ft. square and south
porch, all internal dimensions. The walls are of
flint with stone dressings, the roofs are lead covered.
The church, consisting of chancel, nave and tran-
septs, was probably erected in the 13th century ; the
67 Cussans, loc. cit.
68 Information from Mr. R.T.Andrews;
C. E. Dawes, Records of tVarc, 19.
69 Cal.Pat. 1338-40, p. 14.
70 Chan. Inq. «.q.d. file 378, no. 9.
" Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 1617 ;
32 & 33 Hen. VIII, no. 71, m. 2.
(68).
1 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xi>
Inq. p.m. (Ser.
(1), 610
71 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 4 Chas. I,
USA
75 Op. cit. Braughing Hand. 154.
392
76 Diet. Nat. Biog.
76a For the roof see The Builder, vii,
342 (21 July 1849).
77 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5441 ; Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 7cm ; Mins.
Accts. bdle. 1 107, no. 11 j Cal. Pat.
1331-6, p. 156.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
west tower and perhaps the nave aisles were built
about the middle of the 14th century ; the south
chapel dates from the close of the 14th century ; the
clearstory was added about 14 10, and the nave arcades
appear to have been rebuilt at the same time, and
probably also the south porch and the old vestry, now
part of the organ chamber ; the rest of the organ
chamber occupies a chapel built late in the 15th
century between the old vestry and the north tran-
sept. During the 19th century the present vestry was
partitioned off and the whole of the external stonework
renewed and a great deal of stonework internally.
The five-light traceried east window of the chancel
is modern. In the north wall is a 15th-century
doorway opening into the vestry, with continuous
mouldings to arch and jambs, with carved heads
inserted at the springing of the arch. The oak door
is original, but has been painted ; the door had
10 5 O
minimi
Scale of TeeT
WARE
is modern stonework. On the south side of the
chancel is a 15th-century piscina with moulded jambs
and arch under a square head. The chancel roof is
modern.
In the east wall of the south chapel is a five-light
traceried window, and in the south wall are two
three-light windows, all of which are of modern
stonework. In the south wall is a late 14th-century
cinquefoil-headed piscina, which has been restored.
Adjoining it is a sedile with cinquefoiled head ; the
moulded label forms an ogee arch over piscina and
sedile.
The nave has north and south arcades of five bays;
those opening into the transepts are wider and loftier
than the others. Both the eastern angles of the nave
are splayed to receive the doorways to the stairs — of
which there are two — to the rood-loft and roof
above. Both turrets are carried well above the roof
TTTTT1
"North Aisle
"North
Transept
Organ n Vestry
<m
"Nave
13* Cent. \ South Ais]e
InTO Century
DModcrn
Torch
#=^
Plan of Ware Church
originally three stock locks of oak, one of which is
still in position and another is in the vestry cupboard.
To the west of the doorway is a coarsely moulded arch
of late 15th-century work opening into the organ
chamber. In the south wall is a modern three-light
window. Adjoining it is a large round-headed arch,
subdivided beneath into two lancet arches resting on
a central shaft of Purbeck marble ; the arches are well
moulded and the spandrels of the inner arches are
filled with tracery. The central shaft is composed of
four grouped shafts separated by hollows ; the work
is of the late 14th century. Part of a 13th-century
window still remains to the east of the arch. The
chancel arch is of two moulded orders, the outer one
continuous, the inner one carried on grouped shafts
with moulded capitals and bases ; it appears to have
been rebuilt in the early part of the 15th century.
The 15th-century clearstory has three windows on
each side, of two cinquefoiled lights, much of which
3 393
and are finished with embattled parapets. The north
turret has still the lower and roof doorways, but that
to the rood-loft is blocked; the south turret doorways
are blocked. The arches of the arcades are of two
moulded orders, the outer being continuous, the inner
carried on shafted jambs with moulded capitals and
bases. On each side of the nave are four clearstory
windows, each of three lights under a segmental arch,
but most of the stonework is modern, only the inner
jambs and arches being original. The roof belongs
to the 15th century, but has been restored; the
trusses have traceried spandrels, supported on stone
corbels carved with half-figures of saints or apostles.
There are some heraldic shields as bosses at the
intersection of the timbers.
In the north wall of the north transept is a large
five-light traceried window, nearly all of which is of
modern stonework ; the inner jambs are original and
have an early 14th-century wave moulding with stops.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Beneath the window are two recesses; the first is about
3 ft. 6 in. in width, 2 ft. 7 in. to the springing of the
arch, and 3 ft. from the floor. The arch is segmental
and cinquefoiled with leaf sub-cuspings. Over the arch
is an ogee crocketed label with head stops and
foliated finial. The jambs are shafted with carved
capitals and moulded bases. Part is much decayed.
It may possibly have once formed a reredo; over an
altar in the east wall. The other recess is 6 ft. 3 in.
wide with moulded jambs and segmental arch ; this
was probably a recess for a tomb. Both recesses are
of 15th-century work. An 18th-century arch in the
east wall opens into the organ chamber, and opposite
is an arch of two chamfered orders opening into the
north aisle. The clearstory is modern.
The five-light window in the south wall of the
south transept is of modern stonework, all but the
inner jambs and rear arch, which have a 15th-century
double ogee moulding. A late 14th-century arch
with two chamfered orders opens into the south
chapel, and on the west side is a plain arch opening
into the south aisle. In the south wall is a small
piscina with a moulded cinquefoiled arch of the 14th
century ; there is no bowl, and the mouldings are
much decayed. The clearstory is modern.
The three side windows and the west one of each
aisle are all of modern stonework, as are also the north
doorway and the windows and archway to the south
porch ; the south doorway is of 1 4th-century work,
repaired. The roofs of aisles and south porch retain
many of their original 15th-century timbers.
The west tower is of five stages with buttressed
angles, with embattled parapet and small lead-covered
spire. The tower arch is of three hollow-chamfered
orders, with splayed jambs having moulded capitals and
bases ; it is of the 14th century. The west doorway
is of modern stonework, and above it is a window
with two cinquefoiled lights. The third stage has
narrow loop-lights on three of its faces ; the fourth
stage has a window of two trefoiled lights on the
north and east faces and clocks on the other two.
On each side of the belfry is a window of two
cinquefoiled lights with cusped opening in the head.
The font is a fine example of the work of about
1380 ; the bowl is octagonal, and each side has a
sunk and moulded arched panel with crocketed label
and contains a figure in high relief. The figures
represent the Annunciation (two panels), St. Margaret,
St. Christopher, St. George-, St. Katherine, St. James
and St. John the Baptist ; at each angle are half
figures of angels, four with emblems of the Passion
and four with musical instruments ; behind each angle
is a crocketed pinnacle. Each face of the stem has
a square quatrefoiled panel ; the base is moulded and
is enriched with a running floral ornament.
The oak pulpit is of the late 1 7th century ; it is
hexagonal with raised lozenge-shaped panels flanked
by beaded pilasters. The oak screen under the
western arch of the chapel is partly modern, but has
some good I 5th-century tracery. In the south chapel
are some carved panelling of the late 17th century and
the communion rail (c. 1640) formerly in Benington
Church.
On the east wall of the north transept is a brass
with the figure of a lady with inscription to Helen
daughter of John Cook, 1454, and also to her two
husbands William Bramble and Richard Warburton,
and her son William Bramble. In the south transept
is a brass of William Pyrry (Pery) and his two wives
with inscription and portion of date 147- ; below each
wife are five sons and five daughters. On the north
transept floor are the brass of a lady without in;cription,
but c. 1420, a slab with indents of a civilian and his
wife under a canopy, c. 1400, and a slab with indent
of a floreated cross of the 14th century, said to be
from an altar tomb formerly in the north transept.
On the east wall of the south transept is a large
marble monument to Sir Richard Fanshawe, bart.,
1 666 ; he was ambassador to Spain in the reign of
Charles II. In the south chapel is a monument to
Agnes wife of Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1680.
There are eight bells : the treble by R. Phelps,
1735 ; the second and sixth by T. Mears, 1826 ;
the third and fifth by J. Briant, 1792 ; the fourth
and seventh by R. Phelps, 1 73 1 ; the eighth by
T. Mears, 1834.
The communion plate consists of a cup, 161 8,
paten, I S06, small cup, 1 806, two modern chalices
and patens, a spoon, a Sheffield plate paten, 1755.
The registers are in six books as follows : (i) all
entries 1577 to 1653; (ii) all 1653 to 1730 ; (lib)
burials 1678 to 1706 ; (iii) baptisms and burials
1730 to 1776, marriages 1730 to 1754; ('v)
baptisms and burials 1776 to 1812 ; (v) marriages
1754 to 1764; (vi) marriages 1764 to 1812.
CHRIST CHURCH consists of chancel, nave,
north and south aisles, porches and tower with spire,
containing one modern bell, and is built of stone in
the style of the 13th century. The living is in the
hands of trustees.
HOW TRINITT, Wareside, is a small building
of white brick with stone facings, in the 12th-century
style, consisting of apsidal chancel and nave, transepts
and north tower containing one bell. The advovvson
belongs to the vicar of Ware.
Hugh de Grentmesnil, who
ADVOli'SON founded the monastery of St. Evroul
in Normandy, gave the church of
Ware and the chapel of Thundridge with the tithes
and 2 carucates of land to the monks there.78 This
grant was confirmed by Robert Fitz Parnel Earl of
Leicester, who granted also the whole tithe from the
park, viz. of sales [of wood], pannage, herbage, stud,
hunting, and of all crops and profits, and the tithe of
food from his kitchen at Ware, the tithe also of all
sheep, lamb's wool, cheeses, young of geese, poultry
and sheep, and of wine belonging to the earl and
countess.79 The church was attached to the priory
of Ware founded as a cell to St. Evroul. A vicarage
was ordained before 1 23 1, when, a dispute having
arisen between the parishioners and the Prior of
Ware, who had not seen to the proper serving of the
church, the matter was referred to the pope, who
appointed Roger [Niger] Bishop of London and the
Dean of St. Paul's to arbitrate. The prior had to
quitclaim a pension of 10 marks which he had been
trying to make the vicar pay, whilst it was settled
that if this pension were ever again claimed by a prior
the vicar was to claim the tithes of all mills in Ware
and Thundridge, the tithes of the park, and of sheaves
from certain specified portions of arable land. The
vicar was to have the small tithes and tithes of wood
78 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 1049.
™ Cat. Doc. ofFramt (ed. Round), 129.
394
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
and the 'priest's messuage ' and garden which had
been the prior's.80
At the Taxation of 1 29 1 the church was valued
at £40 and the vicarage at £2 1 3/. 4V.81 The
advowson was often in the king's hands together
with the other temporalities ol the priory by reason
of wars with France.S2 On the suppression of alien
priories it was granted by Henry V to the Carthusian
monastery of Sheen.83 It was farmed out by the
monks for £40. S4 After the Dissolution the rectory
and advowson of the vicarage and all lands belonging
were granted by Henry VIII to Trinity College,
Cambridge,85 with whom they have since remained,
Trinity College being now the lord of the reaory
manor.
The church is mentioned as a collegiate church in
i;o4,86 but there seems to be no evidence as to when
the college was formed. Master Edward Haseley
was dean of the college at that date.
The chantry of Helen Bramble was founded in
1470. Helen Bramble, whose brass is in the north
transept of the church, was the daughter of John
and Margery Cook and married first William Bramble
and secondly Richard Warburton of London. By
her will proved 9 September 1454 she desired to
be buried in the parish church of Ware next the
tomb of Margaret her mother. She left I 2d. to the
clerk and 121/. to the sub-clerk or sacrist, 5 marks to
the fabric of the church, and after several other
bequests the rest of her property to works of charity
and the repair of altars.87 The chantry was founded
by Brian Roucliff, baron of the Exchequer, and
John Marchall. Mass was to be celebrated at the
altar in the chapel of St. Mary for the present and
future kings of England, for Brian and John and
Master William Graunger, and for the souls of
Helen, her two husbands, of William Bramble her
son, and of her parents. The chantry was endowed
with lands to the value of j£io.88 Thomas Beal
left 3/. 4</. to the repair of the chantry by his will
proved in 1506,89 and lands were left to its use by
Richard Shirley (will proved 1510).90 When the
chantry was dissolved in the reign of Edward VI it
had rents accruing to it from the inns called the
' Cardinal's Hat ' in Amwell and the ' Bull's Head,'
a tenement in the Myddel Row with a garden in
Kybislane, a tenement called Wodehouse in Gardiner
Lane and a croft called Sowrecroft, amounting to
£() 14/. 8d. and goods and ornaments valued at
Jj. 4^.91 The chantry priest's chamber was gr.inted
in 1 549 to Sir John Perient and Thomas Reve.92
At this time the serving of the church fell entirely
on the chantry priest and the curate hired by the
vicar, although the parish contained at least 1,200
inhabitants.93 This led to the inhabitants appointing
a ' morrow mass priest,' whose wages were collected
from among them, some giving 2d., some \d. and
some %d., according to their devotion ; if a sufficient
WARE
sum was not collected the deficit was made up from
the common fund.91
There were at least two gilds or brotherhoods in
the church, the brotherhood of Jesus and the brother-
hood of Corpus Christi. Bequests to these date from
about I490.9° Thomas Ware, whose will was proved
in 1505, left a brass pot of four gallons, a brass pan
and three spoons of silver to the latter fraternitv.H,!
The brotherhood of Jesus had an alderman and four
masters ; it met every year on the feast of Jesus,
when the masters rendered their account to tie
alderman and brethren, and a new alderman and
masters were chosen. This gild was entirely de-
pendent on the voluntary gifts of inhabitants of the
town and strangers ; these gradually decreased in
value, and the gild was dissolved about 1525. Its
possessions then included a large brass pot, a little
silver cup for wine, twelve silver spoons, and three
velvet coats embroidered with gold for the image of
Jesus in the church.97
There was also an obit founded by William Kinge
(date unknown), which at the Dissolution was main-
tained by a yearly sum of \os. paid by Thomas
Kinge, of which 6s. was paid to the poor.98
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, founded by
the late Mr. Constantine Ketterer and served from
Hertford, is in Church Street. The registrations by
the archdeacon of early Nonconformist meeting-places
are lost, but a number of registrations before the
magistrates are recorded from 1672 onwards.99 There
are now two Congregational chapels, one in Church
Street, built in 1778, and representing a cause
dating from 1662, and the other, in High Street,
founded in 181 I and rebuilt in 1859. In the New
Road are a Wesleyan 10° and a Baptist chapel. The
Salvation Army have quarters in Baldock Street built
in 1907. A place of meeting was certified for
Quakers in 1699,1 but the Meeting House, which
was in Kibes Lane, fell into disuse after the death
of Mrs. Hooper (daughter of John Scott), who was
its chief supporter.2 In the hamlet of Wareside is a
Wesleyan Methodist chapel.
The history of the Free School
CHARITIES and Wareside School has already been
traced.3
The combined charities are regulated by a scheme
of the Charity Commissioners dated 26 January
1909. They comprise :
1. Almshouses of Lawrence Armatridinge. — These
consist of five tenements in Crib Street inhabited by
ten poor women. The date of foundation is un-
known, but an old benefaction table in the church
dated 5 July 1722 records that Lawrence Arma-
tridinge gave twenty twopenny loaves of bread to
twenty widows out of the rent of these five tene-
ments.
2. The Bell Close. — An indenture of feoffment
dated 20 March 16 12 recites that a donor unknown
80 Lond. Epis. Reg. Gilbert, fol. 169,
170.
81 Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 14.
83 Cat. Pal. 1334-8, p. 519 ; 1381-5,
pp. 364, 384 ; 1405-8, p. 184.
88 Pat. 3 Hen. V, pt. ii, m. 30.
*> Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 53.
86 Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. vi, m. 19;
tee Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. xvii.
86 P.C.C. Will, 8 Holgrave.
87 P.C.C. 1 Stokton.
83 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 420.
89 P.C.C. 10 Adeane.
90 Ibid. 29 Bennett.
81 Chant. Cert. 27, no. 6 ; Aug. Oft.
Misc. Bks. lxvii, fol. 726.
92 Pat. 3 Edw. VI, pt. vii, m. 8.
93 Cuant. Cert. 27, no. 6.
94 Aug. Off. Misc. Bks. xiv, fol. 127.
"P.C.C. 22 Home; 17 Benr.et ; 13
Avloffe ; 25 Porch ; 24 MiUes ; 5
Dogett ; 6 Vox ; 4 Adeane.
395
96 Ibid 4 Adeane.
97 Aug. Oft". Misc. Bks. xiv, tol. 127
et seq.
98 Chant. Cert. 27, no 51.
"Urwick, op. cit. 718.
180 See Close, 27 Geo. Ill, pt. xxix,
»Ui
vick, loc. cit.
wes, Records of PVare% 19.
V.C.H. Hens. ii. 88.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
gave the Bell Close, containing about 4 acres, for the
benefit of the poor. This produces £27 10/. yearly.
3. James Birch's Almshouses. — The benefaction
table also records that James Birch gave two alms-
houses near the north gate of the churchyard for the
dwelling of two poor widows. The inmates are in
receipt of parochial relief.
4. Charity of Ellen Bridge, founded by deed
dated in 1 62 8, consists of a garden formerly known
as Pope's or Doulton's Pightle situate in Watton
Road and producing £\o yearly.
5. John Burr's Charity, founded by will dated in
18 14, whereby testator gave £400 3 per cent.
Bank annuities, now a like sum of consols, pro-
ducing £10 yearly, the interest to be distributed to
poor widows in sums not exceeding zs. 6d. each.
6. Corpus Christi Barn. — The indenture of
feoffment of 161 2 above referred to also recites
that a donor unknown gave to the poor a piece of
ground whereon formerly stood a barn called Corpus
Christi Barn.
7. Helium or Elm Green Almshouses. — A deed
of feoffment dated in 1 788 recites that two alms-
houses were given by a donor unknown. These are
inhabited by four widows who receive parochial relief.
8. Paul Hogge's Charity.— The origin of this
charity is unknown, but a rent-charge of 6s. Sd. is
paid out of a close called Hogg's Close in Great
Amwell.
9. Mill Lane Almshouses. — The indenture of
1 61 2 further recites that a donor unknown gave two
almshouses in Mill Lane. The property now consists
of eight almshouses in Mill Lane with garden ground
in the rear let for £2 1 5/. yearly.
10. Sir William Roberts's Charity. — By a feoff-
ment dated 8 April 1788 it appears that Sir William
Roberts gave three almshouses in Mill Lane and
pasture land known as Widow's Mead and Mill
Mead containing 8 a. 3 r. 3 p. and producing £22
yearly. The rents are divided among the inmates.
11. The 'Saracen's Head.' — The indenture of
161 2 further recites that a donor unknown gave a
messuage or inn called the ' Saracen's Head ' together
with a piece of land called the Netherhoe to the
poor. The land was sold in 1 891 and the proceeds
invested in .£247 6s. $d. consols. The stock has
since been increased to £276 zs. lod. by the invest-
ment of balance of premium on lease of the ' Saracen's
Head.' The 'Saracen's Head ' is let for ^130 per
annum and the stock produces £6 1 8j. yearly.
12. Charity of Humphrey Sp.ncer, founded by
will dated 26 June 1 630, consists of a cottage in
Kibes Lane producing £9 zs. yearly.
13. The White Hart Estate. — The indenture of
1 61 2 further recites that a donor unknown gave a
messuage or inn called the ' White Hart ' with
appurtenances. The ' White Hart ' was pulled down
many years ago, and the property now consists of two
shops in High Street, Ware, producing £88 yearly
and a slaughter-house producing £20 yearly.
14. Charity of Frederick Harrison, founded by
will proved in London 8 June 1907. — The property
consists of two almshouses erected on a part of the
Bell Close called the Harrison Almshouses and
£9+ lV- 5<^ New South Wales 3 J per cent, stock
('924)> £^°° Great Northern Railway 3 percent,
preference stock, 1898, and £200 London and South
Western Railway 3^ per cent, preference stock, pro-
ducing altogether yearly £22 6s. zd. and called the
Harrison Fund.
It appears there are fourteen almshouses in Crib
Street under the control of the trustees of the com-
bined charities, including the almshouses of Lawrence
Armatridinge and James Birch.
The scheme directs that the Harrison almspeople
shall be two married couples and each couple shall
receive a stipend of not less than is. 6d. or more
than 10/. weekly. In the case of a couple possessing
a properly secured income from other sources the
trustees may pay a smaller stipend, provided that the
total income shall not be less than 7/. 6d. a week.
The remaining income of the charities is directed
to be applied in the payment of pensions of not less
than 5/. weekly and for the general benefit of the
poor, subject, however, to the continuance for ten
years after the date of the scheme of certain accus-
tomed payments which have been made for a period
of at least three years next before the date of the
scheme.
For the year ended 31 March 1911 the widows
in the almshouses received £24 13;. 6d., eighty
widows received zs. 6d. each (John Burr's Charity),
211 recipients received £121 amongst them, two
pensions at zs. a week for thirty-five weeks, and
£23 5/. was paid in stipends in respect of the
Harrison bequest.
In 1 61 9 George Mead, M.D., by his will gave £5
yearly issuing out of the George Inn, Ware, to the
poor. This payment is now received out of a house
in High Street, Ware, called Riverslea, and there
is a sum of £133 16/. yl. consols, representing
accumulations and producing £l 6s. Sd. yearly. The
income is distributed to poor housekeepers, £6 I or.
being distributed among five recipients in 1908.
In 1622 John Elmer by his will gave a house
afterwards called Baldock House for the benefit of the
poor of Ware and Stevenage. The property was sold
in 1906, and the part of the proceeds applicable to
Ware invested in £414 is. yi. consols, producing
£\o Js. yearly, which is distributed among the poor
of St. Mary's parish, Christ Church parish, and Ware-
side. In 1908 the sums of £% 5/., £3 10/. and
£1 15/. were distributed in the respective parishes.
In 1722 Dame Margaret Tufton by her will gave
£260, the interest to be applied in coats to six poor
men and gowns to six poor women once every two
years and in teaching four boys and four girls to read
and write and say the catechism.
In 1749 Anne Ball by her will gave £40 to be
applied to the same purposes as Dame Margaret
Tufton's bequest.
These legacies were invested in £zS6 Ss. 3 per
cent. Bank annuities, now a like sum of consols.
Under an Order of the Charity Commissioners
dated 26 July 1904 a sum of £160 consols was
placed to a separate account to form Tufton and
Ball's Educational Foundation. The dividends on
this sum, amounting to £\ yearly, are paid to the
managers of the Ware National Schools.
The residue of £126 8/. consols forms the
endowment of Tufton and Ball's Eleemosynary
Charity, and the income, amounting to £3 3/. yearly,
is applied every two years in overcoats for six old men
and material for dresses to six old women.
In 1739 Mary Evans by her will gave £100, now
represented by £ 1 10 9/. I \d. consols, producing £z 15/.
396
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
yearly, the income to be distributed in sums of 5/.
to poor widows.
In 1825 William Murvell by his will gave £300,
the dividends arising therefrom to be applied in the
upkeep of testator's monument and the residue,
together with the interest on £100, in the relief of
five poor women of sixty years and upwards. These
two sums were invested in consols, and are now
represented by .£499 1 21. Sd. India 3 per cent, stock,
producing £14 19/. id. yearly.
The same testator gave .£666 1 31. \d. consols, the
interest arising therefrom to be applied in the relief
of six poor men of sixty years and upwards. This
stock is now represented by £660 13/. lod. India
3 per cent, stock, producing £19 16s. \d. yearly.
In 1907 £2 2s. was spent on the monument and
£30 5.1. lod. was distributed among six men and five
women.
The Parish Clerk's Charity. — Four acres of land
in Wainges Field, Ware, have been appropriated from
time immemorial to the use of the parish clerk, being
the gift of a donor unknown. The land is let for
£13 yearly, which sum is paid to the parish clerk.
WESTMILL
The Nursing Fund. — Frederick Harrison above
mentioned likewise bequeathed £200, the interest
arising therefrom to be applied in aid of the Ware
Parish Church Nursing Fund. The endowment is
now represented by £2 1 3 1 5/. $d. India 3I per cent
stock, producing £j 9/. id. yearly in dividends.
In 1857 Charles Brunton, by his will proved in
P.C.C. 9 May, bequeathed £100, the interest to be
divided equally between and amongst all widows of
the Upland division of Ware annually on I January.
The legacy was invested in £109 17/. \od. 3 percent,
annuities, now a like sum of consols, producing
£2 14J. id. yearly.
The several sums of stock above mentioned are
held by the official trustees.
The Old Independent Chapel endowment consists
of two houses in New Road, Ware, known as
Cambridge Villa and Hope Villa, which are stated
to have been purchased with bequests of Diminsdell
in 1759, Hannah Tew in 1838 and Mrs. Flack.
The houses produce £50 yearly, and of this £37 is
paid to the minister and the remainder is applied in
the upkeep of the houses.
WESTMILL
Westmele, Westmel (xi and xii cent.) ; West-
melne,1 Westmill, Westmelle (xiii cent.) ; West-
mylne, Westmulle (xiv cent.).
Westmill including Wakeley (which was formerly
an extra-parochial liberty of Aspenden (q.v.) and
was added to Westmill by Local Government Board
Order in 1883) is a parish of 2,663 acres of land, of
which about three-quarters at a rough estimation are
arable. The River Rib runs through the parish and
forms for a little way its eastern boundary, but the
land for the most part lies high and the extent of
meadow land has always been small ; at the time of
the Domesday Survey there was enough for six
plough-teams only. The commons were inclosed by
an award of 1819 under an Act of 181 3-la High
Field, Hunsdon, Albury and Mill Field were among
the common fields.2 The chief patch of woodland in
the parish is formed by Coles and Knights Hill with
Millcroft on the east. Part of Hamells Park also lies
in this parish on the south, but the house is in the
parish of Braughing. The Buntingford branch of
the Great Eastern railway has a station in the
village.
Westmill is intersected on the east by Ermine
Street. In I 3th-century deeds this road is alluded
to as Erningstrat, Hernigstrate, the mediaeval forms
of Ermine Street, and also as Stanstrate.3 In 1729
two Roman amphorae were found in Lemonfield
(Lemannsfeld, xiv cent.).
It is not possible now to locate the mill from which
the parish took its name. There were three mills in
1086, but there are now none surviving within the
bounds of the parish. Millcroft Wood and Upper and
Lower Mill Field must, however, have taken their name
from a mill in their neighbourhood.4 Among the
early place-names in the parish were Burgeys, Aldburg,
Adthelingo, Staplys,5 Mannefeld,6 Mannemad,7 Tun-
mannemade 8 and Tounhallefeld.9 Of these the only
one that seems to survive is Auldbury or Albury, the
name of a field (formerly a common field) to the
north-west of Millcroft Wood, near the river. Other
names frequently occurring in 13th-century deeds
are Admundeslane, Rogeneyehe!eld or Ruwenhofeld,
Lindley, Dedemannesot, Pandulveswelle, Pekeswelle-
med,10 Purtewellehul, Sudpurtewelle, and a wood
called Albertisgrave. None of these names seem to
survive. 1Ua Lands called Hammondes in I 521 n were
so named after a family of Hamond, whose name
occurs constantly in wills, deeds, inquisitions, &c, of
the 15th, 1 6th and 17th centuries.12 This family
has died out in Westmill since the beginning of the
19th century.13 Another local family who have left
their name in a field called after them are the
Chipereviles or Chiperfields, who can be trr.ced back
to the 13th century.14 John Chiperfield, by will of
1507, bequeathed 10/. to building a 'church house'
in the churchyard.15 Among the place-names still
surviving in the parish are Great and Little R'dgeway
Field to the south of the road leading to Westmill
Green, Norwich Grove and Close to the north-east
of Coles, Allen's Mead near Westmill Lodge, and
Church Field to the north of the church.16
1 The form with the ' n ' is the Norman
spelling of the name.
'» Blue Bk. Inch Awards ; Priv. Act,
53 Geo. Ill, cap. 72.
1 Information from Mr. T. T. Greg of
Coles.
3 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 10+15, 5229,
5251. Tenants of the manor called Atte
Strate appear in Court Rolls of the 13th
century.
4'Melefield' occurs in a 13th-cen-
tury deed (Anct. D. [P.R.O.], C
2613).
5 Mins. Accts. bdle. 873, no. 3, +, 5.
6 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1078, 1072.
7 Ibid. A 5251.
8 Ibid. A 5229, 968.
9 Chan. Inc. p.m. l Ric. II, no. 163.
10 Land here was given to the church
by Alice de Overton for lights and masses
(Anct. D. [P.R.O.], A 1083 ; A 1077).
'""The present Portal Shot on the
397
Coles estate may be a modern form of
Purtewelle Shot.
11 Will, P.C.C. 22 Maynwaryng.
12 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 206, no. 50 ;
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 107+ ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxviii, 110; P.C.C.
3+ Bodfcldc ; 3 Logge.
13 Information from Mr. T. T. Greg.
14 See Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1185.
" P.C.C. 23 Adeane.
16 Information from Mr. T. T. Greg.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The village of Westmill is situated on low ground
near the River Rib, a little under half a mile to the
west of Ermine Street, with which it communicates
bv roads running north-east and south-east. There
is one main street in the village, which ends towards
the east in a village green. The church of St. Mary
is situated on the north side of this street and the
old manor-house of Westmillbury (now a farm) on
the south. The only inn in the village, the ' Sword
in Hand ' (probably so called from the crest of the
Greg family), is an old house, which by local tradi-
tion was for a time the residence of the Scottish
family of Bellenden. The second Lord Bellenden
was a partisan of James II and was an exile in Hol-
land. His son John, the third baron, was married at
Radwe'l in Hertfordshire to Mary Parnell of Baldock,
and came to live at Westmill, where eight of his
children were born,17 and where most of them were
buried. Lord Bellenden died in 174 1 and was
succeeded by his eldest son Ker, of the Royal Navy,
who died at the age of twenty-seven. The tombs of
the second baron and his wife and of the third baron
and his eldest sister, Jane Miller, are in front of the
altar in Westmill Church.18 At the east end of the
street, on the south side, are seven cottages built
early in the 1 8th century by Samuel Pilgrim, who
belonged to a family of Pilgrim or Pegram, who are
well represented in the parish at the present day.19
Kent's Corner, to the back of these cottages (now
being pulled down), preserved the name of the Kent
family (see charities). Opposite the church is a
cottage called the Woolpack. A barn which adjoins
the church and forms a prominent feature of the
village when viewed from the west may occupy the
site of a sheepfold and threshing-floor mentioned in
the 13 th century.20 At right angles to the main
street on the west runs the road to Aspenden, in
which is the public elementary school built about
1829.21
Wakeley (see under Aspenden) forms a roughly
triangular-shaped projection on the west of the parish ;
the hamlet, which is about 2 miles from Westmill
village, consists of a farm and a few cottages and the
site of the church of St. Giles.
Half a mile south of the village is Coles, the
property and residence of Mr. T. T. Greg, J. P.
This includes three separate estates, Knight's Hill,
Coles, and Tillers End, which were copyhold of the
manor of Weitmill. The house was rebuilt about
184.7 in tne Elizabethan style, and has a park of
about 140 acres.
A house called Button Snap at Westmill Green,22
about a mile and a half south-west of the village, is
of interest as having belongeJ for three years to
Charles Lamb, the only landed property which he
ever possessed. The house is thatched with straw and
has diamond-paned windows. He relates that as he
strode over his 'allotment of three quarters of an acre
with its commodious mansion in the midst ' he enjoyed
for the first time the 'feeling of an English free-
holder that all betwixt sky and centre ' was his own.
The property came to him from his uncle Francis
Field of Holborn, the ' mo t gentlemanly of oilmen,'
who bought it in 1779. His widow conveyed it in
1812 to Charles Lamb. The name Button Snap
was probably given to it by Lamb, as it is not found
before. In 1815 Lamb joined with his aunt in
conveying it to Mr. Thomas Greg,23 and so it passed
' into more prudent hands.' Cherry Green consists
of a few cottages about a mile from the village.
The name is evidently derived from a family of
Cherry who had land here.24
Nathaniel Salmon (1675— I 742), the historian and
antiquary, was for some years a curate at Westmill.
He resigned on the accession of Anne, to whom he
refused to take the oath of allegiance, and practised
as a doctor at St. Ives in Huntingdon and afterwards
at Bishop's Stortford. Later he took to literature
and published his History of Hertfordshire in 1728.
He is said to have been buried at St. Dunstan's. A
rector of Westmill of some fame was Henry Pepys,
who was appointed to the living in 1827 and held it
until he became Bishop of Sodor and Man in I 840.
He was made Bishop of Worcester in the following
year.
The Domesday Survey gives If'EST-
MJNORS MILL as being held in the time of
King Edward the Confessor by Achi, a
thegn of Earl Harold, and in 1086 forming part of the
lands of Robert Gernon, of whom it was held by
Anschitil, probably Anschitil of Ware. It was
assessed at 7 hides I virgate, and there were fourteen
ploughs on it, four of which were on the demesne.
Three mills are mentioned on the manor.25 With
the other estates of Robert Gernon, Westmill was
acquired in the reign of Henry I by William de
Montfitchet,26 of whom it was held as one knight's
fee by Ralph Fitz Haselin and Richard Westmel.27
William was succeeded by Gilbert de Montfitchet,
who paid ^10 for the farm of Westmill for several
years preceding 11 65-6. 28 After that year until
I 1 76-7 the farm is accounted for by the sheriffs
among the purprestures and escheats.29 Whether
this is due to a forfeiture by Gilbert is not certain,
but Richard de Montfitchet, who seems to have
succeeded Gilbert in the latter part of the reign
of Henry II, appears in possession,30 and the Testa de
Nevi/l gives this Richard or his son holding three and
one-sixth fees in Westmill and Gatesbury.31 The
younger Richard died in 1258 32 ; his lands were
divided among his three sisters, Westmill apparently
falling to the share of Margery wife of Hugh de
Bolebec. She left four daughters and heirs,33 who
probably conveyed Westmill to Robert Burnell, Bishop
*' The two eldest were baptized at
Walkern.
18 J. A. Ewing, The Story of the Bellen-
19 Information from Mr. T. T. Greg.
Ju See Maisters in manorial descents.
For architectural description see below
under Westmill Manor.
•' See Close, 9 Geo. IV, pt. lxxxvi,
no. 4.
22 The name Westmill Green is marked
on the map, but does not seem to be well
known locally. The green is mentioned
in the 14th century (Mins. Accts. bdle.
873, no. 3).
■' T. T. Greg, ' Charles Lamb as a
landed proprietor' {Athenaeum, 5 Jan.
1901).
24 John Cherry is the name of a tenant
in the icth century (Ct. R. [Gen. Ser.],
portf. 178, no. 77).
25 V.C.H. Herts, i, 324*.
20 Cf. Ayot St. Peter in Broadwater
Hund. and Stanstead Montfitchet in Essex.
398
* Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Sen), i,
349-
'» Pipe R. 8 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc. v), 70,
et annis seq.
*> Ibid. . 3 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc. xi),
153, ct annis seq.
30 Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 49S,
5°5. 731 i >, 6fi, 78, 9?. Hi-
31 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 269.
s? Banks, Dorm, and Extinct Peerage, i,
140.
33 See Cai. Close, 1272-9, p. 82.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
of Bath and Wells.3' From Robert the fees descended
to his nephew Philip,30 and after his death were held in
dower by his widow Maud.36 The overlordship then
probably followed the descent of Burnells in Stanstead
Montfitchet, which became vested in the Earls of
Oxford.37
Holding under the Montfitchets in the time of
Henry II was a family named Zoing, Szuyn or Zon.
In 1 178 Hubert le Zoing paid 100 marks for seisin
of Westmill, and his brother Jordan is mentioned in
1 1 8 3 .3S In 1226 Geoffrey le Zoing received a
grant of a market to be held at Westmill on Friday
and a fair on the vigil and day of St. Lawrence.39
After his death 40 his widow Amice granted the third
part of lands and a messuage in Westmill, which she
held in dower, to the Prior of Holy Trinity, London.41
William le Zoing is mentioned as holding a knight's
fee in Westmill and Gatesbury in 1274." In 1284
John, son and heir of William le Zoing, granted the
manor to Sir Thomas de Leukenore, kt., apparently
in confirmation of a previous grant made by William.43
This is probably the Thomas son of Sir Nicholas de
Leukenore who appears in a number of deeds con-
cerning lands in Westmill.44 After this the history
of the manor becomes rather confused. In 1293
Margery and Violet, daughters of William de Say,
brought an action against John de Lovetot for the
manor, which John claimed to hold for life of the
grant of Thomas de Leukenore.45 John de Leukenore
was asse;sed for fees in Westmill in 1303,46 and in
1311a fine was levied between Walter de Hunting-
field and John de Leukenore of 2 acres of land, an
acre of meadow and the advowson of the ,hurch.47
Possibly John de Leukenore was in debt and gradually
parted with his lands, lor in 1309 Aymer de Valence
Earl of Pembroke had a grant of free warren for
lands extending into Westmill,48 and the next year
Sir Walter de Huntingfield granted him pasturage for
three cows in the pasture of Westmill and Braughing
before Sir Aymer's gate in Westmill, ' as far as the
river between the manors of Sir Aymer and John de
Leukenore.'49 It may have been the agents of John
de Leukenore who in 131 5, while the earl was
fighting in the marches of Scotland, broke into his
houses at Westmill at night and burnt them and his
goods,50 for, although the earl seems to have acquired
the whole manor before 1324,"' apparently John de
Leukenore tried to retain his hold on it. In 1328
he was in mercy in an action brought against him
by Mary widow of Aymer de Valence for two parts
of the manor,03 but after this he does not appear
again except as in receipt of a pension of 40/. paid
out of the manor.'3 The extent of the manor as
held by the countess included a capital messuage,
WESTMILL
515 acres of land, 22 acres of meadow, 16 acres of
pasture, and a water-mill.54 The countess at one time
formed a plan for settling the reversion of the manors
of Westmill, Meesden and Little Hormead on a
Carthusian priory to be founded in one of these
parishes,51 but she afterwards altered her intention and
gave the reversion after her death to the Cistercian
abbey of St. Mary Graces by the Tower (founded by
Edward III in I 349),5J obtaining Letters Patent for
the purpose in 1376.57
Westmill remained with the abbey until 1538,
when it was conveyed by the abbey and convent to
Sir Thomas Audley, Chancellor of England, to hold
of the king by fealty and a rent of £3 4r.58 Audley
was the grantee of a great number of monastic lands,
inter alia the monastery of Walden, co. Essex. In
1538 he was made Lord Audley of Walden, and
died in 1544 at the priory of Holy Trinity, London.
He left two daughters Mary and Margaret.59 Mary
died unmarried, Margaret married first Lord Henry
Dudley, who died without issue in 1557, and secondly
Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk, who sur-
vived her and held the manor until his attainder in
January 1571-2.60 Westmill came to the Crown, but
was restored to Thomas Lord Howard de Walden,
his son by Margaret, who conveyed it as the manor
of Westmill alias Westmill Bury to John Brograve in
1583.6' The manor has since descended with
Hamells in Braughing (q.v.).
Westmill Bury has been occupied as a farm since
the beginning of the 1 8th century. It is a modern
building, but has a large barn of pre-Reformation
date. This barn is built of timber-framing on low
walls of thin bricks ; the sides are weather-boarded
and the roof covered with thatch. The total length
of the building covered by the long unbroken roof
is about 237 ft., but one end of it is partitioned off
from the present barn, which is 30 ft. wide internally
and about 1 65 ft. in length, and is divided into ten
bays ; some of the timbers are carefully wrought and
have splayed edges.
Another tenant holding under the Montfitchets
in Westmill was a certain Nicholas le Mestere or
Maystre, from whom the manor of MJISTERS took
its name. Various deeds of his of the time of
Henry III remain : one, by which he grants to
Thomas de Leukenore, son and heir of Sir Nicholas,
a sheepfold with threshing-floor and land by the
churchyard of Westmill ; another by which with
Amabilia his wife he granted the same Thomas a rent
of 10/. ; and another by which he gave rent from
land in ' Nethersuhtfeld,' 'Mannefeld' and Benham
to the Prior of Holy Trinity, London.62 Before
1303 his fee had passed to Richard de Gatesbury63
84 See Ayot St. Peter and Stanstead
Montfitchet in Morant, Hist, and Antia.
ofEssex,\\, 576 ; Cal. Close, I279-S8,p. 57.
35 ChM. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I, no. 45.
36 Cal. Close, 1288-96, P. 463 ; Abbrcv.
Pine. (Rec. Com.), 2,8.
37 Morant, op. cit. ii, 578.
33 Pipe R. 24, 25, 26,27, 28, 29 Hen. II,
8.V. Essex and Herts. For Jordan see
also Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5823, 5S2+.
33 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 129.
40 He was living in 1234, when he was
witness to a deed (Anct. D. [P.R.O.],
A 1090).
41 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1084.
a Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 82.
43 De Banco R. 55, m. ii2d. (Mich.
12 & 13 Edw. I). See also Assize R.
6 Edw. I (Agard'j MS. index, fol. 25A),
which suggests that Nicholas father of
Thomas may have previously held.
44 Anct. D. (P.R.O.),C 203s; A 5219;
C 1434. He may be the Thomas who
is supposed to be buried in the church,
the father of Nicholas, buried close by.
45 De Banco R. 100, m. 42 d. (East.
21 Edw. I). <6 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
47 Feet of F. Herts. 4 Edw. II, no. 64.
48 Chart. R. 2 Edw. II, m. 8, no. 23.
« Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A C220.
5U Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 417.
51 Mms. Accts. bdle. 873, no. 3.
399
B De Banco R. Mich. 2 Edw. Ill,
m. 306 d.
»3 Mins. Accts. bdle. 873, no. 5.
54 Chan. Inq. a.q.d. file 36;, no. iS.
55 Ibid. 36 Dugdale, Mon. v, 717.
57 Pat. 50 Edw. III.pt. ii, m. 16 ; Cal.
Pat. 1429-36, p. 415 ; 1461-7, p. 162.
M L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (2), 967
(33). 969-
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), exxxvi, 100.
60 Ibid, clxii, 167.
61 Feet of F. Herts. East. 25 Eliz. ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 25 Eliz.
°- Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 1921; A 1334,
10411; ; see also A 9232.
63 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Gatesbury in Braughing. In I 3 I 7 Richard son
of Richard de Gatesbury released to his lord Aymer
de Valence Earl of Pembroke his right in a moiety
Westmill Church from the South-west
of a mill, land and 4/. rent in Westmill.64 This is,
perhaps, the mill mentioned in the extent given
above of Westmill Manor. The manor descended
with Gatesbury (q.v.), and with that manor was
divided between Joskyn and Elveden.
Joskyn's part came with one half of Gatesbury to
Thomas Hanchett, who in I 584 conveyed it to John
Brograve.66 The other half came to Thomas Fitz
Herbert, who conveyed it in 1588 to John Bro-
grave,66 after which the whole manor followed the
descent of Hamells in Braughing (q.v.). The estate
became amalgamated with Hamells, which in later
documents is called Hamell-cum-Masters.67
The manor of BJRKESDEN, which belonged to
64 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 322.
65 Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
Eliz
6 & 27
66 Ibid. Hil. 31 Eliz.
67 See Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich.
7 Geo. IV, m. 20.
68 Possibly it lay originally wholly in
Aspenden and all the land in Westmill
was added to it later. There are numerous
giants to the priory of lands in Westmill
about the 1 3 tli century ( Anct. D.[P.R.O.],
A 5214, 1070, 1069, 1085, 1093, 5215,
1082, 5230, 1076, 1080, 10S7, 135S).
68a Pat. 21 Eliz. pt. vi, m. 29.
69 V.C.H. Hern, i, 325a.
">Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5229,1163.
By a deed of 1247 Master Walter deTany,
Archdeacon of Nottingham, granted land
in Stanstead to the Abbot of Waltham.
This deed was witnessed by Lord Peter
the Priory of Holy Trinity, London, lay partly in
Aspenden and partly in Westmill.'8 The early history
of this manor is treated under Aspenden (q.v.). In
1578 that part of the manor
which lay in Westmill was
separated from the rest of
the manor and was sold by
Edward Halfhyde and his
wife Anne to John Bro-
grave.683 He soon after-
wards acquired Westmill alias
Westmillbury, and the two
manors have since become
incorporated under the name
of Westmill-cum-Barkesden.
Besides Robert Gernon's
estate at Westmill in 1086
there were also 4 hides and
3 virgates there held by
Ralph de Tany, and under
hirn by ' Roger.' These had
been held before the Con-
quest by Sexi, a house-carl
of King Edward. In 1086
there was attached to them a
virgate of land which a
sokeman of Anschitil of Ware
had held in the time of
King Edward, and which
formerly had not belonged
to the manor. There were
nine ploughs on the land,
two of which were on the
demesne, meadow for two
plough-teams only, sufficient
pasture, and woodland for
sixty swine.09 This estate
descended with the Tany
family. Luke de Tany in the
reign of Henry III granted
all the land in Westmill
which he held from his
granddaughter Amphelisa,
daughter of Hugh de
Marines, except an acre of
meadow in Tunmannemade,
to the convent of Holy Trinity.70 The family of
Marines held under the Tanys in Westmill, and many
deeds of theirs are extant. The grantors include Gwerric
de Marines and Hugh de Marines his brother, Hugh
son of Gwerric, John and Theobald, brothers of
Hugh, and Theobald son of Hugh.71 Hugh de
Marines, son of Gwerric, fell into debt, and mort-
gaged I 5 acres of his demesne land in Westmill to
Thomas de Nevill, Chancellor of Lichfield, for ten
years,72 and other lands there he mortgaged to certain
Jews.73 In 1275 he was presented for making a
purpresture on the high road of half an acre.74
About 1264 John de Marines, presumably John
brother of Hugh, granted the manor of Westmill,
de Tany and Luke de Tany (Adl. Chart.
35518). The relationship of these differ-
ent members of the Tany family is not
clear.
71 See Cat. of Anct. D. passim ; Cur.
Reg. R. no. 39, m. 3 d. Their holding is
here called the manor of Westmill.
« Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 8907.
73 Cott. MS. Nero. C. iii, fol. 19+.
u HunA. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 191.
4OO
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
together with common of pasture in the demesne
lands of Hugh de Marines, to Sir John le Moine,
son of Sir Nicholas le Moine,'0
and by a later agreement John
le Moine undertook to find
food and clothing and all
necessaries for John de Ma-
rines and his wife Amabilia
in Moine's own house as long
as Marines lived, Marines
giving up his life interest in
the estate.76 Shortly after-
wards John le Moine, called
of Selford, granted his tene-
ment and capital messuage in
Westmill, with the rents of
his tenants and two parts of the tithes from the de-
mesne of the late Sir Hugh de Marines, to Holy
Trinity, London,"' and later
it appears that Holy Trinity
held these lands by the ser-
vice of finding ' I saccum cum
una brock' for Ralph de Tany,
and that Ralph held the
serjeanty of the king by pro-
viding one sergeant as often
as the king should go with
his army into Wales.'8 This
estate probably became united
with the rest of the lands of
Holy Trinity in the parishes
of Westmill and Aspenden.
The church
CHURCH of ST. MART
consists of chan-
cel 25 ft. by 15 ft., north
vestry, nave 41 ft. 6 in. by
zi ft., north aisle 42 ft. 6 in.
by 12 ft., south porch, west
tower 14 ft. square ; all the
dimensions are internal. The
church is built of flint rubble
with stone dressings, and at
the south-east angle of the
nave is some long-and-short
work ; the roofs are tiled.
The plans of nave and
chancel are probably pre-
Conquest ; the walls may be
of the 13 th century, as there
are details of that period, and
the north aisle was erected
earlier in that century ; the
chancel arch has details of
the middle of the 14th cen-
tury, and the west tower is
of late 1 5th-century work.
The church was thoroughly
repaired in 1875, the stone-
work of most of the windows
renewed, a south porch and
north vestry were added, the
chancel and aisle were re-
roofed, and all the walls but those of the tower
refaced with flint.
The three-li^ht traceried window in the east wall
WESTMILL
of the chancel is modern ; a single lancet in the north
wall and two in the south are of modern stonework.
The south doorway is mainly modern, but the internal
jambs are probably part of the original 14th-century
work ; above it is a narrow blocked single light with
a square head of the 1 3 th century, it shows as a recess
externally. The 14th-century chancel arch is of two
moulded orders, with a label on both sides of the
wall ; the jambs consist of three large engaged shafts
with rolls between, and have moulded capitals and bases.
The south-east external angle of the nave is built
of pre-Conquest long-and-short work, but the splayed
plinth on which it stands is of later date ; other long-
and-short stones have been re-used in a buttress to the
north aisle. The north arcade consists of two early
13th-century pointed arches with chamfered edges
and having labels on both sides ; between the arches
is a wide rectangular pier with moulded abaci which
Westmill Church : The Nave looking West
vary slightly in the two arches, and which are cut
flush with the face of the wall ; beneath the abacus
on the east respond is a small plain niche. A modern
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1089.
Ibid. 1075.
Ibid. 618+.
4OI
™ Assize R. 323 (6 Edw. I).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
opening has been cut through the east end of the
wall, and above it is the blocked doorway to the rood-
loft. The three-light window and the doorway in
the south wall are modern. The roof is probably of
i 5th-century date and is plain.
In the north wall of the aisle are two modern
windows ; in the west wall is a two-light window
with modern mullions and tracery ; the outer four-
centred arch is of brick of the early 16th century
with hollow-chamfered edge and label over.
The west tower is of three stages with embattled
parapet ; the roof is pyramidal and slated and is
crowned with a small octagonal leaded spire. The
tower arch is very lofty and consists of three splayed
continuous orders which are stopped on a splay at the
base. The west doorway has a two-centred arch,
with moulded label forming a square head over it ;
the arch and jamb are continuously moulded and on
each side is a niche for an image, with crocketed
canopy, and at the apex are carved figures of two
angels ; in the spandrels are carved figures of angels
holding censers ; the doorway is much decayed and
has been repaired with cement. The west window is
of three cinquefoiled lights with traceried head, and
has been repaired with cement ; the belfry windows
are also much decayed ; they are of two cinquefoiled
lights with traceried heads. Their moulded labels are
returned round the tower as a string-course. The angle
buttresses of the tower terminate at the belfry stage.
The octagonal font is of clunch and dates from the
latter part of the 15th century ; the south side of the
bowl is plain, the others have traceried panels ; the
stem is plain.
At the west end of the nave and aisle and in the
chancel are some 16th-century benches and standards ;
t. . '-. communion rail is of late 17th-century date and
has twisted balusters.
There are five bells : the treble by Thomas Mears,
1838; the second by Lester & Pack, 1757; the
third is inscribed ' Sancta Margareta Ora Pro Nobis' ;
the fourth by William Rofford, undated, but probably
c. 1350 ; the fifth by Miles Graye, 1616.
The communion plate consists of a cup, 1562, a
cover paten without hall marks, dated 1630, a large
paten, 171 3, a modern paten and a plated cup.
The registers are in four books as follows : (i)
baptisms 1580 to 1730, burials 1565 to 1736,
marriages 1562 to 1730; (ii) baptisms and burials
1731 to 1775, marriages 1750 to 1753 ; (iii) bap-
tisms and burials 1776 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages I 75 5
to 18 12.
The advowson of the church was
JDVOH'SON appurtenant to the manor of West-
mill held by the Leukenores. In
131 I John de Leukenore conveyed it to Walter de
Huntingfield,"9 from whom it was evidently acquired
by Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke.80 It
descended with the manor of Westmillbury until
1796, when it was reserved in the conveyance of the
manor by Philip Earl of Hardwicke to John Mellish.81
The living is now in the gift of Mr. T. T. Greg of
Coles.
A meeting-place for Quakers was certified in
Westmill in 1693, and one for Protestants in l820.R2
There is now no Nonconformist place of worship in
the parish.
In 1826 Philip Earl of HarcTwicke,
CHARITIES by deed dated 13 November, gave
the land tax or annual sum of £28
charged upon the parsonage-house of Westmill for
the benefit of the National school.
In 1736 Jane Francis by her will charged a
messuage and garden in the village with 10/. a year
for the poor.
WIDFORD
Wideford, Wydeford, Wydford (xi-xvi cent.) ;
Wodeford (once in xiv cent.) ; generally Widford after
xvi cent.
Widford is a small parish of 1,167 acres, of which
about two-thirds are arable land and about one
quarter pasture.1 The commons, which were exten-
sive, were inclosed under an award of 1 856.2 The
only wood of any size is Lily Wood to the west of
the village ; Marshland Wood, which adjoined East-
wick Wood in the neighbouring parish of Eastwick,
was cut down about 1877. The River Ash, some-
times called Widford River, runs in a westerly direc-
tion through the northern part of the parish. From
north to south the parish is intersected by the road
from Hadham to Hunsdon and Stanstead Abbots,
whilst at right angles with this another road joins
the village with Ware on the west. The Great
Eastern railway has a station on the Buntingford
branch at Widford, at some distance to the west of
the village.
The meadows occupying the low ground by the
Ash on the north of the parish are pleasant, the
banks of the stream being lined with willows. The
ground rises steeply to the south of the river. On
the east and west the parish is flat and uninteresting.
The soil is mixed, the subsoil clay and chalk.
On a hill on the north-west of the parish are two
barrows of unknown date, one of which was opened
by the Hon. Richard Braybrook in 185 1. It has
been suggested that the names Godwyn's Wood and
Battles Wood in the neighbourhood may tradition-
ally preserve the history of some local event.3
Barrow Farm, to the north, takes its name from the
tumuli.4 Nether Street is the name of a road, lately
re-made and planted with trees, which enters the
parish on the east and, after running in a curiously
straight line for some distance, is continued as a lane
on to the river, and is traceable for some way on the
other side, passing close by Barrow Hill. It then
1 joins another lane which here for a little distance
78 Feet of F. Herts. H il. 4 Edw. II, m.64.
80 See Inq. a.q.d. file 365, no. iS.
81 Close, 36 Geo. Ill, pt. xxiii, no. 6.
82 Urwick, op. cit. 724.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1901;).
5 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 65.
8 East Herts. Arch. Sac. Trans, ii, 130.
Flint implements have been turned up at
Widford Glebe close to Lily Wood (in-
formation from Rev. G. Traviss Lock-
wood). In the Blakesware title deeds
the wood is called Goodwin or Goldings
Wood, and there was a neighbouring
field called Goddens Field in Ware parish.
402
The deeds also mention
Goodwyns (163 1-96), whi<
in this field (information
Gosselin Grimshawe).
J Atteberwe and De la
names of tenants on the
1 3th century
1 house called
h was probably
from Mr. H.
Berwc are the
manor in the
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
forms the parish boundary. Both these lanes are
probably ancient trackways. Another old by-road
called Crackney Lane or Watery Lane (also ancient, _
as it forms the parish boundary) ran south from Barrow
Farm, passed Crackney Wood, and ran through the
south-east corner of the Blakesware estate. This was
closed by order of Quarter Sessions in 1878, when a
new by-road was made from Widford station. At the
same time part of the old main road from Ware to
Widford was closed, which to the east of Scholars
Hill followed a line to the north of the present road.
This was made when the new house at Blakesware
was built. The old road joined the present main
road a little to the west of Widford station.40
The village is situated along the road to Hunsdon
on the high ground to the south of the river. The
church of St. John the Baptist and Widford Bury
(now a farm) lie further down the hill a little to the
west. The rectory is close by the church. At the
top of the road leading from the church to the
village is Walnut Tree House, the residence of
Mr. G. S. Pawle, J.P. The village is built in a
straggling way along the main road. There are a
good many new cottages and several inns. At the
north end of the main street is a smithy. The
public elementary school was built in 1875. Con-
siderably to the south of the village, in the main
road, is a Congregational chapel, built in 1898.
Bourne House, to the north of the village, is the
residence of Mr. G. M. Horsey.
The churchyard at Widford is the burial-place of
Mary Field, grandmother of Charles Lamb and
subject of his poem ' The Grandame.' She was
housekeeper at Blakesware, which adjoins Widford
on the north-west. The tombstone records her
death in 1792. Mrs. Elizabeth Norris, widow of
Lamb's friend Randal Norris of the Inner Temple,
her son Richard and her daughter Elizabeth, widow
of Charles Tween, were also buried here. The
original of Lamb's ' Rosamund Gray ' is said to
have been a native of Widford.5 John Eliot, the
' Indian Apostle,' was baptized at Widford in 1604. ;
his father was Bennett Eliot, a yeoman and land-
owner in the neighbourhood. The version of the
Bible in the language of the Massachusetts Indians
made by Eliot was printed in 1 66 1 by Samuel Green,
successor of Stephen Daye, the first American printer,
and is therefore of typographical as well as philological
interest.
Before the Conquest WIDFORD was
MJNOR held by Edred, a thegn of King Edward.
It was the land of the Bishop of London
in 1086, when it was assessed at 3 hides, 2
of which were in demesne. There were two
ploughs on the demesne and three others on the
WIDFORD
manor. There was meadow for two plough teams,
woodland for fifty swine 6 and a mill.7 Another
hide was held of the Bishop of London by a certain
Tedbert, the successor of Alward, who had held of
Archbishop Stigand in the time of King Edward.8
These are the only entries given in the Domesday
Survey, but whether they refer to the land which
was afterwards given to the abbey of Bermondsey by
Ivo de Grentmesnil is not clear. It has been
suggested that the ' Wadford ' which was given in ex-
change by Hugh de Witvile to Hugh de Grentmesnil
for five houses in the city of Leicester 9 is Widford
in Hertfordshire.10 Widford, however, does not seem
to be elsewhere spelt Wadford u ; also there is no hint
of such a transaction in the Survey under Hertford-
shire, and there is nothing to account for the dis-
appearance of the Bishop of London's estate. But
the manor seems to have been acquired in some
way by Ivo de Grentmesnil, son of Hugh, and to
have been given by him to Bermondsey in exchange
for ' Andretesbury.' 13 It was confirmed in 11 18 by
Robert Earl of Leicester, to whom part of the Grent-
mesnil estates were pledged.13
The manor remained with Bermondsey until the
Dissolution. The prior and convent had view of
frankpledge there, assize of bread and ale, infangen-
theof, quittance of shires and hundreds, sheriffs tourns
and sheriff's aids.14 It was one of the estates of which
the notorious Adam de Stratton obtained a grant
from the convent in the reign of Edward I. He
was evicted in 1277 because he had no royal con-
firmation of this grant,15 but the next year he again
obtained possession, this time to hold at a rent of
is'., whilst he quitclaimed to the prior a rent of
^100 in which the prior was bound to him.16
Ultimately he was convicted for forging charters
which would give him the fee simple of the land- ' ;
held in fee farm of the priory.17 Widford tnen
came to the Crown and was granted back to
Bermondsey, with a rebuke for having ' indiscreetly
and improvidently ' leased it to Stratton.18 In 131 7
the manor was leased to Geoffrey de Stokes and his
wife Alice for their lives at a rent of 12 marks.19
The convent was heavily in debt about twenty
years later to William de Cusancia, keeper of the
king's wardrobe, and obtained licence to lease the
manor again for a sum to be paid in advance or at a
yearly farm, in order to relieve their estate.20 It
was accordingly leased in 1 342 to Richard de
Wylughby and his wife Joan for their lives.21 The
monastery surrendered in January 1537-8. The
extent of the manor as given in the Valor of 1535
included 32 acres of wood.22
In 1544 the king granted Widford to Sir Richard
Southwell 23 of Horsham St. Faith, co. Norfolk,24 one
4a The last piece of this road (running
due south) was diverted to the west when
the railway was made about 1864. The
older road passed through a ford, of which
the piles could be seen in the river until
a few years ago. It joined the present
line of road at Widford station (plans, &c,
lent by Mr. H. Gosselin Grirashawe).
5 Ainger, Charles Lamb, 40.
6 This is a large amount of woodland
as compared with the present extent.
7 V.C.H. Herts, i, 306a. » ibid.
9 Dom. Bk. (Rec. Com.), fol. 130a.
10 Manning and Bray, Hist, and Antiq.
o/Surr. i, 193.
11 It is, however, spelt fVodcford (see
Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 543).
12 See confirmation of Henry III
printed by Dugdale in Mon. v, no.
13 Ibid. 88.
" Plac. de Quo JVarr. (Rec. Com.), 382.
15 Ibid. 282.
16 De Banco R. 31, m. 95 d. ; Feet
of F. Div. Co. Mich. 7 & 8 Edw. I,
no. 92.
" Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), iii,
p. cccxxv. His first conviction was for
assault on Roger Goodman of Bermondsey,
who was attacked by Adam's servants
at Widford and robbed of his horses
4O3
and merchandise. Adam tried unsuccess-
fully to prove that Roger was a fugitive
bondsman (ibid.).
18 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 338.
19 Ibid. 1317-21, p. 62; Inq. a.q.d.
file 128, no. 4.
m Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 543. William
de Cusancia had apparently already had
a mortgage of the manor {Cal. Close,
'317-9. p. « 66).
81 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p.' 432.
-■ Valor Bed. (Rec. Com.), ii, 59.
« L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), 80 (n).
-4 Le Neve, Pedigrees of the Knights
(Harl. Soc), 496.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of his councillors. In the same year Thomas Lewyn,
clerk, who was apparently a trustee for Southwell,
had licence to alienate the manor to the use of
Mary Leech, wife of Robert Leech, alderman of
Norwich ; also a field called Newnneye Wood alias
Woodfield beside Newnneye (Nimney) Wood in
Ware.25 This Mary Leech, who in another place is
called Mary Darcy alias Leech, must have been
Mary daughter of Sir Thomas Darcy of Danbury,
co. Essex, who afterwards became the second wife of
Sir Richard Southwell.-'6 In 1558 she as Mary
Darcy alias Leech of Horsham St. Faith, co. Norfolk,
alienated the manor to Robert Adams, a yeoman of
Widford,27 who died seised of it in 1580. In 1589
his son and heir Henry Adams conveyed it together
with forty messuages, a water-mill, free warren, free
fishery and view of frankpledge to Bartholomew Barnes,
sen., and Bartholomew Barnes, jun.2s A Bartholomew
Barnes, probably the younger, citizen and mercer of
of the same name suffered a recovery in iSia,3^
and in 1829 sold the manor to Nicholas Parry of
Little Hadham. It descended to his son Nicholas
Segar Parry,35 who devised to Mr. H. D. Parry-
Mitchell of Merivale, Atherstone, Warwick, the
present lord.36
Widford Bury was sold by Mr. Parry-Mitchell to Sir
Martin Gosselin in 1889 and is now the property of
Capt. Alwyn Gosselin of Blakesware. It is an L-shaped
building, with timber-framed walls covered with
plaster ; there is little of interest in the house, which
probably dates from the 1 7th century. A little to the
north-west of the house is an early 1 /th-century dove-
house ; it is of brick, octagonal on plan and has a
thatched roof. Noneof the cots now remain. Between
the house and the churchyard is an old brick wall about
65 yards in length, part of which formed the outer
wall of what may have been the eastern wing of the
Bury ; it appears to be of 16th-century date. At the
Wiuiord : Old Gateway in Chvrchyarij Wall
London, settled it in 1608 on Elizabeth, one of his
three daughters, the wife of Roland Backhouse,29 also
citizen and mercer of London. Their grandson,
William Backhouse (son of Nicholas, a younger son of
Roland), created a baronet in 1660, sold it with the
water-mill, warren, fishery, and frankpledge to William
Bird 3" of Martocks in Ware. Thomas Bird, according
to Chauncy, was lord of the manor in I 700. 31 Before
1741 it was acquired by William Parker of Haling
in Croydon,32 whose daughter Elizabeth married her
cousin William Hamond.33 Their son, William
Parker Hamond of Haling, died in 1 8 1 2 ; his son
north end, beside the stile into the churchyard, the
wall is returned westwards. A four-centred arched
doorway and part of a moulded brick window, now
blocked, are visible on the east side ; on the west face
are a large fireplace and a wide four-c<-ntred arch.
The wall is now about 8 ft. high. At the south end
of the wall is a round-arched gateway of brick with
moulded arch and imposts. The gateway is flanked
by plain pilasters, with remains of a frieze and moulded
cornice above. The pilasters have moulded plinths,
and the capitals also are moulded, but they appe.'.r to
have belonged to narrower pilasters. The wall at this
* L. and P. Her:. I'lll, xU (1), 812
(■■4).
-c See pedigree in Fosbrooke's Gloucester-
shire, i, 496 j Blomefield, Hist, of Nor/.
277.
2; Pat. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary, pt. xv,
m. 12; Feet of F. Herts. East. 4 & 5 Phil,
and Mary.
88 Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. xiv, m. 27 ; Feet
of F. Herts. East. 32 Eliz.
89 Feet of F. Herts. East. 6 fas. I ;
Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 14 Jas. I,
30 The fine (Mich. 20 Chas. II) was
levied to William Bird, but according to
Chauncy the sale was to Thomas Bird.
31 Op. cit. 200.
404
52 Sec Recov. R. Trin. 14 & 15
Geo. II, rot. 53.
" Ibid. Hil. 16 Geo. Ill, rot. 53.
n Ibid. Mich. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 250.
3i Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Btaughing
Huttd. 5c.
36 J. Traviss Lockwood, Widford and
Wsdtord Chunh, ;.
BRAUGHING HUNDRED
WIDFORI)
point is 3 ft. in thickness. The gateway is probably South of the window is the figure of a bishop in cope
of early 17th-century date, but some old material
may have been re-used in its construction.
Widford Mill, mentioned in the conveyances recited
above, was situated just outside Widford in the parish
of Ware, close to the site of old Blakesware.37 It
was pulled down about twenty years ago. There was
an earlier one, which seems to have been within the
parish of Widford, the site of which is probably
marked by Mill Mead on the south side of the river
close to the flood-gates.38
The church of ST. JOHN THE
CHURCH BAPTIST con-
sists of chancel
21 ft. by 18 ft., small north
organ chamber, nave 43 ft.
by I 8 ft. 6 in., north vestry,
south porch, and west tower
1 1 ft. square, all internal
dimensions. The church is
built of flint with clunch
dressings, except those of the
tower, which are of Barnack
stone ; the roofs are tiled.
A church stood here in
the 1 2th century, but the
only details of that period
still existing are some frag-
ments now built into the
walls, though portions of the
nave walls may belong to the
older building. The chancel
and west tower are chiefly of
14th-century date. During
the 15 th century the tower
arch was reconstructed and
windows inserted in the
chancel. During the 19th
century the church was re-
paired several times, the spire
rebuilt, and the organ cham-
ber, vestry and south porch
erected.
The three-light window 39
in the east wall of the chan-
cel is modern. In each of
the side walls is a window
of two cinquefoiled lights,
with rectilinear tracery, of
the 15th century. The south
doorway of the same period
has a four-centred arch, over
which is a modern label. In
the south wall an early 12th-
century cushion capital set
on a shaft now forms a
credence shelf. This fragment of the former church,
along with several others now in the nave, was dis-
covered near the tower arch during repairs early in
the 19th century. In the same wall is a recess
4 ft. 3 in. wide, with splayed edge and pointed seg-
mental arch, which may have inclosed a tomb ; it is
of 14th-century work. On the chancel walls are
some remains of distemper paintings. On the east
wall, north of the window, is the figure of a knight.
and mitre, carrying a crozier.4" On the north wall
a figure seated on a rainbow, with a sword placed
horizontally above his uplifted hands ; beside it is a
small figure of an angel with a Tau cross. There is
no chancel arch.
The only old window in the nave is the most
easterly one in the south wall, which is of two cinque-
foiled lights with flowing tracery, of about 1 350;
one other window in the same wall and one in the
north wall are of modern stonework. The north
doorway, which now opens into the modern vestry,
Widford Chirch from the South-east
is of late 14th-century work and has an arch of two
moulded orders. The oak door with its ironwork is
of the same period. On the north wall outside is a
projection which contained the stair to the rood-loft,
but no opening is visible inside. The south doorway
is similar to that in the north wall ; built into the
wall above it are some fragments of a 12th-century
arch with zigzag moulding. Near the eastern end
of the south wall is a small roughly formed piscina
37 Information communicated by Mr. G. M. Horsey.
3S Information from Mr. H. Gosselin Grim3hawe.
39 The glass was inserted in memory of John Eliot.
40 See illus. in Cussans, op. cit. Braug/iing Hund. facing p. 56.
4O5
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
with credence shelf; it is of brick, cemented, and is
of early 16th-century work. The nave roof retains
some old tie-beams.
The west tower is of three stages, unbuttressed,
and is finished with an embattled parapet and modern
copper-covered spire ; a turret stair at the south-east
angle gives access to the belfry. The tower arch, of
the full width of the tower, is of three continuous
moulded orders. The 14th-century west doorway is
of two moulded orders and label with returned stops;
of the same date is the window above, of two cinque-
foiled lights with a cusped opening in the head.
On each face of the belfry stage is a window of two
trefoiled lights, all of modern stonework.
The font dates from about 14.20 ; it is octagonal,
and on each side of the bowl is a square panel con-
taining a cusped circle, the centres being carved with
various devices such as the head of a nun, a lion,
flower ornaments, &c.
In the tower is a slab with indents of a half-figure
with shields and inscription.
The paintings on the chancel ceiling were executed
by Miss F. C. Hadsley Gosselin between 1 881 and
1883.41
There are six bells : the treble by Mears &
Stainbank, 1890 ; the second recast by John Taylor,
1869 ; the third by Robert Oldfeild, 162- (incom-
plete date) ; the fourth is a I jth-century bell inscribed
' Sancta Katerina Ora Pro Nobis ' ; the fifth by Robert
Oldfeild, 1624 ; the tenor by Lester & Pack, 1766.
The communion plate consists of a chased cup,
1562, a cover paten without a hall mark and a
modern flagon.
The registers are in four books as follows : (i)
baptisms 1562 to 1644, burials 1 5 58 to 1676,
marriages 1558 to 1660 ; (ii) baptisms 1674 to
1762, burials 1674 to 1757, marriages 1674 to
1752; (iii) baptisms and burials 1763 to 1812;
(iv) marriages 1754 to 18 12.
The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON St. John the Baptist was appurte-
nant to the manor until the sale of
the latter by William Parker Hamond to Nicholas
Parry, when it was reserved by Hamond. It was
bought about five years ago by Captain Alwyn
Gosselin, and the last presentation was made by
trustees, he as a Roman Catholic being unable to
present.43
A burial-ground for Roman Catholics was made
near the churchyard by Sir Martin Gosselin shortly
before his death in 1905.43
In 1 808 Mary Mason by her will
CHARITIES gave £300 for the benefit of the
poor. The legacy is now repre-
sented by a sum of £372 15/. id. consols with the
official trustees, producing £g 6s. \d. yearly.
The Parliamentary Returns of 1786 state that a
donor unknown gave lands to the poor. The parish
is in possession of 1 3 a. 2 r. of land lying in the
common fields and producing £12 4/. yearly.
The income from these charities was in 19 10
applied as to £5 as a subscription to a nursing fund,
£$ in outfits to five girls, £■} to eight widows, 15/.
to two aged men and £$ 5/. for special cases.
The Congregational chapel and trust property
comprised in an indenture dated 25 January 1898 is
regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 27 April 1906.
41 For a description of them see J. 4' Information from the Rev. J. H.
Traviss-Lockwood, ff-'idford and IVidford Hart. The Crown presented in 1765 by
Church, with an explanation of her recently reason, of the lunacy of William Parker
completed painting by F. C. Hadsley Gosselin. (Guildhall MS. 48 I ). In 1806 H. Part-
ridge presented, probably pro hac -vice
(ibid.).
43 Information Irom Mr. H. Gosselin
Grimshawe.
4OO
THE HUNDRED OF HERTFORD
CONTAINING1 THE PARISHES OF
Parts of ALL SAINTS and ST. JOHN'S,
HERTFORD, including the liberties of
Brickendon and Little Am well
GREAT AMWELL
BAYFORD
BENGEO
LITTLE BERKHAMPSTEAD
BROXBOURNE with HODDF.SDON
CHESHUNT ST. MARY
ESSENDON
HERTINGFORDBURY
ST. ANDREW RURAL
STANSTEAD ST. MARGARET'S
STAPLEFORD
TEWIN
WORMLEY
and HERTFORD BOROUGH
Hertford Hundred lies in the valley of the Lea, for the most part to the
south of the borough of Hertford, which it almost encircles. Little is
known of the spot where the courts
were held, but it was apparently
customary for the sheriff's tourn to
be held at Ware Bridge in the 14th
century.2 The hundred adjoins the
counties of Essex and Middlesex on
the east and south respectively.
The hundred in 1086 was some-
what more extensive than at the
beginning of last century. It origi-
nally included Bramfield on the
north-west.3 Four men and the
reeve together with the whole town-
ship (villatd) of Bramfield were wont
to plead and to be geldable with the
rest of the king's 'foreign' (formsec)
hundred of Hertford ; but about
1260 Abbot John of St. Albans
annexed Bramfield to his liberty,4
and thenceforward it was accounted
part of the abbots' hundred of Cashio.6
The Domesday Survey also locates
Index Map to the Hundred of Hertford
the unidentified holdings of Stiuicesworde and Bricewold within the hundred
of Hertford.6 The royal jurisdiction here as elsewhere was considerably
diminished by the liberties exercised by religious houses over their lands.
The Abbot of Westminster claimed exemption from suit at the hundred
1 This list represents the extent of the hundred in 1831 {Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 248). In the arrangement
of the parishes of Hertford Borough the boundaries adopted under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835
have been used.
2 Chan. Inq. p.m. 50 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 3 ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 641.
s V.C.H. Herts, i, 341*. 4 Plat, de Quo H'arr. (Rec. Com.), 290.
5 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 320. 6 Ibid, i, 331, 341.
407
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
court for his tenants at Amwell, the Knights Templars for theirs in Bengeo.
The tenants of Waltham Holy Cross had a similar exemption in the liberty
of Brickendon and at Wormley. The men of the hospital of St. Bartholomew
atTewin, and those of Hertford Priory, Merton Priory and the priory of Holy
Trinity Aldgate, had all withdrawn their suit from the hundred by 1278.7
The hundreds of Hertford and Braughing were usually farmed jointly by
a single bailiff.8 The value of Hertford Hundred in 1278 was £10 yearly.9
Early in the year 13 19 inquisition was made as to the possibility of severing
these two hundreds from the body of the county ; but their value was
uncertain, since the sheriff accounted for the whole county in gross.10 In
1335 the petition of Edmund ' de Bolestroda,' a servant (valet) of Henry of
Lancaster, who desired to hold the two hundreds severally at farm, was rejected,
as it was proved to the Council that they were of the body of the county and
could not be separated.11 No such consideration weighed with Queen
Elizabeth, who in 1571 granted these and other hundreds to William Cecil
Lord Burghley and his heirs, to hold in fee farm.12 Burghley's son, Robert
Earl of Salisbury, bequeathed them to his son and heir William,13 and they
have descended with the earldom of Salisbury.
7 Plat, de Qui If'arr. (Rec. Com.), 276 et seq. ; cf. Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 190.
8 Assize R. 318, m. 18 ; Hardy, Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 28, 54, 64, 319 ; Memo. R. (Exch.
L.T.R.), Hil. 11 Jas. I, ' Recorda,' m. 294. In 1297 John of Bayford farmed these two hundreds and also
Broadwater and Hitchin. 9 Assize R. 323.
10 Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Hil. 12 Edw. II, ' Brevia,' m. 78. » Pari. R. ii, 93*.
12 Pat. 13 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 25 (grant begins m. 21). I:" Will P.C.C. 49 Fenner.
408
HERTFORD HUNDRED
ALL SAINTS AND ST.
JOHN'S, HERTFORD
Parts of ALL SAINTS and ST. JOHN'S, HERTFORD, including the
liberties of Brickendon and Little Amwell.
The following account deals with the district com-
prising the modern civil parishes of Brickendon Rural,
St. John Rural and Little Amwell, all of which lie
immediately south and east of Hertford Borough.
They were for the most part either in the eccle-
siastical parish of All Saints, the church of which
belonged to Waltham Abbey, or in the parish of
St. John, a church belonging to Hertford Priory.1
The benefices of All Saints and St. John were
amalgamated about 1640,' and Little Amwell was
constituted a separate parish in 1864.3 This district
lies on the southern edge of the Hertfordshire Chalk
beds, and the arable land and pasturage are about
equal in quantity.
The present parish of Brickendon Rural includes
about 1,348 acres immediately south of All Saints'
Church. A large part lay within the liberty of
Brickendon, also belonging to the abbey of Waltham.4
Brickendon Bury, the capital messuage of the manor
of Brickendon, lies within Brickendon Rural. It
stands on the summit of rising ground about a mile
south of Hertford. The present house dates from
the early 1 8th century, but the interior has been
completely modernized and additions have been made
to the rear. The plastered north or entrance front,
which is two stories in height with an attic, remains
more or less in its original condition and presents,
with its central pediment and Corinthian pilasters,
an elevation correct in detail but poor in design.
Considerable portions of the moat remain on the west
and south, where it is still filled with water. A large
find of Roman coins was discovered in making a sunk
bed to the south-east of the house. On tlie Hertford
side the house is approached by a magnificent avenue
of trees nearly three-quarters of a mile in length,
known as ' Morgan's Walk.' On the well-wooded
slopes to the south are Brickendon Green and Grange.
A part of this district was at one time held by the
equally powerful Abbots of Westminster.5 Fanshaws,
a little to the north of Brickendon Green, is the
property of Mrs. Kingsley. The house was built by
Mr. H. Demain-Saunders, Mrs. Kingsley's first
husband, who acquired property at Brickendon Green
(including Fanshaws Farm), formerly part of the
manor of Brickendon.
St. John Rural is a purely agricultural district
immediately east of Brickendon. It covers some
1,662 acres and includes only one considerable
house, viz. Jenningsbury, at which there is a moat.
The manorial lands of Jenningsbury extend into the
ecclesiastical parishes of All Saints, St. Andrew and
St. John, Hertford, and also into Broxbourne and
Great Amwell.6 Balls Park, the estate of Sir George
Faudel Faudel-Phillips, bart., is a detached portion
of Little Amwell, lying between the parishes of
Brickendon Rural and St. John. It was the pro-
perty of Sir John Harrison about 1640, when in
endowing the joint vicarage of All Saints and
St. John he excepted the tithes of his own estate.'
At Dalmonds, near Hoddesdon, there are fragments
of a homestead moat.
The civil parish of Little Amwell contains about
495 acres and lies between St. John Rural and the
parish of Great Amwell. On its north-west is a
detached portion of Great Amwell. There is reason
to believe that Little Amwell was included within
the holding of Amwell in 1086,8 and that it sub-
sequently became distinct, both for ecclesiastical and
other purposes, through its acquisition by the monks
of Waltham.9
The village of Little Amwell stands on high
ground between Hertford and Great Amwell, near
the junction of Ermine Street with the Hertford
road. The modern church is a little south of the
village, which is small, consisting of a few scattered
houses and the farm buildings of Amwellplace. On
the Ermine Street, about half a mile north of the
village, is the small hamlet of Rush Green with a
moated homestead at Gamels Hall. Late in the
14th century John son of Robert Gamel held the
l.md formerly ' Gameles ' jointly with seven other
tenants of the lord of Great Amwell Manor.10 A
barrow of unknown date lies beyond 'Thieves Lane'
on the borders of the detached portion of Great
Amwell parish."
The main road from Hertford to Ware traverses
the northern part of the parishes of St. John and
Little Amwell. The famous spring at Chadwell
near this road is the head of the New River, the
water-supply brought to London by ' one man's
industry, cost and care.' As early as the 13th
century the monks of Waltham had been induced
by Philip of Hertford to improve the supply from
Chadwell Spring, doubtless for local use.12 Under
Queen Elizabeth an Act was passed for the con-
veyance of water from any part of Middlesex or
Hertfordshire to the city.13 The Acts of 1605 and
1606 mention the springs of Chadwell and Amwell
as the source of the projected supply." The works
were begun by Sir Hugh Myddelton 20 February
1608, and the ' keeper of Amwell-head ' took a con-
spicuous part in the pageantry on Michaelmas Day
161 3, when the water was first admitted to the great
cistern at Islington.15 On a pedestal at the spring
is an inscription to the memory of the great engineer
of the river.
The LIBERTY OF BRICKENDON
MJNORS lay outside the borough of Hertford.
Before the Conquest Brickendon already
belonged to Waltham Abbey, to which it had been
1 See under Hertford Borough.
1 Ibid.
3 Lond. Ga%. 2 Aug. 1864, p. 3809.
4 Sec under Hertford Borough ai
below.
5 See below.
6 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 30 & 31
Geo. II, m. 50.
7 Chauncy, Hist, of Hem. 258.
8 See under Great Amwell.
9 See below.
"'Add. R. (B.M.), 2682S.
409
" See under Great Amwell.
laHarl. MS. 4809, fol. 167.
18 Stow, Surveyed. Strype, 1720), i, 25.
14 Loc. and Personal Acts, 3 Jas. I, cap.
S; 4Jas. I, cap. 12.
la Stow, op. cit. i, 26.
52
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
\Valtham
Argent a cross
sable Witt fit
fitchy or thereo
engrailed
■ crosslets
confirmed by Edward the Confessor.16 Between I I 74
and 1 I 84 Henry II confirmed the manor to the monks
who had replaced the canons at Waltham.17 He
gave with it freedom from geld and toll and the for-
feitures of criminals,18 thus
establishing the 'liberty.' The
Abbot of Waltham duly
claimed and obtained freedom
from tallage in 1227.19 The
estate at Brickendon, having
no church, was regarded as
belonging to the parish of All
Saints.20
The liberty was held by
the monks until the Dissolu-
tion.8' Henry VIII granted
it to Thomas Knighton," with
the advowson of All Saints'
Church, and it descended with
All Saints23 (q.v.) to Sir William Soame, who con-
veyed it to Edward Clarke in 1682.24 Clarke's son
Thomas held the manor in 1728" and 1730.26 On
his death in 1754 he is said to have left the manor
to Mrs. Jane Morgan, his niece, whose youngest son
John died in 1792 and left half to his sister Jane
and the other half to the representatives of his aunt
Anne Freke. From Jane's son, Sir Charles Morgan,
the one moiety passed finally to his grandchild Selina
Rose Catherine wife of the Rev. W. T. Marsh
Lushington-Tilson.27 The other moiety came to
Anne Freke's two granddaughters — Mary wife of
the Rev. Edward Lewis and Fanny wife of the Rev.
Francis Lewis.28
In 1 88 1 the representatives of Mary and Fanny
Lewis joined with Mrs. Lushington-Tilson in a sale
of the whole manor to Messrs. Paine & Brettell of
Chertsey. It was afterwards acquired from them by
Mr. Hill of Nottingham, who sold it to Mr. George
Pearson, father of Mr. Ernest Pearson, the present
owner.29
Three virgates in Brickendon which had been held
by three brothers before the Conquest were held by
Baldwin, a Serjeant of the king, at the time of the
Domesday Survey.30 This holding was probably
identical with the I carucate in Brickendon which
Miles de Somery (d. about 1229)31 held by serjeanty
at the king's storehouse (de dispensd)?* Among the
co-heirs of Adam grandson of Miles de Somery was
John son of Ela Monchensey." It is therefore
possible that it was over the holding of Miles de
Somery that Richard Monchensey had a grant of free
warren in 1 3 33-3*
Another holding of 1086 consisted of 5 virgates
which a certain Isenbard held of Geoffrey de Bech
as a manor. It had been held by Leveron, a man of
Archbishop Stigand's.35 This is probably identical
with the quarter of a knight's fee in Brickendon held
of Alice Countess of Kent at her death in March
141 5-1 6. 36 The Earls of Kent had evidently inherited
their rights from Margaret sister and heir of Thomas
second Lord Wake, who was descended from Emma
daughter of Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare.37 The
latter had succeeded Geoffrey de Bech in Eastwick
(q.v.). The overlordship descended with the manor
of Ware to Edward Earl of Warwick.38 After his
execution in November 1499 his interest in the manor
was assigned to Margaret Countess of Richmond,
grandmother of Henry VIII,39 and on her death it
lapsed to the Crown/0
Of the actual tenants of this holding little is
known. About 1282 the tenant was possibly one of
the name of ' Bellere.' 41 A ' manor of Brickendon '
was held in January 12 50-1 by Philip Darcy, who
had a grant of free warren within it at that date.4'
The third holding in the Domesday Survey was
I virgate which Walter held of Geoffrey de Mande-
ville.43 It had previously been held by Oswi, one of
the men of Asgar the Staller. It is possible that this
is a part of the knight's fee in Amwell (and Bricken-
don) subsequently held by the Abbot of Westminster
of Hugh de Oddingselles.44 This fee was probably
attached to the manor of the abbey at Great Amwell,
which included lands in Brickendon.45 The monks
of Westminster produced Saxon charters purporting
to be the gift of Brickendon to the abbey by a certain
Aelfhelm Polga and the confirmation of the same by
Bishop Dunstan and King Edgar/6 but the latter is
certainly, and the former probably, a forgery.47
The Grange estate originated in copyhold and
freehold land of the manor of Brickendon Bury,
purchased by Benjamin Cherry of Hertford, gent.,
and by him bequeathed to his brother John Cherry.
The mansion now known as the Grange was built
by Benjamin son of John Cherry about the middle of
the last century. The property has recently been sold
by Mr. B. L. Cherry, grandson of Benjamin Cherry,
to Mr. John Trotter, who resides at the Grange.48
The manor of JENNlNGSBURr (Juveneles or
Juvenelisbury, xiv cent. ; Jenaldesbury ' la Mote ' or
Jovenellesbury, xv cent. ; Genyngisbury, xvi cent.)
was held as one knight's fee by Aymer de Valence
Earl of Pembroke in 1303.49 The manor was
always held in chief, but the service is recorded as
that of a quarter of a fee in the 15 th century."0 The
16 V.C.H. Herts, i, 317; Dugdale,
Mon. vi, 61.
17 Cart. Antiq. M. 2, 115.
18 Ibid. For the disputes of the abbots
with the burgesses of Hertford with regard
to jurisdiction in the hamlet of West
Street see under Hertford Borough.
19 Rot. Lit. Chus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 176.
20 Ibid.
21 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 173,
no. 30-1 ; Placdt Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.),
283 ; Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178,
no. 21.
22 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, 878 (61).
23 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 6 Edw. VI,
m. 8 d. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clvii,
81 ; Pat. 28 Eliz. pt. xiii, &c.
-' Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3+ Clias. II.
Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 40.
Deeds penes Mr. B. L. Cherry.
Ibid. ; Cussans, Hist, of Herts, ii, 67.
Cussans, loc. cit.
Deed penes Mr. B. L. Cherry ; infor-
ion from Mr. C. E. Johnston.
1 V.C.H. Herts, i, 342A.
Ibid, ii, 266.
1 Testa de AW/// (Rec. Com.), 279*.
1 Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-19 Edw. I, 448.
1 Chart. R. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 23.
' V.C.H. Herts, i, 334a
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. V, no. 51.
See under Eastwick.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 71.
1 Ibid. <« Ibid.
1 Cal. Inj. p.m. 1-19 Ed-w. I, 262.
' Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 3 5 »-
4IO
Walter del Acre had £20 land in
'Brechened' (Testa de Nrvill'[Rec. Com.],
281), but it is uncertain whether this
entry relates to Brickendon. The form
'Breckendon' has not been found.
48 V.C.H. Herts, i, 331 A.
44 Feud. Aids, ii, 433. The identifica-
tion, however, rests only on the absence
of later history of the ' Mandeville ' hold-
ing and the fact that the Mandeville
family were benefactors of Westminster.
,b Add. R. (B.M.), 26828.
46 Birch, Cart. Sax. iii, 1050 ; Kemble,
Cod. Dip!. 967. 47 V.C.H. Lond. i, +34*.
43- From information and deeds kindly
supplied by Mr. B. L. Cherry.
4y Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
50 Ibid. 443, 450.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
family of Juvenal was connected with this neigh-
bourhood about the year 1228, when William Juvenal,
as guardian of the heir of Alexander Alders (de Alno),
had the custody of the half of 2 carucates in Brickendon
and Hoddesdon.51 Aymer de Valence died in I 324,"
and this manor was committed to the custody of
Hugh le Despenser the younger °3 during the minority
of Lawrence de Hastings (afterwards Earl of Pern-
Valence. Bi
rtlly
Hast
argent and azure
an orle
sleeve gule
of martlets gules.
broke), who was Valence's grand-nephew and one of
his co-heirs." In February 1326-7, shortly after
the forfeiture of Despenser's land, the king assigned
Jenningsbury to Juliane widow of John de Hastings,
the father of Lawrence, in dower." She had married
Sir Thomas Blount, kt.,56 and afterwards became the
wife of William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon.57
In 1345 Lawrence Earl of Fembroke, Juliane's son
and heir, released to her third husband and his heirs
all right in the manor of Jenningsbury.58 It thus
descended to the Earl of Huntingdon's nephew John
Lord Clinton after the death of Juliane in 1367."
In I 391 the manor was in dispute between Reginald
de Grey, grandson of Elizabeth, aunt of Lawrence
Earl of Pembroke, who had
died without issue, and Richard
Talbot and others, represen-
tatives of the second sister of
Lawrence's great-uncle, Aymer
de Valence.60 In accordance,
however, with the settlement
of 1345 Jenningsbury re-
mained in the Clinton family
until William Lord Clinton,
grandson of John Lord Clinton
mentioned above, enfeoffed
Simon Stratford and others.61
The feoffees transferred the
manor to Richard Clitherow
and John Chamberleyn, chap-
lain.62 The tenant in 1402 was returned as John
^g)
Clinton. Argent
six crosslets fitcky sable
and a chief azure ivith
Fwo pierced molets or
therein.
ALL SAINTS AND ST.
JOHN'S, HERTFORD
Clitherow,61 and Richard Clitherow of Kent, esq.,
conveyed to Richard Claidich and others on 3 April
141 5, evidently in trust for his son and heir Richard,
upon whom the feoffees settled the manor in 1443. 64
William Lord Clinton was returned as tenant in
1 428," and, as in the case of Pirton (q.v.), his son
and successor John apparently attempted to oust
Roger son of Richard Clitherow from Jennings-
bury.66 Roger died on 12 March 1455, and the
manor apparently passed to his daughter Eleanor wife
of John Norres 67 of Goldstone, co. Kent.66 A John
Norres, apparently the younger brother of William
Norres, who succeeded John in Goldstone,69 held
Jenningsbury jointly with his wife Isabel. He died
on 12 October 1485, and his widow married Henry
Marney.70 Edmund Norres, son and heir of John
and Isabel, probably sold the manor to Edward
Sulyard,71 who bequeathed it to his wife Anne and
their heirs72 He died on 30 March I 5 16, leaving
a son and heir William.73
The manor passed by sale to the family of Gardiner.
Henry son of Henry Gardiner of London and Mary
his wife were dealing with it
in 1 5 5 2.'4 Their son John
was styled 'of Jenningsbury,'70
and the manor descended to
his son Henry Gardiner of
Jenningsbury,76 whose daugh-
ter and ultimate heir married
Henry Dunster.77 ' Henry
Dunster of Jenningsbury, esq.,'
was indicted for not repairing
a footbridge on a footway from
Hertford to Ware in 1671,78
and in 1683 refused to pay
his quota of the rate for build-
ing a house of correction.79
His wife survived him.80 Upon
her death in 1 7 1 8 her estates descended to her son
Giles.81 He died childless in 1724, and was suc-
ceeded by his nephew Henry Dunster.82 Upon the
death of the latter without issue in 1754 the estate
of Little Amwell with Jenningsbury passed to his
nephew Henry Dunster, who died on 23 August
1 79 1.83 In accordance with Henry Dunster's will
the manor was sold to George Townshend Earl of
Leicester, from whom it was purchased by Lord John
Townshend Si of Balls Park, great-grandfather of the
sixth Marquess Townshend, who is the present owner.85
The manor of LITTLE AMWELL, sometimes
known as LITTLE AMWELLBVRY or RUSHEN,m
was among the possessions of the abbey of Waltham
Holy Cross at its dissolution on 23 March 1540.67
Gard.ner of Jen-
ningsbury. Party gules
and or a Jesse between
three hinds trippingcoun-
tercoloured.
51 Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 92 ; cf. Feet
of F. Div. Co. 24 Hen. Ill, no. 157 ;
Excirpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 109.
52 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vi, 208.
53 Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 75.
M Plac. in Cane, file 16, no. 16 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, pt. ii, no. 179.
55 Cal. Close, 1327-30, pp. 12, 39, 75.
56 Ibid.
57 Chan. Inq. p.m. 41 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no, 34.
53 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 19 Edw. Ill,
no. 300 ; Cal. Pat. 1343-5, p. 474.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. 41 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 34 ; cf. ibid. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 39.
60 Plac. in Cane, file 16, no. 16 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, pt. ii, no. 179.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 29.
62 Ibid.
63 Feud. Aids, ii, 443.
64 Close, 21 Hen. VI, m. 14 d.
65 Feud. Aids, ii, 450.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 29 ;
Close, 30 Hen. VI, m. 30 d.
67 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 29.
68 Hasted, Hist, of Kent, iii, 677.
69 P.C.C.Will quoted by Hasted, loc. cit.
70Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 290,
no. 4.
71 He sold Pirton to Alice Say and
John Leche in Jan. 1507-8 (Close, 23
Hen. VII, no. 28).
72 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxi, 97.
73 Ibid.
74 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 6 Edw. VI ;
cf. Herts. Visit. (Harl. Soc), 57.
4II
75 Ibid.
76 Ibid. ; Recov. R. East. 3 Chas. I,
m. 36.
77 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 264.
78 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec.), i, 225.
79 Ibid. 330.
80 Chauncy, loc. cit.
81 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
ii, 183.
82 Ibid.
83 M.I. quoted by Cussans, op, cit.
Hertford Hund. 81.
64 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
85 See under Balls Park.
86 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, R. 964 ;
Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. xiv.
87 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, R. 964 ;
r.C.H. Essex, ii, 170.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
It was distinct from the neighbouring manor of
Brickendon, which with its members had been held
by the canons since the foundation of their house.86
It probably had its nucleus in the lands given to
Waltham by Gilbert Monk (' Monacus ') in the
latter part of the 1 2 th century.89 These were the
tenements of Henry the Salter (' Salinarius '), Siward
Claud and Edward Felleden in Amwell near Bricken-
don and certain meadow lying in Broadmead, Cald-
well and ' Hoco ' (? Hook).90 Gilbert's brother John
confirmed this grant,91 and Richard I included the
land ' at Brickendon ' (sic) given by Gilbert the Monk
in his confirmatory charter to the abbey on 14 March
1189-90.92 The land in the hamlet of Rushen
came to the abbey by grant of Walter de Wyteberuwe
(VVidbury) and his wife Beatrice.93 Other land in
Amwell was held by the abbey of the fee of Philip
son of Galien of Hertford,91 who held of the Prioress
of Cheshunt land acquired from Galien son of Joseph.95
Philip and his wife Beatrice gave to the abbey Chadwell
(Chaldewell) Grove and ' Chadwell holme ' with a
part of his meadow which was of the fee of Berk-
hampstead, desiring that the monks would improve the
water supply from Chadwell Spring.96 The abbey
also acquired other small tenements in Amwell from
various donors.97
The ' manor ' of Little Amwellbury was let for
forty years to Nicholas Norres in I 5 36." After the
surrender of Waltham Abbey on 23 March 1540 this
manor was purchased from the Crown on 17 June
1542 by Richard Andrews of Hailes, co. Glouc, and
Leonard Chamberlain of Woodstock.99 They imme-
diately obtained licence to convey to John Knighton
of Aldbury the elder and to his son John Knighton
the younger.100 In 1576 John Knighton the elder
of Bayford conveyed the manor to John son of George
Knighton.' In 1590 George Knighton and his son
John Knighton the younger had licence to alienate a
moiety of the manor to John Knighton the elder,
gent.* This last was evidently the son of Sir George
Knighton of Bayford. He held a court for Little
Amwell in 16143 and was the last of his name.' He
is said to have given the manor to Henry Gardiner of
Jenningsbury, a gentleman ' knowing and ingenious
in the management of the affairs of this country,' who
had married his niece Mary Spring.5 Little Amwell
was thus united to the neighbouring manor of Jen-
ningsbury, with which it has descended to the present
Marquess Townshend.
The Abbot of Waltham obtained a grant of free
warren in Amwell and elsewhere on 30 March 1 25 3.6
He had extensive liberties, including sac and soc, in-
fangtheofand utlangtheof, and quittance from shires
and hundreds throughout all his lands.7 Thus the
abbey had its ' liberty ' of Little Amwell distinct from
its ' liberty ' of Brickendon ; but it appears that Rushen
was a tithing of Brickendon,8 and it was to Brickendon
that Gilbert the Monk and his heirs sent for the rent
due for the lands with which he had endowed the
abbey.9
The manor of Hertford Priory was styled in 1637
' the manor of Hertford Priors otherwise called the
manor of the Priory of Hertford and now or late
called or known by the name of the manor of
Amwell or called and known by the name of the fee
of Amwell.' I0 This was probably due to the close
connexion between the Limesy fee in Hertford and
Amwell. 10a The founder of Hertford Priory, Ralph
de Limesy the elder (vetus), also endowed it among
other holdings with a free tenement in Amwell,"
evidently part of the fee which he held in 1086."
The priory had charters concerning this land from
Ralph's uncle and from John de Limesy.13 In the
time of Richard I Ralph de Limesy, possibly the
grandson of Geoffrey de Limesy and tenant of Great
Amwell under the elder branch of the family,"
attempted to exact from the priory aid towards scut-
age contrary to the effect of these charters.15 The
lands and rents of the priory in Amwell were valued
at £1 os. zd. in 1 29 1.16 They may perhaps be
identical with the estate held by the priory now
known as BALLS PARK, which is a detached portion
of the parish of Little Amwell,17 surrounded by the
parishes of St. John Rural and Brickendon Urban
and Rural.18 The name ' Balls' also exists in ' Balles-
hoke,' a meadow adjoining the footway from Hert-
ford to Ware, near a former footbridge called 'High
Bridge.'19 Balleshoke was among the possessions of
Hertford Priory in 1462. In that year Prior Thomas
Walden failed to credit himself with various sums
received to the use of the priory. These included
6s. id. paid by Thomas Blak and John Sadiller for
hay crops at Balleshoke.20 The capital messuage called
' Balles ' was evidently included in those ' members ' of
the manor of Hertford Priory which lay in Amwell.
It was held with the manor by Richard Willis at his
death 16 October 1625,1" and descended from him
to Thomas Willis of Fen Ditton." He sold with the
priory manor to John Harrison of London in 1637
the mansion-house and farm called Balls ' and two
other little tenements thereto belonging and now
decayed.' 23
Harrison rebuilt the house at Balls Park, where
he was visited in 1643 by John Evelyn the diarist.54
88 See above.
89 Harl. MS. 391, fol. 8o4 ; 4809,
fol. 166.
90 Ibid. 391, fol. 80*, 8i4j 4809,
fol. 1664. 91 Ibid. 391, fol. 81A.
92 Ibid. fol. 42 ; cf. Cart. Antiq. RR, 7.
93 Harl. MS. 3809, fol. 174*, 175,
177A. 94 Cal. Bodl. Chart. Midd. R. 1.
95 Harl. MS. 4809, fol. 171, 181 A.
96 ' De cursu aque fontis de Chaldewelle
suam conditionem meliorare ' (ibid. fol.
.67).
97 Cott. MS. Tib. C ix, fol. 90, 92 ;
Harl. MS. 4809, fol. 1 66 ct seq.
98 Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, R. 964.
99 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 443 (39).
100 Ibid. (46).
'Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Hil. 19
Eliz. l Recorda,' m. 27.
9 Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. xiv.
3 Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
264.
4 M. I. quoted by Clutterbuck, op. cit.
ii, 44.
5 Chauncy, op. cit. 264, 269 ; cf. Herts.
Visit. (Harl.' Soc), 57.
6 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 427.
7 Plac. de Quo rTarr. (Rec. Com.), 283.
s Ct. R. (Gen. Sen), portf. 178, no.
21 ; 174, no. 42.
9 Harl. MS. 391, fol. 80/..
10 Close, 13 Chas. I, pt. xxxviii, no. 17.
10* See under Great Amwell and Hert-
ford Borough.
11 Fines, 10 Ric. I and Rot. Cur. Reg.
(Pipe R. Soc. xxiv), 219.
12 See under Great Amwell.
13 Finn, 10 Ric. I, &c, loc. cit.
412
" See under Great Amwell.
13 Fines, 10 Ric. I, &c, loc. cit. The
priory also held Great Amwell Church.
This plea may therefore refer to the
church endowment.
13 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 15.
17 See above.
18 Sir John Harrison, kt., in effecting
the union of the parishes of All Saints
and St. John, Hertford, reserved the
tithes of his own lands, i.e. of Balls Park
(Chauncy, op. cit. 258).
19 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 203, 224,
368.
a» Mins. Accts. bdle. 865, no. 15.
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii, 64.
22 See under Hertford Borough.
23 Close, 13 Chas. I, pt. xxxviii, no. 17.
n Evelyn, Diary (ed. Bray), i, 39.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
♦
J^^
*
Harrison. Or ,
cross azure zuith jiii
pheons or thereon.
He was one of the farmers of the customs 2S in 1 64.0-1
and M.P. for Lancaster.26 Charles I knighted him
in 1 640 in reward for advanc-
ing £50,000 on the security
of the subsidies ; but it was
with difficulty that he over-
came the scruples of the Long
Parliament regarding the pay-
ment of interest.37 He sup-
ported the Royalist cause until
August 1645, when he tried
to surrender to Parliament.'8
His estates had been seques-
trated, Balls Park was in the
hands of a certain Mr. Rolles,
who left it empty, making
scarcely any use of the orchard
and gardens, and Lady Harrison and her children
were homeless.89 Harrison fled to France and only-
recovered his estates in 1648 by paying a fine of
£i,ooo.30 After his death in 1669 Lady Mary re-
tained Balls Park for life. She died in 1705.31 The
estate was inherited by her son Richard,32 and ulti-
mately passed to his third son Edward Harrison, who
had served the East India Company as Governor of
Fort St. George in 171 1 and was appointed post-
master-general in 1726." His daughter and heir
Audrey wife of Charles third Viscount Townshend
was the brilliant and witty friend of Horace Walpole"
and the mother of Charles Townshend, chancellor of
the Exchequer,35 who doubtless inherited from her his
eloquence and facility of re-
partee. Her uncle George
Harrison lived at Balls until
his death in 1759.36 She died
5 March 1788, having be-
queathed the estate to her
grandson Lord John Towns-
hend.37 It descended to his
son John, who became Mar-
quess Townshend in 1855
upon the death of his cousin
George, the third marquess.38
Balls Park was one of the
principal seats of his son, the
fifth marquess.39 The present
owner is Sir George Faudel
Faudel-Phillips, bart., who purchased the estate
(where he had already resided for some time) in
1901.
The house is an early and interesting example of
the purer type of design which the influence of the
work of Inigo Jones was beginning to make fashion-
able towards the end of the first half of the 17th
century. Built, so far as can be ascertained, soon
after the year 1640 (see above), the elevations have
so completely lost the characteristics of the preceding
Jacobean style as to appear at a little distance con-
temporary with the large sash-windows by which the
original casement frames were replaced early in the
jgjjk
HI
'-*'
%
%
\
t
¥
i'
baronet. Paly ermine
and azure a chief gules
ivitk a squirrel or there-
ALL SAINTS AND ST.
JOHN'S, HERTFORD
1 8th century, when the house was enlarged by the
addition of a kitchen wing on the west. The original
house, which is square on plan with a central court,
perhaps originally open, but now covered in, is of
two stories elevated on a basement, with an attic floor
in the roof, and is built of narrow red bricks, the
courses varying in depth from i\ in. to 2^ in., with
occasional dressings of stone. All four elevations are
of equal length and height, and are crowned by
uniform slated roofs, hipped at the angles, and having
projecting eaves supported by large and widely-spaced
console brackets of wood. An elaborate string-course
of moulded brick, which marks the level of the first
floor, runs round the whole building, and the archi-
traves of the windows are also of moulded brick,
while the angles are emphasized by rusticated quoins
of the same material. The walls set back from the
face of the basement with a bold inverted cyma. The
entrance doorway in the centre of the principal or
north front has elaborate dressings of stone, from
which the paint has recently been removed. It has
a semicircular head and is flanked by Tuscan pilasters,
from which spring bold consoles of considerable pro-
jection supporting a balcony above. Their design and
that of the ornament above the keystone of the door-
way betray their early 1 7th-century origin. The first-
floor window over the doorway has also a semicircular
head with a continuously moulded architrave, and is
flanked by Ionic pilasters, each with a swag depend-
ing between the volutes. In the tympanum of the
pediment which crowns the design is the shield of
Harrison, with the crest of a cuffed arm holding in
the hand a broken dart. The centres of the eleva-
tions on either side of the doorway are accentuated
by semicircular heads to the first-floor windows,
which with those of the ground floor are elsewhere
square-headed. The basement is lighted by semi-
circular-headed openings with rusticated dressings of
moulded brick. The south front has a central door-
way with a porch supported by fluted Ionic columns.
This feature is clearly shown to be an addition of
the Queen Anne period as well by its greater purity
of design as by the method in which the moulded
brick string-course at the first floor level is rudely cut
away for its insertion — a strong contrast to the
workmanlike way in which it is stopped in stone for
the dressing of the entrance doorway on the north
front. Above is a semicircular-headed window
flanked by sham ' ceils-de-boeuf.' The east and
west elevations are of similar type, with the exception
that each stage has pilasters at the angles. The later
additions on the west partly conceal this elevation.
The entrance doorway leads by a short passage
directly into the central court, known as the vestibule,
which has recently been panelled with oak in the
Jacobean style, replacing a painted scheme of wall
decoration dating from the Queen Anne reconstruc-
tion of the house. The fireplace here, which is of
Jacobean date, was brought from elsewhere. To the
east of the entrance, occupying the remainder of the
25 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 641-3, p. 491.
26 V.C.H. Lanes, ii, 234.
27 Gardiner, Hist, of Engl. 1603-42,
:, 254.
38 Cal. Com. for Comp. 1523.
23 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 M. I. in All Saints' Church quoted
by Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
ii, 157.
32 Ibid. 158.
33 Ibid. Some letters from Harrison
to his son-in-law Lord Townshend are
preserved among the Townshend papers
{Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xi, App. iv, 348,
349. 35°)-
413
3J Walpole, Letters (ed. 190;), xiv, 69,
passim. 85 Diet. Nat. Biog.
36 M.I. in All Saints quoted by Clutter-
buck, op. cit. ii, 158 ; cf. Hist. MSS.
Com. Hep. xi, App. iv, 357.
37 Gent. Mag. lviii, 275.
38 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vii, 418.
39 Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
south front on this side, is the dining room, the walls
of which are lined with painted panelling. The
original kitchen probably occupied the corresponding
portion of this front to the west of the entrance.
The offices are now principally contained in a
building added to this side of the house at the 18th-
century reconstruction. South of the dining room
and separated from it by the main staircase hall is
the oak parlour, the ceiling of which appears to be
of the original date. Opposite the main entrance,
leading out of the hall or vestibule, is a short passage
connecting with the south or garden entrance. Some
17th-century panelling is preserved here. Over
the fireplace of the small room to the east of the
garden entrance is a view of the house, painted, to
judge from the figures introduced into the fore-
ground, about the middle of the 1 7th century. The
lay-out of the surrounding gardens has completely
disappeared, but in other respects the house presents
much the same appearance as now, with the excep-
tion that casement frames take the place of the sashes
inserted later. The remaining rooms on the ground
floor contain little of architectural interest. A later
staircase has been formed on the west side of the
court. The satin drawing room, over the entrance
on the north, and the long gallery on the east, over
the dining room and oak parlour, are more nearly in
their original condition than any of the principal
rooms on the ground floor. Their panelling is
divided into compartments by fluted Corinthian
pilasters, having the lower third of their shafts en-
riched with arabesque designs. The panelling of the
long gallery is now painted, and, with the exception
of the pilasters, is probably 18th-century work. The
ceiling of the drawing room, with its wreaths of fruit
and flowers in comparatively shallow relief, appears to
be of original date with the house. In the principal
bed room on the south side of the house is a fine
marble chimney-piece of the late 1 8th century, which
was formerly in the vestibule. The corridor communi -
eating with the apartments here has an original plaster
ceiling on which is the Harrison crest. Generally the
interior has been much modernized, but sufficient detail
remains to show that the building is substantially that
which was erected by Sir John Harrison about the year
1640.
The church of HOW TRINITY,
CHURCH Little Amwell, was built and endowed
about the year 1863. It is in 13th-
century style, and consists of chancel, nave, transept,
north porch and eastern spire. The advowson is
vested in trustees.'0
The history of the parish church of All Saints and the
charities for that parish are given under the borough.
GREAT AMWELL
Emmewell or Emwell (xi-xiv cent.) ; Ammewell,
Amewell or Amwell (xiii-xiv cent.) ; Amwell Magna,
Much Amwell or Great Amwell (xvii cent.).
The parish of Great Amwell lies on the right bank
of the River Lea to the south of Ware and the south-
east of Hertford. A detached part surrounded by the
civil parishes of Little Amwell and St. John's Rural
lies to the north-west of Little Amwell. It includes
Gallows Plain, and its boundary passes through a
tumulus of unknown origin on the western side of
' Barrow Field.' '
The parish contains 2,264 acres> but was formerly
of greater extent. A considerable portion of the
hamlet of Hoddesdon lay within the ecclesiastical
parish of Great Amwell 8 until I 844, when Hoddes-
don itself was consolidated into a separate parish.3
This part of Hoddesdon was known as ' Amwell
hamlet in Hoddesdon.'4 The 'vill' of 1086 appa-
rently included a part of Hoddesdon 6 and the lands
of Ralf de Limesy in Hertford.6 The hamlet of
Amwell End, notorious for a disorderly fair estab-
lished without licence in 1768/ was transferred to
the civil parish of Ware in 1 8 5 8.8
About one-quarter of the parish is arable land.
The woods at Amwell Bury, Hertford Heath and
Hailey cover some 500 acres. Richard of Hailey
gave 5 acres of woodland in Amwell to the friars of
Easton, co. Wilts.,9 in 1301. Characteristic features
of the parish are the meadows or ' holmes ' of the
Lea Valley. Several of these were attached to houses
in ' Nethenhostret ' in the 14th century.10 Star
Holme belonged to the house called ' the Star ' in
Ware." Hedenhoo Marsh and Amwell Marsh also
provided considerable pasturage.12
The parish lies at the junction of the Chalk with
the Reading Bed of clay and pebble.13 The surface
soil is clay, chalk and gravel. The village is situated
on the western slope of the valley of the Lea, a little
to the east of the main road to London from Ware,
where Izaak Walton promised to meet ' Venator ' for
an otter-hunt.14 The village is on an 'outlier' of
the Reading Bed. On the hill-side above is the
church with the stocks now much repaired, and close
by are the vicarage, Home Lodge, the residence of
Rev. R. S. Mylne, F.S.A., and the school built in
1875. The Quaker poet John Scott built a grotto
near his father's house at Amwell End and entertained
among others Dr. Johnson.15 The grotto is in the
grounds of a house called the Grotto, now the
residence of Mr. Sidney Harrington. In writing of
Great Amwell Scott describes how the
' Roofs of russet thatch
Rise mix'd with trees, above whose swelling tops
Ascends the tall church tow'r and loftier still
The hill's extended ridge.'16
Another poet connected with Amwell is William
Warner, author of Alb'wns England, who died suddenly
in the parish I March 1 608-9. "
10 Land. Gat
3809.
1 Palaeolithic
pointed form ha'
(l-'.C.H. Herts, i,
2 The remain
parish, under
Hoddesdon is gi\
3 Census Rep. 1
. 2 Aug. 1864, p.
flint instruments of
e been found at Amwell
227).
ier lay in Broxbourne
vhich the account of
901, Hens., 5.
1 L. and P. Hem VIII, xiv (1), 652
(M 10). ■' See Broxbourne.
6 See Hertford.
7 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rcc), ii, 123.
8 Lond. Gaa. 7 Sept. 1858, p. 4052.
9 Cat. Pat. ^92-1301, p. 599.
10 Add. R. 26828.
» Chan. Proc. Eliz. H. xv, 50. Linche
Holme, Marsh Holme, Locke Holme and
4U
Mill Holme are mentioned in the agree-
ment as to tithes in 1399 (Lond. Epis.
Reg. Grindall, fol. 95).
13 Add. R. 26828 ; Aug. Off. Proc. i,
65. 13 See V.C.H. Herts, i, 13 et seq.
14 Complete Angler (ed. Bohn), 88.
ls Diet. Nat. Biog.
16 J. Scott, Amvaell (ed. 1776), 18.
17 Diet. Nat. Biog.
Hertford : Balls Park from the South-east
Hertford : Balls Park, the Entrance Front
HERTFORD HUNDRED
At Amwell Magna Cottage there is let into the
wall a triangular panel bearing the date 1606 and
surmounted by a crown and thistle and the letters
I. R. 6. A. R., the initials of James I and his queen,
Anne of Denmark, and the king's favourite motto
Beati pacifici. This stone was formerly above the
central arch of Netherbow Port, Edinburgh,19 and
was placed in its present position by Mr. Robert
William Mylne, F.R.S., of the Home Lodge, architect
and antiquary. The latter's grandfather, Robert
Mylne, F.R.S., architect to the Dean and Chapter
of St. Paul's Cathedral (where he is buried), and
designer of the bridge at Blackfriars opened in 1769,
settled in Amwell about 1770. He was engineer to
the New River Company for forty years, and was
succeeded by his son, William Chadwell Mylne of
Amwell, who also was engineer to the company, and
effected the alterations in the works of the New River
Company after the Metropolis Waterworks Act, 1852.19
Immediately below the village is ' Emma's Well,'
a spring utilized by Sir Hugh Myddelton as one of
the sources of the New River. It is said to have
been named after Emma wife of Cnut.20 It seems
to have been called 'Amwell Well' in the 14th
century.21 On an island in the New River is a stone
bearing a legend to this spring. On another island
is a monument to Sir Hugh Myddelton. Beyond
the river the Hertford branch of the Great Eastern
railway traverses the parish. The River Lea, which
forms the eastern boundary, was doubtless the
mediaeval route from Amwell to London. There
is record of the swamping of a boat on the way
to Westminster about 1289." The Lea evidently
served also to turn the manorial mill which existed
in 1086.23 It was damaged by the erection of a
new sluice by the Abbot of Waltham in 1281," and
was still in need of repair in 1289-85
Amwell Bury lies to the north-west of the village.
Between Amwell Bury and Ware is Presdales,26 a
modern house, the residence of Mr. A. G. Sande-
man, J.P.
Hailey is a hamlet in the south of the parish sepa-
rated from Amwell village by Goldings Wood and
the parish of Stanstead St. Margaret's. Hailey Ha!l,
on the main road from Hoddesdon to Ware, is a
modernized house with a homestead moat. Near it
are brick-works, and the clay on the opposite side
of the road is still worked. The hamlet includes
Haileybury College, which stands on high ground
near the beautiful woodland of Hertford Heath.
The heath is crossed by Ermine Street. The college
was opened in 1 809 for the training of civil servants
of the East India Company.27 After the abolition
of the company the building was temporarily used
as a barracks for its army. In 1862 the college
was converted into a public school.28 It is built in
GREAT AMWELL
the classical style after the designs of Mr. William
Wilkins, architect of the National Gallery. The
buildings, which are of brick with stone dressings,
surround a large quadrangle, having the chapel, library
and head master's house on the south. The chapel,
which was completed in 1877, occupies the centre
of this range. The chancel is on the north, projecting
into the quadrangle, and is surmounted by a lofty
octagonal dome. The southern portion of the chapel
is contained within the walls of the older buildings.
To the east is the library, a plain, well-proportioned
room, which formed the original chapel. The south
front of this range, facing on the terrace, forms the
principal elevation of the college, and, seen from
Hailey Lane, presents an imposing appearance. The
centre is marked by a hexastyle portico of the Ionic
order, above which rises the chapel dome, and near
either end of the elevation are tetrastyle porticoes of
the same order. The original perspective drawings
for the terrace front, both as first proposed and as
actually erected, are preserved in the library, having
recently come into the possession of the school authori-
ties. Among the many alterations and additions made
to the buildings since 1862 the Bradby Hall, to
the east of the great quadrangle, designed by Mr.
Reginald Blomfield and erected in 1 887, is the most
important from an architectural point of view. It
is a building of brick in the quasi-Jacobean style of
that period. In 1907 additional class rooms were
built on the west side of the quadrangle. Hailey
House, an 18th-century building of brick, is now
incorporated into the premises of the school.
The southernmost point of the parish is the little
hamlet of Woolensbrcok, where there is a mission
church served from Great Amwell. The 15th-
century form of this name was ' Wowelond.'
Before the Conquest AMWELL,
MANORS AMWELLBURT or GREAT AM-
WELL was a ' berewick ' or outlying
estate attached with two others at Hertford and
Hoddesdon to Earl Harold's manor of Hatfield
Broadoak.29 All three berewicks were evidently
included in the 14^ hides at Amwell which consti-
tuted the holding of Ralf de Limesy in 1086.30
This holding probably extended over what is now
Little Amwell, part of which with Ralf's lands in
Hertford formed the endowment of his priory at
Hertford.31 Ralf's holding at Hoddesdon was pro-
bably identical with the manor of GedJings and
other lands held of the manor of Great Amwell.32
About 1 1 30 Ralf de Limesy was succeeded in his
Hertfordshire lands by his son Alan.33 Gerard son
of Alan owed scutage for lands in Hertfordshire in
1161.34 His widow Amice had two sons living in
1185.35 The elder was John de Limesy.36 Either
this John or one of his predecessors seems to have
u In the centre of the stone above it
was the spike on which were placed the
heads of executed criminals. This stone
is now in Greyfriars churchyard, Edin-
burgh (inform kindly supplied by the
Rev. R. S. Mylne, F.S.A.).
19 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; inform, kindly sup-
plied by the Rev. R. S. Mylne.
*> East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, i, 33.
21 Add. R. 26827. 22 Ibid-
23 V.C.H. Herts, i, 325.
21 Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 132; Cal.
Pat. 1281-92, p. 103.
25 Add. R. 26828.
26 There is mention of the field 'del
prestesdene ' in an account of Amwell
Manor, 1289-90 (Add. R. 26827).
37 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 97-9. M Ibid.
29 V.C.H. Essex, i, 429*. Possibly the
Hertford 'berewick' was 'Limesy fee'
in which was built the Priory of Hert-
ford (see the account of the Borough).
30 V.C.H. Herts, i, 325A ; cf. ibid. 299 ;
V.C.H. Essex, i, 338.
31 See under Little Amwell ; cf. Dug-
dale, Mon. iii, 300.
415
»2 Add. R. 2682S. The manor of
Hoddesdonbury and the other manor at
Hoddesdon held before the Conquest by
Asgar the Staller are dealt with under
Broxbourne, in which parish lay Hoddes-
donbury.
33 Hunter, Great R. of the Pipe, 3 1
Hen. I (Rec. Com.), 60.
"< Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 29,
693 ; cf. Dugdale, Mon. iii, 300.
3S Stacey Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus,
27-
30 Ibid. ; cf. Dugdale, loc. cit.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
made a sub-enfeoffment of Amwell Manor to a
younger branch of the family, the descendants of
Geoffrey, who was evidently a younger son of the
Ralf de Limesy of the Domesday Book.37 Ralph de
Limesy, grandson of this Geoffrey, left a daughter
Felise, who apparently married Robert the son of
her guardian Ralph son of Nicholas.38 Robert son
of Ralph son of Nicholas with his wife ' lady Felicia '
had licence,39 and made an agreement in 1252 with
the Prior of Hertford to build
a free chapel in their ' court '
at Amwell.10 Felise died with-
out issue,41 and her cousin
Ralph, the son of Alan her
father's brother, sold Amwell
Manor in or shortly before
1270 to Richard of Ware,
Abbot of Westminster," re-
serving a rent of a clove gilly-
flower.*3 His nephew and
heir Peter de Limesy" released
all right in the manor as mesne
lord to the abbey in 13 17."
The abbot owed knight's ser-
vice of one fee to the chief
lord,46 which in I 303 was due to Hugh de Odding-
selles,47 grandson of Basile, one of the co-heirs of
John de Limesy.48 Hugh afterwards sold to the
abbey all his rights in Amwell as chief lord.49 A
rental of the late 14th century shows that the abbey
exacted the service of a half-fee from Robert son of
Robert de Gedding, who was then holding one-
quarter of the vill,50 and of another half-fee from
the seven tenants of land which had been held by
Nicholas Usshel and John Percival, and also of a
quarter-fee from the nine tenants of the holding
formerly of Stephen de Aldingbourne.51
Abbot Richard promised to assign Amwell Manor
to the convent, from the goods of which he had paid
Ralph de Limesy 700 marks of silver " ; but it was
not until 1288 that Abbot Walter de Wenlak defi-
nitely assigned it to the cellarer of the abbey." In
1535 the treasurer of outlying estates received the
profits.54
In 1289 the reeve accounted for the manor includ-
ing the courts, and Brother Richard de Waltham
W E STMINSTER
Abbey. Gules St. Peter's
keys or crossed ivith St.
Edward's ring or in the
chief tvith its gem azure.
visited Amwell four times yearly to receive the
profits.''5 Early in the 14th century Sir William
de Goldington, kt., lord of the neighbouring manor
of Goldingtons,56 had a lease of the manor for life.57
The courts were usually reserved in leases of the
demesne lands,58 and in 1398 the profits of the courts
were farmed separately by a collector of rents.59 In
1537a reversionary lease of the demesne lands, con-
tingent upon the death of Gilbert Rooks, was made
to Thomas Leigh, Master of the Hospital of Burton
St. Lazars, and to his nephew William Leigh, a
mercer of London, in survivorship.60
The abbey surrendered to the Crown in January
1539-40,61 and in the fol-
lowing August Sir Anthony
Denny, kt., of Cheshunt, the
favourite of Henry VIII and
an ardent supporter of the
Reformation,62 had a grant in
tail-male of all the estate of
the late abbey at Amwell.63
Dame Joan, Sir Anthony's
beautiful and accomplished
widow, purchased from
William Leigh his interest in
the manor in March 1 5 5 2-3,64
and after her death her execu-
tor John Tamworth transferred
to Henry Denny of Dalonce,
co. Essex, the remaining years of Leigh's lease.65
Under the terms of the grant to Sir Anthony the
manor descended in tail-male to his son Henry
Denny of Cheshunt'1' and his grandson Robert, a
minor at his father's death.67 The latter was suc-
ceeded in 1576 by his brother, Sir Edward Denny,
kt., who was created Lord Denny of Waltham in
1604 and Earl of Norwich in 1636. 6S In 1600,
desiring to build in a place with good air, Sir
Edward wished to cut off the entail and purchase
the reversionary rights of the Crown in the manor.69
Having met with opposition from his uncle, he
apparently changed his plans.70 Sir James Hay,
kt., his extravagant son-in-law,71 obtained a grant
of the Crown rights in the manor 1 I February
i6o5-6,78 and in 1607 joined with Sir Edward
in a sale to Thomas Hobbes the elder of Gray's
ny, Earl of Not
rich. Gules a sahr
\rgent between twelnj
rossesformy or.
37 Wrottcsley, Fed. from Flea R. 530,
538. The same family held also of the
elder branch in Yardley, co. Wore.
(Bracton, Note Bk. [ed. Maitlaud], iii,
347-9)-
38 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.),
i, 177 ; Wrottesley, loc. cit.
39 Doc. of Westm. Abbey, Press 17,
shelf 4, box 76, no. 4248.
40 Feet of F. Herts. 36 Hen. Ill,
no. 413. 41 Wrottesley, loc. cit.
42 The fine between the abbot, who was
probably a native of Ware, and Ralph
is dated Feb. 1269-70 (Doc. at Westm.
no. 4246, cf. no, 4214, 4197), and the
charter was enrolled in 54 Hen. Ill
(Pat. 54 Hen. Ill, m. 26 d.). But
Henry III granted liberties to the abbot
in his manor of Amwell in May 1262.
(see the confirmation by Edward I, Westm.
Doc. 4243 ; cf. Assize R. 323, m. 45).
The purchase was undoubtedly made by
Richard of Ware, and must therefore have
taken place after 1259, when he became
abbot 'V.C.H. Lond. i, 455).
" Pat. 54 Hen. Ill, m. 26 d.
44 Wrottesley, op. cit. 538.
45 Doc. at Westm. no. 4196 ; cf. De
Banco R. 199, m. 116 d. ; Cal. Close,
1313-18, p. 204; 1313-15,?. 343. The
family of Limesy were tenants of the
abbey in the 14th century (Add. R. 26828,
26829).
46 Pat. 54 Hen. Ill, m. 26 d. ; Feud.
Aids, ii, 433.
47 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
48 See the account of Caldecote.
49 Doc. at Westm. 4230. About the
same time Juliane daughter of Simon of
Offley conveyed to her son Robert all her
right in the vill (ibid. 4199).
50 Add. R. 26828. This was possibly
the manor of Geddings in Hoddesdon
which was held as of Amwell Manor
(Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], li, 50). See
under Broxbourne.
51 Add. R. 26828.
62 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 416 ; Doc. at
Westm. no. 4246.
53 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 416 ; cf. Cal.
Close, 1307-13, p. 24; Mins. Accts.
bdle. 1 109, no. 4 ; V.C.H. Lond. i, 449.
54 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 41 c.
55 Add. R. 26827.
66 See under Stanstead St. Margaret's.
■'" Doc. at Westm. no. 4231 ; cf.
no. 4219.
58 Had. Chart. 80, F. 26 ; Add. R.
26829.
■"'9 Add. R. 26829.
60 Harl. Chart. 80, F. 26. William
Rook of Berden had been a tenant within
the manor in 1378 {Cal. Pat. 1377-81,
p. 219).
61 V.C.H. Lond. i, 447.
6S Diet. Nat. Biog.
«3 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 1027 (25).
64 Harl. Chart. 80, F. 26.
65 Ibid.
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xc, 1 15.
67 Ibid, clxix, 85.
68 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vi, 1 00.
69 Cecil MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), x,
26 ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 598-1601, p. 386.
7" Cecil MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), x,
26, 80.
71 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iii, 63.
72 Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. xvi.
4l6
Great Amwell Church erom the South-east
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Inn.73 Thomas Hobbes, possibly the son of the
last-named Thomas, settled the remainder of the
manor, failing his own children, on those of his sister
Martha Peyton.74 He left an only daughter Susan,
who was aged ten at his death in February i63i-z.7i>
She married John Fiennes, second son of William
first Viscount Saye and Sele.76 Upon his death in
1696 Amwell Manor passed to his son-in-law Thomas
Filmer of the Inner Temple, who had purchased
the reversion of it.77 He died in 1701 and was
succeeded by his two daughters, Susan wife of Robert
Eddowes and Mary afterwards married to Edward
Trotman.78 They sold the Amwell estate to Thomas
Burford,79 and it descended to his brother John
Burford of King's College, Cambridge.80 Upon his
death it was purchased by Bibye Lake of Edmonton,
whose only daughter and heir Anna Maria took it in
marriage to Colonel Charles Brown.81 At his death
in 1836 it descended to his son Captain Henry
Brown, who had distinguished himself in the Penin-
sular War.82 His widow, Mrs. Mary Anne Brown,
held it after his death, which took place in November
1873.83 It was inherited by Captain Brown's
only child, Mrs. Charrington, from whom the lord-
ship of the manor was purchased by the governors of
Haileybury College.81
A hall existed at Amwell in l2 8o,.8'> It may have
been the 'capital messuage' with lands in 'Hallefeld'
held by Andrew de Godesfeld, one of the successors
of Stephen de Aldingbourne, in the latter half of the
14th century.86 In 1398 the 'house' had to be
repaired after a strong wind.87 Sir Edward Denny's
desire to build at Amwell implies that there was
probably no considerable house there in 1 600. The
present Amwell Bury lies among woods about half a
mile to the north-west of the village. It has a modern
pigeon-house, the walls of which evidently encase a
late 17th-century building. The house is now the
property of Mr. E. S. Hanbury of Poles.
Henry III gr.inted to the Abbot of Westminster
in Amwell all the extensive liberties which he possessed
in his other lands.88 By virtue of this charter, and a
confirmation of it by Edward I,89 the abbey had
return of writs, exemption from the sheriffs tourn,
view of frankpledge, amends of assize of bread and ale
and other royalties90 within the 'liberty' of Amwell.91
GREAT AMWELL
A striking result of the abbot's privileges was the
difficulty experienced by the tenants of the manor in
bringing pleas of land against their lord. Hence a
plea between Peter de Limesy and the abbot in
1 3 1 3 became a test case as to tie right of the sheriff
to enter a liberty in the case of default upon the
part of the officers of its lord.32
There was a fishery in the mill-pond in 1 2 89-90.83
This was probably the fishery farmed by Ellen de
Limesy in 1 3 9s.9' At the present day the subscrip-
tion waters of Amwell Magna Fishery, which have
been sold to the Metropolitan Water Board, are
among the best in the River Lea.
In 1086 Geoffrey de Bech held 2 hides at
HAILET (Hailet, xi cent. ; Heilet, xii cent. ; Heyle,
xiv cent. ; Heyleghe, xv cent.). They had formerly
been held by Wlwin, a man of Earl Harold,95 and
with the rest of Geoffrey's fief had subsequently been
in the hands of Ilbert, the first Norman sheriff of the
county.96 In 1086 the lord of the manor of Great
Amwell claimed woodland which Ilbert had attached
to this manor, and the canons of Waltham, probably
as lords of Brickendon,97 also laid claim to woodland
in Hailey.98
Ralf the Butler (' Pincerna ') " appears to have suc-
ceeded Geoffrey de Bech in Hailey, Cockenhatch and
Bengeo. In the time of Henry I, Ralf sub-enfeoffed
Aubrey de Vere, possibly the father of the first Earl
of Oxford, who died in 1 14 1,100 of all the land which
had been held of him by Roger de Burun in Hailey,
Cockenhatch and Bengeo.1 Robert de Burun, possibly
the son of Roger, was to recover the tenancy under
Aubrey de Vere upon payment of £},%? The 2
hides of Geoffrey de Bech and the land held under
Ralf the Butler in Hailey apparently included the
manor known later as Goldingtons in Thele.3 Of
the interest of Ralf the Butler nothing further is
known,1 but the successive Earls of Oxford retained
the overlordship of the manors of Revells Hall in
Bengeo and Goldingtons in Thele.5 There was in
1700 no distinct manor of Hailey,6 but a reputed
' manor ' of Hailey was held with Goldingtons by
Sir Andrew Ogard, kt., in the 15th century7 and
was acquired with that manor by William Frankland
in 1560.8 It probably became absorbed in the
neighbouring manor of Goldingtons.
73 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 4 Jas. I ;
Trin. 5 Jas. I ; Recov. R. Trin. 5 Jas. I,
m. 81 ; Add. Chart. 13582; Chauncy,
Hist. Antio. of Hern. 283.
74 They were Robert, Edward and John
Peyton and Anne Lawrence ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiii, 85 ; cf. Recov.
R. East. 22 Chas. I, m. 37.
70 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxiii,
85.
76 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vii, 69.
77 Chauncy, Ioc. cit. ; cf. Recov. R.
Trin. 21 Chas. II, m. 49.
78 Title-deeds quoted by Clutterbuck,
Hist, and Anliq. of Herts, ii, n.
79 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 5 Geo. I.
80 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
81 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 123;
Recov. R. Mich. 23 Geo. Ill, m. 205 ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. 40 Geo. Ill ;
Mich. 54 Geo. III.
32 Cussans, loc. cit. ; cf. Recov. R.
Mich. 54 Geo. Ill, m. 195.
83 Cussans, loc. cit.
84 Inform, kindly supplied by the Rev.
R. S. Mylne, F.S.A.
3
65 Add. R. 26827.
86 Ibid. 26S28 ; the name 'Haulfee-
feilde' is mentioned in the settlement
concerning tithes in 1399 (Lond. Epis.
Reg. Grindall, fol. 95). "
87 Add. R. 26829.
83 Doc. at Westm. no. 4243.
89 Ibid.
99 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 190 ; Plac.
de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 276.
91 Add. R. 26828.
92 De Banco R. 199, m. n6d.
93 Add. R. 26827.
91 Ibid. 26829.
95 V.C.H. Herts, i, 334<j.
96 Ibid. 273.
97 See above.
98 V.C.H. Herts, i, 334a.
99 Possibly the Ralf of Oversley who
was butler to Robert Earl of Leicester
(Dugdale, Baronage, i, 594)-
100 Round, Geoff, de Mandeville, 389.
1 Harl. Chart. 46, I, 30.
2 Ibid.
3 See under Stanstead St. Margaret's.
4 Possibly his descendants failed to
4J7
assert their right to service from such
powerful mesne tenants as the Earls of
Oxford. But about 1 3 14 a quarter-fee
in Hailey was said to be held of Alan la
Zouche, lord of Ware, by the Abbot of
Westminster (Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Ediv. II,
253), and a quarter-fee was also held ot
him in Bengeo by the Earls of Oxford, and
the manor of Chelsin Temple there by
the Knights Templars. It is possible that
the interest of Ralf the Butler was subse-
quently acquired by the Earls of Leicester
(lords of Ware), in whose family Ralf
the Butler of Oversley and his descend-
ants held office. In this case the jurors,
who returned the Abbot of Westminster
as tenant of the quarter-fee, had possibly
failed to distinguish between the two
holdings in Hailey.
5 Feud. Aids, ii, 433 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), cccclxxiii, 15.
6 Chauncy, op. cit. 283.
7 Chan. Inq. p.m. printed by Cussans,
op. cit. Hertford Hund. 135; cf. Chart. R.
21-4 Hen. VI, no. 44.
8 Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Eliz.
53
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
A part of Hailey lay within the lordship of Great
Am well.9
The church of ST. JOHN BAPTIST
CHURCH stands in the village and consists of a
round apsidal chancel 25 ft. by 16 ft.,
nave 39 ft. by 22 ft. 6 in., west tower 12 ft. by
10 ft. 6 in., and vestry ; all internal dimensions.
The chancel and nave date from the close of the
11th century,10 the west tower was built about
1420-30, the vestry is modern. The church was
restored in I 866. The walls are of flint rubble with
stone dressings ; the roofs are tiled.
In the north wall of the chancel is a narrow
window of the nth century, with deeply splayed
jambs both inside and outside ; it is round-arched,
but a slight point has been given to the outer arch at
some later period. The other windows of the chancel
are all modern lancets. The doorway to the vestry
in the north wall has a massive 15th-century oak
frame with four-centred head. Two recesses, one on
either side of the east window, now used as sedilia,
are of modern stonework. There is a modern piscina
in the south wall with an old basin, part of which
has been cut away. The chancel arch is round, of
Scale or Ftcr
Plan of Great Amwell Church
two plain square orders towards the west, square
jambs and grooved and splayed abaci not returned
on east or west faces ; it is probably of late 11th-
century date. On either side of the chancel arch is a
round-arched squint, recently enlarged, set diagonally
in the wall. The roof retains one tie-beam of the
15 th century ; the eastern part of the apse roof is
domical and above it is a gabled roof.
A sloping recess in the north wall 'of the nave at
the east end marks the position of the stair to the
rood-loft. In the north wall are two windows, one
of three lights with traceried head and the other a
The tower is of three stages with an embattled
parapet ; the octagonal timber spire is modern. The
tower arch is of the 15th century; the arch is
moulded, the outer mouldings being continuous, the
inner resting on engaged shafts with moulded capitals
and bases. The west doorway has a moulded arch
with a square head and traceried spandrels ; in the
inner jambs are the holes for the old wooden bar.
The door, which is of 1 Jth-century date, has tracery
in the head. The west window is of three cinque-
foiled lights under a four-centred arch ; the mullions
are of modern stonework. A newel stair is carried
up in the south-west corner of the tower. The
second stage has loop lights on each face but the east;
on each face of the belfry stage is a two-light window
with traceried head under a four-centred arch, the
mullions of which have been repaired.
The font is modern. The oak communion table
is of early 17th-century date. The octagonal pulpit
is of oak with lozenge-shaped panels flanked by
herms ; the cornice bears the date 1696, but the
rest of the work appears to be earlier in the century.
It is said to have originally belonged to the chapel of
the archiepiscopal palace at Croydon.11 In the
tower is a modern screen in which
are incorporated 1 5 th-century traceried
doors from a former screen.
On the north wall of the nave is a
brass with the figure of a civilian with
his two wives and seven children ; the
head of the male figure is missing and
there is no inscription. On the east
wall of the nave is the figure of a
priest of I 5 th-century date, in alb and
hood, without inscription.
There are three bells : the treble
has neither date nor inscription ; the
second is by Robert Oldfeild, dated
161 2 ; the tenor is undated, but in
it is set an Elizabethan shilling.
The communion plate consists of
cup and cover paten, 1620, and
another paten, 1736.
The registers before I 8 I 2 are as
follows : (i) all entries 1559 to 1657 ; (ii) baptisms
and burials 1683 to I 79 1 , marriages 1683 to 1753 ;
(iii) baptisms and burials 1 792 to I 8 1 2 ; (iv) marriages
1754 to 1793 ; (v) marriages 1 793 to I 8 12.
A priest was among the tenants of
ADVOWSON Ralf de Limesyat Amwell in 1086."
The church of Amwell with all its
tithes was apparently given to Hertford Priory by
Ralf. It was confirmed to the priory by Alan son of
Ralf as the gift of his father,13 but was not definitely
mentioned in the foundation charter of the priory."
A vicarage was ordained between 1291 and 1349.15
In 1399 a new agreement was made between the
This was
single traceried light. In the south wall are a 13th-
century lancet with splayed jambs and a window of priory and John Bodlet, then vicar
three lights of 15th-century character. All these possibly the result of a recent agreement between
windows are of modern stonework externally, but the Prior of Hertford and the Bishop of London,
their inner jambs are old. In the south wall is a impropriator of Broxbourne, as to the exact limits of
14th-century piscina with trefoiled head and moulded the two parishes." Henry Johnson, vicar of Amwell,
part only of the basin is original. The roof in 1539 successfully asserted the right of the vicar to
certain tithes under the composition of 1399.18
16 Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindall, fol.
is modern.
9 Add. R. 26827, 26828.
10 A south porch is mentioned in the
register 11 Oct. 1626.
11 Rev. W. J. Harvey, Great Ammll,
Past and Present, I 896.
la V.C.H. Hern, i, 325.
18 Dugdale, Man. iii, 300.
14 Ibid. 299.
16 Pope Nkh. Tax. (Rec. Com.),
Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 399.
4l8
17 Newcourt, Repertoriumy i, 810.
18 Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindall, fol.
Great Amwell Church : The Nave Looking East
HERTFORD HUNDRED
In February 1537-8, shortly after the dissolution
of Hertford Priory, Anthony Denny and his pro-
spective wife, Joan Champernown, obtained a grant of
the advowson and rectory of Amwell 19 ; they descended
with the manor of Great Amwell to Sir Anthony's
grandson Edward, who sold them in 1 577 to John
and Thomas Skinner.™ They alien.ited them to
Isaac Woder of Gray's Inn, gentleman, in I 599. 21
In the same year he transferred the presentation for
one turn to William Hutchinson, S.T.D.,28 and
apparently parted with the advowson and rectory
shortly afterwards, as in 161 6 they were bequeathed
by Geoffrey Elwes, alJerman of London, to his son
Silvius,23 who died in 1638." The advowson and
rectory evidently passed to his executor, who was
his brother Jeremy.20 The latter's grandson Jeremy
Elwes of Throcking was presented to the living in
1 68 3, and was succeeded by his brother Robert.2" The
advowson descended in the direct line of this family
until 1 833," when Robert Cary Elwes of Great
Billing, great-grandson of the last-named Robert,29
sold it to the Rev. Mordaunt Barnard, from whom
it was purchased by William McNab.29 His only
daughter married the Rev. R. Parrott, who became
vicar in 1864. The advowson descended to their
daughter, Mrs. W. J. Harvey, wife of the present
vicar. The rectorial tithe was not included in the
sale to William McNab, and is at present vested in
trustees.30
On the parish borders near the heath is a chapel
belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion,
built in 1900 in memory of Dr. Reynolds of Ches-
BAYFORD
hunt College. There were certificates for a Quaker
meeting-house in 1691, a meeting-place for Anabap-
tists in 1692, and for Primitive Methodists in 1850.31
The charities of this parish have
CHJRITIES been consolidated and are regulated
by a scheme of the Charity Com-
missioners 8 May 1908. They comprise the
charities of:
1. William Purvey, founded by will proved 28
October 1 6 1 7, consisting of a yearly rent-charge of
1 3/. \d., issuing out of an estate called Wormley Bury
at Wormley.
2. William Hill, will (date unknown) referred to
in Parliamentary Returns of 1786 as a rent-charge of
2 or. A sum of £\ 6s., supposed to represent the
endowment, is paid in respect of two cottages in Ware
Valley in this parish.
3. Sylvester {alias Silvius) Elwes, will proved 1639.
The endowment now consists of £797 Js. $d.
consols, arising from the sale in 1870 of land
originally purchased with a legacy of £40.
4. Elizabeth Spranger, by deed I 686, being a rent-
charge of 50/. out of Hailey Hall Farm.
5. William Plomer, will 1727, trust fund £310 5/.
consols, arising from the sale in I 870 of land originally
purchased with a legacy of £50.
The sums of stock are held by the official trustees,
producing £27 13/. %d. yearly, the total income of
the charities amounting to £32 Js., which under the
scheme is applied for the benefit of the poor of the
ancient parish, mainly in the distribution of money
and coal.
BAYFORD
Begesford (xi cent.); Begeford, Beiford (xii cent.);
Beyford, Byfordberi (xiii cent.).
The parish of Bayford has an area of 1,852 acres,
of which 398 acres are arable land, 1,028 acres per-
manent grass and 425 acres woods.1 The parish in
the north, where it extends to the River Lea, stands
at about 140 ft. above the ordnance datum ; the
ground rises gradually in a southerly direction and
reaches a height of 402 ft. near Ashendene in the
extreme south of the parish. A small stream which
rises near Ashen Grove forms part of the eastern
boundary of the parish and flows through the grounds
of Bayfordbury into the Lea, which forms the northern
boundary. Another tributary of the Lea divides
Bayford on the west from Little Berkhampstead.
Bayfordbury, the residence of Mr. H. W. C.
Baker, the lord of the manor, lies, with its park of
270 acres, in the north-east of the parish. The
house is three stories in height with a basement,
consisting, as originally designed in 1759, of a square
central block with isolated office wings on either side.
A view in the possession of the owner shows that the
walls were then faced with red brick. In the early
19th century the wings were connected with the
main portion of the house by the erection of a large
room on the west for the reception of the portraits of
the Kit Cat Club, which had been moved here
from Barn Elms, and the corresponding library on the
east. At the same time the exterior of the whole
house was stuccoed. The chimney-pieces and door-
cases of the earlier date are excellent examples of the
mid-i8th-century style. The later additions are
well designed in the Greek manner of their period.
A number of fine cedars standing near the house
were planted in 1765. The celebrated collection
of portraits of thirty-nine members of the Kit Cat
Club, a political association numbering among its
members most of the Whig celebrities of the early
part of the 1 8th century, includes those of Addison,
Steele and Pope ; they are mostly by Kneller.
Sir William Baker married Mary daughter of Jacob
Tonson, who was nephew and heir of Jacob
Tonson, the secretary of the Kit Cat Club, and the
portraits came to his son William Baker in 1772
on the death of Richard Tonson, the last of the
Tonsons.la
The village of Bayford lies on high ground on the
road leading to Hertingfordbury on the north and
19 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (i), 384
(47)-
'-" Pat. 19 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 5.
81 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 41 & 42 Eliz.
« Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindall, fol. 333*.
23 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund.
130.
24 V.C.H. Northants Families, 63.
25 Ibid.
« Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
27 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin.
Geo. III.
28 V.C.H. Northants Families, 80.
23 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund.
419
30 Inform, kindly supplied by the Rev.
R. S. Mylne.
31 Urwick, op. cit. 481-2.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
■a See article on Bayfordbury by J. J.
Baker in East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
iii, 264.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Northaw on the south. The village smithy, the
school, the vicarage and the Manor House lie close
together at the junction of this road with Stocking
Lane, which is an old road running north-west and
south-east through the parish. Opposite the school
is a large pond. Most of the cot:ages here are of
brick and date from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The cottage now used as the post-office appears to
date from the first half of the 1 7th century. It is of
brick, two stories in height, with diagonal br:ck
chimney-shafts, and is now weather-boarded. The
church stands in an isolated position about a quarter
of a mile north-west of the village. South of the
village a road branches off westwards to Little Berk-
hampstead, and still further south another turns east
to Broxbourne, passing Ashendene, the residence of
the Rev. Charles Edward Hornby, M.A., J. P.
Bayford Hall, a short distance north-west of the
church, is the residence of Admiral Alexander
Plantagenet Hastings, C.B., J. P., and the Misses
Randolph reside at Bayford House at the south end
of the village. Mr. Leonard Marlborough Powell
resides at Bayford Grange and Mrs. Cuninghame
at the Warren. The Manor House, near the vicarage,
is the seat of Mrs. Barclay. It was originally built in
the 17th century, but received many additions and
alterations in the 19th century. The original stair-
case and some 17th-century panelling stiil remain.
The nearest railway station is Hertingfordbury,
about 2 miles north of the village.
The subsoil of the parish in the north is chalk. A
belt of Woolwich and Reading Beds runs across the
centre and the subsoil in the south is London Clay.
Place-names that occur in Bayford in the 15th
century are : Lindhawes (now How Claypits Farm),
Westhalegrove, Stroutershacche, Smoggefeld, Wal-
bournes and Crosfeldes. In the middle of the 1 8th
century the following are mentioned : Lobb's Pound,
Stockinmead, Boarded Bridge Pastures, Moonfield,
Lay Breech, Dendrige Hill, Great and Little Chace,
Quaker's Mead, Little Brickhills, Sallinger's Wood,
Duricke Lane, Eldenburymore, Weepine Wood,
Abbs Close, Haddons Mead, Gidnes, Cramphorne
Croft, Stangells, Sluttswell Field, Warborne Spring,
Black Fan Wood.
The manor of BJTFORD was part of
MANOR the lands of the Saxon kings, and Edward
the Confessor held it in demesne on the
day he died. During the reign of Harold Bayford
was held by Earl Tosti or Tostig, his brother, but
after the Conquest it again formed part of the royal
demesne, and in 10S6 was held by King William.
It was then assessed at 10 hides,3 but this assessment
probably included Essendon.3 William I granted the
manor to Peter de Valognes, Sheriff of Hertfordshire,4
and it was afterwards granted to his son Roger in
1 141 by the Empress Maud to hold to him and his
heirs.5 After the death of Roger de Valognes, how-
ever, Bayford seems to have returned to the Crown,
for Henry de Essex paid j6s. \d. as the farm of
Bayford for half a year in 11 54-5. 6 Towards the
end of the 12th century the recognized farm of the
manors of Bayford and Essendon was £20 annually.
Richard the Treasurer (Thesaurarius) returned half
this amount in 1 177, presumably for half a year, and
the whole £20 for some years after.7 In 1 1 94 the
Bishop of London, Richard Fitz Neal, owed 1 00
marks for having the two manors, ' as he had pre-
viously had them,' for life.3 At the death of the
bishop in 1 1 99 the payments of .£20 were resumed
by William the Treasurer, who then paid for a
quarter-year.9 In 1 2 1 1 he was succeeded as farmer
by John Fitz Hugh,10 who gave place to John de
Bassingburn in 1 2 14," and payment was made by
Falkes de Breaute from 12 I 8 to 1221." Richard
de Argentein, sheriff of the county, was the farmer in
1226. "
In 122S the manor of Bayford was committed to
Raymond de Burgh,14 and in I 230 to John de Burgh.15
Raymond paid no farm during the two years he held
it, but was pardoned the debt thus incurred in 1230.16
In 1247 the king granted the keepership of the
manor to his half-brother William de Valence, and
in 1249 granted the manor itself to him for life,
with reversion to the Crown." William forfeited
his lands after the battle of Lewes in 1264, but was
restored in 1 266, after the defeat of the barons at
Evesham,1* and held Bayford until his death in June
1296," after which in 1297 the issues of the manor
were granted to Philip de Wiloughby, Dean of
Lincoln, for the remainder of that year and the
whole of the next.20 A little
later Edward I granted the
manor for life to his second
queen, Margaret of France,21
whom he married in 1299 ;
she held it until her death in
I 3 1 8,22 after which it was
held for life by Isabella, queen
of Edward II,23 who survived
her husband for some years.
In 1360 Bayford was granted
by Edward III to John of
Gaunt, then Earl of Rich-
mond,21 and his heirs male,
and it was confirmed to him
in 1376 unier his new title
of King of Castile and Leon
and Duke of Lancaster.25 William de Louthe was
appointed steward there in 135 9,26 and remained
John of Gaunt,
Duke of Lancaster.
OLD FILiNCE quar-
tering ENGLAND with
the difference of a label
2 V.C.H. Herts, i, 304A.
3 Ibid. 278. * Cart. Aatiq. K. 22.
5 Ibid. K.. 24 ; Round, Geoff de Mande-
i-il/e, 236 ; Dugdale, Mon. iii, 34.6. See
Hertford Manor.
6 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 651.
7 Pipe R. 23 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.) ;
2+ Hen. II; 25 Hen. II.
8 Pipe R. 6 Ric. I, m. 3.
9 Ibid. 1 John, m. 7.
10 Ibid. 13 John, m. 6.
11 Ibid. 16 John, m. I.
12 Ibid. 2 Hen. Ill, m. 6a, &c.
13 Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), ii, 116-
l%b.
14 Cal. Pat.
15 Ibid. 348
ford Castle.
16 Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 455; Cal.
Pat. 1247-58, p. 1.
17 Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 46 ; see also
Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 351.
W Diet. Nat. Biog.
19 Ibid. ; D. of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 56 d. ; Assize R. 323, 325. His son
Aymer de Valence seems to have claimed
the manor, for it appears in the inquisi-
tion taken at h:s death in 1323-4. This
was e\idently in virtue of the grant to
him of Hertford Manor (q.v.).
420
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75 ;
Cal. Pal. 1292-1301, p. 316 ; Duchy
of Lane. Misc. bdle. 11, no. 25 ; Duchy
of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol. 56 d.
21 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol.
58.
22 Ibid.
23 Duchy of Lane. Royal Chart,
no. 342 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill,
no. 47 ; 11 Edw. Ill, no. 46.
2* Great Cowcher, fol. 228, no. 1.
25 Duchy of Lane. Royal Chart, no. 342,
3+3-
26 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
255 ; Mins. Accts. bdle. S62, no. 19.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
in office until I 361," when the Abbot of St. Albans
received a grant of the manor at farm. John of
Gaunt died early in 1399, and his son Henry became
king in the same year as Henry IV ; thus Bayford
returned once more to the Crown, and was granted
for life to Henry's second queen, Joan of Navarre.28
Henry VI, upon his accession in 1422, granted the
manor in dower to his mother Katherine of France,"
Elizabeth W o o i
V1LLK. Argent a fes
and a quarter gules.
queen of Henry V, and his successor Edward IV gave
it to his queen Elizabeth Woodville for her life.3"
In 14.89 Henry VII leased the manor-house of
Bayford and the demesne lands to Robert Markham
for seven years," at the end of which term he received
the lease for another seven years,32 and in 1504a
further term of twenty years was granted to Robert's
widow, Agnes Markham.53
In 1544 Henry VIII granted to John Knighton
'all the manor of Bayford, with members and appur-
tenances, to be held of the king and his successors as
of the duchy of Lancaster by the service of one-
fortieth of a knight's fee.' 34'43 John Knighton died
in 1586, leaving the manor of Bayford or Bayfordbury
to his eldest son George,41 who died in 1 61 2, leaving
a son John and a daughter Anne.'5 John Knighton
held the manor until his death in 1 63 5, when it
passed to his nephew Knighton Ferrers, son of his
sister Anne and Sir John Ferrers.'6 Knighton Ferrers
mortgaged Bayford to Edmund Knight in 1638 for
£2,000, and died in 1640, leaving the debt to his
wife Katherine, who was to pay it off and hold
the manor for her life, after which it was to pass to
their daughter Katherine." Katherine the younger,
when twelve years old, married Thomas Fanshawe,
afterwards Viscount Fanshawe48 of Dromore, and
was holding Bayford in 1 65 1,49 but in 1655 they
conveyed it to John Mayo,60 who was succeeded by
his son Israel Mayo in 1675.51 Israel Mayo, who died
in 1715, sold the manor in 171 3 52 to Charles Kent
and Joseph Wright,53 trustees for Henry Long, whose
daughter and heiress Jane was lady of the manor in
1728.54 Jane married Charles Adelmare or Caesar
BAYFORD
the younger " of Bennington, and had two daughters
— Jane, who married Charles Cottrell in 1755,56
and Harriet, who later married Robert Chester.57
After the death of Charles Caesar in 1 740 (his wife
had died in 1737) 5S Bayford was divided between
Jane Cottrell and Harriet,59 who joined in conveying
their moieties of the manor to Sir William Baker in
1 75 8.eo Sir William was succeeded in 1770 by his
son William Baker, M.P. for Hertfordshire,61 who
died in 182468 and whose grandson and successor
William Robert held the manor and died in 1806.
Baker of Bayfordbury. Party ermine and
gules a running greyhound befwecn ttvo bars
injected and three quatrefoils all counter-
coloured.
William Clinton Baker, son of the latter, inherited
Bayford and died in 1903, and his son Mr. Henry
William Clinton Baker is the present lord of the
manor.63
The liberties of sac, thol, theam and infangentheof
were granted to Roger de Valognes with his lands by
the Empress Maud64 in 1141. When the manor
was in the king's hand view of frankpledge and other
courts were held together with Essendon.66 Court
leet, view of fran'.pledge, amendment of the assize of
bread and ale and free warren were included in the
grant of Bayford Manor to John Knighton in 1544 C6
In 1278 it was stated that the men of Bayford
had been accustomed to fish in their waters with
' boterell ' and other small engines until William de
Valence had hindered them some twenty years before.
27 Esch. Enr. Accts. 35 Edw. Ill, 8,
m. F ; Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 58.
28 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 77, no. 997.
29 D. of Lane. Misc. Bks. xviii (2), fol.
49-
30 Feet of F. Div. Co. Edw. IV, file 76,
110. 102.
31 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxi, fol.
171.
32 Ibid. 172.
33 Ibid. I74d. By his will of 1503
Robert Markham desired to be buried in
Bayford Church (P.C.C. 13 Holgrjve).
34-43 D. of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxii, fol.
I94d.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxi, 191.
45 Ibid, cccxliii, 143.
46 Ibid, cccclxxvi, 129.
47 Ibid, ccccxciv, 59.
48 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
49 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1651.
50 Recov. R. East. 165 5, rot. 163.
51 M. I. s2 Ibid.
53 Recov. R. Trin. 12 Anne, rot. 63 ;
Close, 12 Anne, pt. vi, no. 13.
64 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 29.
65 Recov. R. East. 8 Geo. II, rot. 19.
421
56 Close, 32 Geo. II, pt. vi, no. 20.
57 M. I. at Hertingfordbury.
58 M. I.
59 Recov. R. Hil. 28 Geo. II, rot. 143 ;
Mich. 30 Geo. II, no. 217.
B0 Close, 32 Geo. II, pt. vi, no. 20.
61 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 43.
62 M. I.
63 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906).
64 Round, op. cit. 286.
65 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 77, no. 996,
997-
66 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxii,
fol. 1 94 d.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The right of such fishery was then restored to them.67
Free fishery is mentioned as parcel of the manor in
the various conveyances.
Of the two mills mentioned in 1086 one seems to
have been in Bayford. The tithes of it were granted
in 1226 to Richard de Argentein.68
The park of 270 acres which surrounds the m.-.nor-
house of Bayfordbury was inclosed by Sir William
Baker between 1758 and 1762, at about the same
date that he built the house (see above).69
In 1316 another manor of BAl'FORD, now
represented by the estate of Bayford Hall, and then
described as two messuages, 150 acres of land with
appurtenances, was conveyed by Richard le Rous
and his wife Mabel to Henry le Scrope.69a In 1330
it is mentioned that a messuage and carucate of land
in Bayford were held of the king by Henry le Scrope
by a yearly farm of 8/. 1 \\d. and 30 other acres by
certain day works of ploughing, reaping, weeding,
mowing meadows and carrying hay or payment of
1 is. i\d. In that year, however, the king remitted
all these services and substituted a yearly rent of id.,
payable at Christmas.70 Henry le Scrope died in
1336, leaving a son William,71 who died without
issue in I344-71a In I 346 Cecily, widow of William
le Scrope and re-married to John Clopton, received
in dower the Bayford lands with reversion to Richard
le Scrope of Bolton, brother and heir of William and
at that time a minor in the custody of Queen Philippa."
Sir Richard le Scrope conveyed his manor of Bayford
to John Staunton apparently towards the end of the
14th century.73 He granted it to Peter de St. Paul,
an alien and serjeant-at-arms to Queen Isabella (who
became the second queen of Richard II in I 395).
Peter de St. Paul was never naturalized, and his
lands in England were thus legally forfeited to the
Crown. He, however, granted the manor to William
de Neweton, who conveyed it to John and Milicent
Pomye and William Chelmsford, seemingly for the
purpose of settling it on himself and his wife Maud,
to whom his feoffees regranted it. Afterwards he
conveyed it to John Brampton, vicar of All Saints,
Hertford, Richard Wyndesore and Richard Sampson,
who in turn granted it to Roger Bokenham and
Maud. Roger conveyed the property to William
Fromond, chaplain, and John Ecleshale, who enfeoffed
John Chambre, citizen and fishmonger of London,
and Catherine his wife. John died and Catherine
married, secondly, Robert Wydyton, citizen and
grocer of London, who sold the estate to John
Wodehous and John Dalton. All these proceedings
had taken place without royal licence. Wodehous
and Dalton obtained a pardon in 141 5, but were
dispossessed apparently in 14 1 7 because of the alleged
forfeiture of Peter de St. Paul for not having been
naturalized. Henry V then granted the custody of
' le Halle ' to John Sauton, but upon the appeal of
Wodehous and Dalton it was restored to them in
1426. 7< In 1439 John Tewkesbury, goldsmith of
London, held the ' manor of Bayford called Halle
Place' in right of his wife Agnes and in that year
conveyed it to Alexander Orable and others. ,,a
Orable seems to have sold the manor to Sir John
F'ortescue (who bought the manors of Gacelyns and
Ponsbourne in 1 448), for later it was (with Pons-
bourne) in the possession of John Fortescue, who
died seised in I 5 17, leaving a son Henry.75 It seems
to have passed with Ponsbourne to Sir Thomas
Seymour, and in spite of a suit brought by Henry
Fortescue, who claimed it as a separate manor from
Ponsbourne,'6 to have descended with that manor
until the death of Sir John F"errers in 1 640. It
was apparently settled on a younger son Charles,
whose son Charles Ferrers in 1678 sold 'the mes-
suage or farm called Bayford Hall ' to Israel Mayo,
lord of Bayfordbury,76a with which it has since
descended.
A third manor or capital messuage of BAVFORD
(held of the principal manor) appears at the beginning
of the 1 6th century in the possession of the Knighton
family. Thomas Knighton settled it in 1529 on his
heirs by his second wife Joan Colloppe with reversion
to his younger son John, to whom it actually passed
at the death of Thomas in 1545.77 This John had
received a grant of Bayfordbury in 1544, and the
two manors then descended together.
The manor of Gacelyns in Hatfield extended
into Bayford and was partly held of the manor of
Bayford.78
The church of ST. MART stands
CHURCH about a quarter of a mile north of the
village and consists of chancel, with
octagonal eastern end, 40 ft. by 18 ft., south chapel
18 ft. by 10 ft., nave 5 I ft. by 2 I ft., north vestries
and south porch ; all internal dimensions. The
church was built in 1870 close to the site of the
old church, which has disappeared, but some of its
fittings are preserved in the present church.
In a recess on the north side of the chancel is a
white marble monument of George Knighton, who
died in 1 61 2. On the tomb is the recumbent effigy
of a knight in armour ; underneath are two panels,
one containing an inscription, the other contains arms.
At the back of the recess three brasses have been
fixed ; one, with a figure of a knight in armour, is
supposed to represent Thomas Knighton, who died in
67 Assize R. 323, m. 46 d.
68 Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), ii, 153.
69 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 43, quoting
evidences of William Baker.
69»Feet of F. Herts. 10 Edw. II,
no. 239. Part of this holding extended
into Little Berkhampstead, and a meadow
there was called Scropesmead as late as
1468 [Hertt. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 148).
70 Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 495.
71 Chan. Ino. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill, no. 47 ;
G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
"a Chan. Inq. p.m. file 75, no. 16.
78 Cal. Close, 1346-9, p. 168 ; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. Ill, Add. no. 87.
73 Cal. Pat. 1413-16, p. 307.
"Ibid.; Cal. Pal. 1422-9, p. 326.
See also Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 16,
no. 104.
™a Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 17 Hen. VI,
no. 95. Orable is said to have been
Wydyton's heir (Partic. for Grants, Aug.
Off. no. 674), so Agnes may have had
only a right of user.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, I 26.
See also entry in the survey printed in
Herts. Gen. and Antiq. ii, 148. John
Wenlok, kt. (who in 1462 had a grant of
the lands forfeited by Sir John Fortescue,
the late chief justice), holds Danelond
(now known as the Deans, which Mr.
Johnston tells us has always formed part
of the Bayford Hall estate), lately in the
tenure of John Fortescue, kt., and before
422
of Alexander Orable. Sir John Fortescue
(father of the John Fortescue who died
in 15 17 and said to be nephew of the
chief justice [see Lord Clermont's edition
of Fortescue' s Works, ii, 51 ; Pedigrees
of Devon Families, Harl. MS. 1538,
fol. 74]) died seised of lands in Herting-
fordbury, Bayford and Essendon held of
the king, but the manor is not mentioned
by name (Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], xv, 3).
76 Aug. Off. Proc. bdle. 27, no. 65.
76» Close, 30 Chas. II, pt. i, no. 141.
77 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxxiii,
126.
78 Ibid. 1 Edw. Ill, no. 85; 11 Edw. Ill,
(1st nos.), no. 46. See also Chan. Proc.
(Ser. 2), bdle. 205, no. 15.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
I 545 ; it is a palimpsest and on the back are parts of
a shrouded figure ; the second has also a figure of a
knight in armour, without inscription, but possibly
representing John Knighton, who died in 1586 ; the
third is a shield of arms : barry of eight, on a canton
a tun, for Knighton, impaling quarterly (1) and (4)
on a pale a conger's head, for Gascoigne, (2) and (3)
three picks, for Pickett or Pigott. Hanging on a
bracket close by is part of the brass of a lady, said
to be the wife of Thomas Knighton above mentioned ;
this brass and the shield are also palimpsests, and
have both been cut from a Flemish brass of an
ecclesiastic.
The octagonal font is of late 15th-century date ;
the panelled sides of the bowl are ornamented with
Tudor roses, the base is moulded.
The two bells are modern.
The communion plate consists of chalice, 1869,
paten, I 871, and flagon, 1869.
The registers before 1 8 1 z are as follows : (i) all
entries 1538 to 171 3 ; (ii) baptisms and burials 1 7 1 3
to 1775, marriages 1 71 3 to 1754; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1 775 to 1 81 2 ; (iv) marriages 1755 to
1812.
Bayford Church, which is men-
ADFOIVSON tioned as early as 1222,79 was a
chapelry pertaining to the rectory of
Essendon 80 until 1867, and the advowson therefore
followed that of Essendon81 (q.v.). In 1867 it was
made a vicarage in the presentation of the lord of
the manor, and was endowed out of the Common
Fund.8'
In 1366 the people of Bayford appealed for right
of sepulture at their own chapel, owing to the in-
convenience of having to go to Essendon. They
stated that the distance between their chapel and
Essendon Church was about 3 miles and that the
vill of Little Berkhampstead lay between them. The
bodies had to be carried past a water-mill on a stream
of which one bank was in the demesne of Berk-
hampstead and the other in Essendon, wherefore
' the carts going with bodies are often brought to
BENGEO
grief in the river, and the people attending annoyed
with attachments in passing through Berkhamp-
stead.' M
In 1503 the church had an image of St. Nicholas,
for the mending of which Robert Markham left
6s. Sd."
In 1607 Sir George Knighton,
CHARITIES kt., by will gave icv. yearly towards
the reparation of the chapel in Bay-
ford Church and 10/. yearly for the poor. The
annuities were redeemed in 1863 by the transfer to
the official trustees of £33 6s. Sd. consols, who also
hold a further sum of £30 16s. id. consols, arising
from accumulations of income. The dividends on
the stock, amounting to £1 12/. yearly, are dis-
tributed to the poor periodically.85
In 1840 Edward Jones, by his will, bequeathed a
legacy, now £459 3/. Sd. consols, the annual divi-
dends, amounting to ^11 gs. \d., to be applied in
keeping in repair the family vault, and the residue to
be distributed triennially among male labourers, being
housekeepers and over twenty-five years of age, not
having received parish relief. In 1907 a sum of
£29 8/. was divided among twelve labourers.
In 1853 William Yarrell, by will, bequeathed
^500 consols, the annual dividends, amounting to
j£l2 lev., to be applied, subject to the repair of the
family vault, for the benefit of the poor. In 1908
twenty-two persons received sums of js. 6d. or 10/.
each.
The sums of stock are held by the official trustees.
The Baker Foundation, under the will of Miss
Charlotte Amelia Baker, proved 8 February 1836,
consists of £43 1 8/. yd. Leicester Corporation 3 per
cent, stock, held by the official trustees, producing
£12 18/. lod. yearly. By a scheme of the Board of
Education 13 December 1904 the income, wholly
or in part, is made applicable for the benefit of any
public elementary school in the parish, and the
residue (if any) in maintenance of exhibitions at a
secondary school or institution of technical or in-
dustrial instruction.
BENGEO
Belingehou (xi cent.) ; Beneggho, Beningho (xiii
cent.) ; Bengeho (xv cent.) ; Benjow (xvi cent.).
The parish of Bengeo lies north of Hertford and
west of the parish of Ware, from which it is sepa-
rated by the River Rib. Under the provisions of
the Local Government Act of 1894 the old parish
of Bengeo was divided into two parts. The northern
or rural parish has an area of 2, 778 J acres, consisting
mainly of arable land, which forms about two-thirds
of the whole area, and a few scattered woods. The
greater part of the parish has an elevation of over
200 ft., but there is lower-lying land in the eastern
part near the River Rib which is liable to flood.
The soil is gravel, the subsoil clay, and the chief
crops are wheat, barley and turnips. The district is
thinly populated, the population being concentrated
for the most part in the hamlets of Tonwell and
Chapmore End. A road from Hertford passes
through the parish, dividing into two branches ;
one branch leading north-east crosses the road from
Ware to Stevenage, which also passes through Bengeo,
the other branch continues in a northerly direction.
The southern or urban parish of Bengeo is bounded
on the east by the River Beane. It has an area of
275 acres and lies on either side of the road from
Hertford, of which borough it forms part. The
church of St. Leonard stands in the eastern corner
of Bengeo urban parish near the junction of the
Beane with the Lea ; near it is Bengeo Hall,
the old manor-house, and their position suggests that
79 Cal.Pat. 1216-25, p. 3*8-
80 The church served by the priest
mentioned among the tenants of the
manor in 1086 must have stood in that
part of its territory now comprised by
Essendon.
81 Cat Pat. 1216-25, p. 328; Bacon,
Liber Regis, 5 1 8.
83 Land. Ga*. Index, 118; Cussans,
op. cit. Hertford Hund. 152.
88 Line. Epis. Reg. Mem. Bp. Bucking-
ham, 289.
423
M P.C.C. 13 Holgrave.
85 Sir George Knighton also charged his
capital messuage in Bayford with the
maintenance of his almshouses, respecting
which, however, nothing is known in the
parish.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the earliest settlement grew up near the water-ways, at
some distance from the high road. Bengeo Hall was
bought on the sale of the Byde property in 1846 by
Admiral Thomas le Marchant Gosselin, v\ho had
already occupied it for some time previously, and it
is now the property and residence of his grandson
Mr. H. R. H. Gosseliii-Grimshawe, J. P. In front
of the house are two stones with initials K.B. and
T.P.B. (probably Katherine Byde and Thomas Plumer
Byde), and the date 1745, which seem to have been
inserted into an earlier building. St. Leonard's, on
the south side of the church, was formerly the vicarage.
It was acquired by W. R. Best in 1849, and sold by
him in 1863 to Miss Charlotte Gosselin, from whom
it descended in 1892 to her nephew Mr. H. R. H.
Gosselin-Grimshawe, the present owner. It is a 17th-
century house of two stories and an attic with additions
and alterations of the 19th century. Near St. Leonards
are some cottages and a field called ' The Vineyard.'
The field is described in 1767 as having lately been
used as a vineyard by Thomas Dimsdale, the owner,
who is said to have planted the vines.1
The modern parish church of Holy Trinity lies
further west in the more thickly populated part of the
parish. Tonwell, a hamlet on the road from Ware to
Stevenage, has a chapel of ease built with the adjoining
school by Mr. Abel Smith in 1857. Chapmore End,
another hamlet, lies south-west of Tonwell. Near
Chapmore End is the Lammas land belonging to the
parish; it consists of 20 a. 3 r. 28 p. and yields ^30
a year, which is divided amongst the householders.
Waterford, a hamlet in the north-western part of
Bengeo rural parish, was formed into an ecclesiastical
parish in 1908.
There is a homestead moat at Bengeo Temple.
An inclosure award was made for Bengeo, Sacombe
and Stapleford in 1852. la
The manor of BENGEO appears to
MANORS have been the manor in this parish that
was held by Hugh de Beauchamp at the
time of the Domesday Survey.2 In 1092 the monks
of Bermondsey received a grant of lands which they
afterwards sold in order to buy the 'manor of Rich-
mond in Bengeo ' for 1 60 marks,3 and as, according
to Dugdale, this manor was bought from Payn de
Beauchamp,4 it was probably the same as that pre-
viously held by Hugh de Beauchamp. In 1204 the
Prior of Bermondsey paid 5 marks for having inqui-
sition as to what lands were in his demesne in Bengeo
when he delivered the land of Bengeo at farm to
Ralph de Quenhay, who was said to have alienated
those demesnes.5
During the 13th century the family of Tany (see
Temple Chelsin below) established a claim to the
manor ; perhaps it was mortgaged or leased to them
by the monks, to whom they afterwards made a
formal grant of it apparently merely for purposes of
1 Information from Mr. H. R. H.
6 Harl. MS. 231, fol. 42.
Gosselin-Grimshawe.
7 Ibid. fol. +3.
'a Blue Bk. Incl. Awards.
8 Feet of F. Herts. 4 Edw
. I, no. 49.
9 V.C.H. Hem. i, 327.
9 Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 4;
3 Harl. MS. 231, fol. 6. The name
10 Harl. MS. 23 1, fol. 45 ;"
seeAnctD.
Richmond does not occur for this manor
(P.R.O.), A 6239, 1008.
after the 13th century. The manor may
" Dugdale, Man. Angl. v,
87.
perhaps have included the virgate which
12 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edv
1. I, no. 56.
in 10S6 Count Alan of Britannv, lord of
13 See Clutterbuck, Hist. ,
tnd Antiq. of
Richmond, held in Bengeo (see V.C.H.
Herts, iii, 1 77.
Herts, i, 338).
" Visit. Essex (Harl. Soc.
riii), 30.
' Dugdale, Man. Angl. v, 86.
u Chan. Inq. p.m. 17
Edw. IV,
5 Pipe R. 6 John, m. 3 d.
no. 47.
settlement on one of their own family, for in 1272
Reginald and Richard de Tany gave the manor of
Bengeo or Richmond to the monks of Bermondsey,6
and in 1276 Richard and Margery de Tany quit-
claimed the manor to Luke de Tany as his by right of
the gilt of Henry, late Prior of Bermondsey, whilst
John Prior of Bermondsey, who had succeeded
Henry in 1 276,' acknowledged Luke's claim, the
monks of Bermondsey retaining only the advowson of
the church.8 There is no evidence to show whether
Luke de Tany had more than a life interest in the
manor. He died in 1283.° In 1290 Edward I
granted to the monks of Bermondsey the manor of
Richmond with other manors and lands which had
come into the king's hands by reason of the felony
committed by Adam de Stratton, to whom the manors
in question had been demised at farm.10 Dugdale
says that the manors were demised a second time to
Adam de Stratton, forfeited in 1302, and again
restored to the convent, which obtained a further con-
firmation of them from Edward II and continued in
possession of them until the Dissolution." As far as
Bengeo was concerned, however, the descent after
1290 shows that the monks had alienated all except
the advowson.
In 1303-4 John son of John Fitz Simon died
seised of the manor of Bengeo. It is described in the
inquisition as held of John Engayn." The over-
lordship was therefore evidently attached to the
manor of Hunsdon, which in 1272 Henry Engayn
held of the heirs of Sir William de Beauchamp of
Bedford.'3 The Fitz Simons held the manor for
several generations, the descent being identical with
that of Almshoe in Ippollitts, Hitchin Hundred
(q.v.). Eventually Elizabeth, tRe Fitz Simon heiress,
married Thomas Brockett," and he held the manor
— which is described as held of William Hussey as of
the manor of Hunsdon — jointly with his wife and in
her right. Thomas Brockett died in 1477 ; his wife
survived him, and his brother Edward Brcckett was
his heir.15
The manor was probably sold by the Brocketts to
Sir William Say, as he died seised of it in 1529.
His property was inherited by his daughter Mary
Countess of Essex, and by his granddaughter Gertrude,
daughter of Elizabeth Lady Mountjoy,16 who married
the Marquess of Exeter. On the attainder of
Gertrude in July 1539 the manor of Bengeo was
forfeited to the Crown," and in I 546 it was granted
to Nicholas Throckmorton,'8 who in 1555 conveyed
it to William Sharnbrook.19 The latter died in I 563,
leaving a son and heir Nicholas as well as younger
sons.'0 The manor of Bengeo probably formed part
of the provision for the widow and younger sons, lor
in I 571 Joan Sharnbrook, widow, and John Sharn-
brook released all their right in the manor to Robert
Spencer and Frances his wife,21 and in 1594 it was
'« Ibid. (Ser. 2), clvii, 82.
17 Ibid.lxxiii',93. Lady Anne Bourchicr,
daughter of Mary Countess of Essex,
appears to have inherited the right to
half the manor, but what became of her
interest is not clear (see ibid, clvii, 82).
» Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. viii.
19 Ibid. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. i ;
Feet of F. East. I & 2 Phil, and Mary.
2,1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), exxxv, 80.
!1 Add. MS. 27979 (Ware, co. Hrits.
Abstract of Evidences, 1570-1668),
fol. 1 9.
424
Senceo Church from the South-east
HERTFORD HUNDRED
sold by John Spencer to Thomas Fanshawe " of Ware
Park, in Ware, Braughing Hundred. From this
point the descent is the same as that of Ware. Mr.
William Francis Parker of Ware Park is the present
lord of the manor.
The manor of TEMPLE CHELSIN (Chelse, xiii
cent.) was evidently one of the manors held by
Geoffrey de Bech in Bengeo in 1086,23 for the over-
lords in the 13th century, the Tanys, held under the
lords of Bourne, who had succeeded Geoffrey de Bech
elsewhere." In I 2 10- 1 2 Richard de Tany held two
fees in Eastwick and Bengeo of the honour of Bourne.*9
By the middle of the 1 3th century the manor was
held by the Knights Templars, who received a grant
of free warren in their demesne lands in 1253."6
From a fine levied in 1269 it appears that the Tanys
had previously enfeoffed the Abbot of Warden of the
manor, to hold by a rent of £12 ; the abbot had
enfeoffed Simon Fitz Adam of Almshoe, to hold by
the same rent, whilst the latter in his turn had
enfeoffed the Master of the Knights Templars to hold
also by a rent of £12. By the fine of 1269 the rent
was released to Imbert de Peraud, Master of the Knights
Templars," who was henceforth to hold the manor of
the king by the service of half a knight's fee. It is
possibly this transaction that is spoken of in the
Hundred Rolls as the sale of Chelsin to the Templars
by Peter de Tany, the father's name being mentioned
instead of that of the son.18 In 1278 and 1287 the
Templars claimed, with other liberties, view of frank-
pledge, amendment of assize of bread and ale, and
gallows in their demesne lands in Chelsin."9 In I 3 1 3
a mandate was issued in compliance with the decision
of Pope Clement V and of the Council of Vienne
for the delivery of the English possessions of the
Templars to the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.30
At the time of the Dissolution the manor was held
at farm of the Hospitallers by Nicholas Thurgood,
under a lease made in 1 5 24.
for forty years.31 In 154.2 it
was granted by Henry VHI
to Sir Ralph Sadleir, one of
the king's chief secretaries."
Sir Ralph Sadleir died in
1587, leaving the manor to
his son Henry, with remainder
to his son Thomas and heirs,33
and in 1595 Henry Sadleir
sold the manor to Sir Philip
Boteler.34 When the latter
died in 1606 the manor passed
to his grandson and heir Robert
Boteler,35 who was succeeded
in 1622 by his daughter Jane, then three years old.36
In 1637 a warrant was issued to the judges of the
parted ft
and pith
BENGEO
Common Pleas to admit Jane, who had married John
Belasis, to levy fines and suffer recoveries, by her
guardian, of Temple Chelsin and other manors, for
the payment of the debts of her father and mother.37
John Lord Belasis sold the manor, probably about
1650,38 to Sir John Gore, from whom it passed by
sale in 1688 to trustees for Sir Thomas Rolt,39 who
had been President of the East India Company at
Surat.40 From Sir Thomas Rolt the manor descended
to Edward Rolt, his son, and from the latter to
Thomas Rolt, who possessed it in 1728." The elder
son and daughter of Thomas Rolt died unmarried,
and he was succeeded by h;s younger daughter Mary,
who married Timothy Caswall. On the death of
Mary's son George Caswall in 1825 the estate was
sold to Samuel Smith, from whom it has descended
to Mr. Abel Henry Smith," the present lord.
The manor-house, now a farm-house standing off
the road to Ware, is a 1 7th-century building of timber
and plaster.
The manor of CHELSIN alias SMEREMONGERS
appears first in the 15th century; in 1469 John
Shelley, citizen and mercer of London, received licence
to grant the manor of Chelsin, held in chief, to John
Say and others to hold to the use of John Shelley and
heirs." A settlement was again made in 1483, when
the manor was granted to trustees for the use of John
Shelley, the son, and Elizabeth his wife, and their heirs.41
John Shelley, the son, died in January I 526-7, leaving
a son and heir William Shelley, who was a justice of
the Common Pleas,45 and was knighted in 1529.46
By the will of the latter, which was proved in
February 1548-9, the manor of Chelsin was left for
life to Thomas,47 his fifth son.48 The reversion of
the manor after the death of Thomas belonged to
John Shelley, the eldest brother of Thomas, who by
his will proved in I 5 5 I left it to be held by his exe-
cutors until the majority of his son William Shelley.49
The Shelleys, however, appear to have forfeited the
manor, for in 1573, when it was leased to John
Bedingfield, it was described as being in the Crown
by the forfeiture of Thomas Shelley.50 After this
there is no trace of the manor until 1 62 5, when
Robert Hemming, yeoman, died seised of the manor
of Chelsin alias Smeremongers held of the Crown in
socage, his heir being his son Samuel.51 The latter
died in 1639, leaving an heir John Hemming. The
descent of the manor from this point is very obscure.
By 1698 it had apparently passed to George Nodes.5*
Eventually by 1802 the manor of Chelsin or Smere-
mongers, passing with Temple Chelsin, was held by
George Caswall.53
The manor of REBEL'S HALL first appears
mentioned as a manor at the end of the r 5 th century.
It probably formed part of Geoffrey de Bech's lands
22 Add. MS. 27979 (Ware, co. Herts.
Abstract of Evidences, i 570- 1 668), fol.
19 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 36 Eliz.
>3 See V.C.H. Herts, i, 334.
24 See Eastwick.
25 Red Bk. of Exck. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
505.
!S Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 41;.
27 Feet of F. Herts. 53 Hen. III,no.6i 5.
2S See Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 191.
29 Tlac.de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 281,
291.
30 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 52.
31 Mins. Accts. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII,
no. 1 14, m. 36.
32 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, g. 220 (4S).
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxv, 259.
34 Feet of F. Mich. 37 & 38 Eliz.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, 149.
36 Ibid, ccccii, 144 ; Ct. of Wards,
Feod. Surv. 17.
37 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1637-8, p. 19.
38 See Close, 1650, pt. lxviii, no. 4,
which records the sale of lands in Bengeo,
but does not mention the manor.
39 Close, 4 Jas. II, pt. v, no. 10.
4U Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 269.
41 Salmon, Hist, of Herts'. 46.
43 See Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 36.
42 5
43 Cal. Pal. 1467-77, p. 182.
" Ibid. 1476-85, p. 347.
« Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlvi, 40.
« Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 47.
" P.C.C. 25'Populwell.
48 For the Shelley family see Berry,
Sussex Gen. 62.
*> See will of John Shelley, P.C.C.
12 Bucks.
s° Crown Lease Pipe, 15 Eliz. pt. ix.
« Chan. Inq. p.m. (SeV. 2), ccccxxxiii,
27; dx
30.
Recov. R. Mich. 10 Will. Ill, rot.
i3 Ibid. Mich. 43 Geo. Ill, rot. 7.
54
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in Bengeo at the time of the Domesday Survey.51
Geoffrey de Bech seems to have been succeeded here
by Ralph the Butler (Pincerna), who at the end of
the reign of Henry I granted two knights' fees, con-
sisting of the manor of Cockenhatch and lands in
Hailey (Heilet) and Bengeo, which were held under
him by the family of Burun, to Aubrey de Vere. The
latter was to hold the knights' fees in demesne until
Robert de Burun paid him £32, after which Robert
was to hold of Aubrey and Aubrey of Ralph.5'' The
knights' fees are described as being formerly held by
Roger de Burun,56 and it is possible that the latter
was the son of the Roger who held 5^ virgates
of Geoffrey de Bech in Bengeo in 1086.57 The
materials giving evidence of the descent of these
knights' fees are scanty. Roger de Burun, grandson
of Robert, was holding land in Bengeo in 1206,
when he made an agreement about I carucate of
land with Thomas de Herlawe. ,s It is probable that
ultimately the Buruns granted their holding in Bengeo
to the Revels, from whom the manor afterwards took
its name, for before 1 1 94 Robert de Burun had
granted certain lands in Cockenhatch to William son
of Andrew de Revel.0" The Revels were holding
land in Bengeo in 1303, when Geoffrey Revel was
X □/v\ODERN
Bengeo Church
returned for half a fee in Bengeo held of the Earl of
Oxford.60 There is no evidence to show how long the
Revels held it or who succeeded them, but in 1495
Thomas Babthorpe died seised of the manor of Revels
in Bengeo in demesne, and it was taken into the
king's hands,61 probably on account of the minority of
the heir. It was evidently restored to the family of
Babthorpe, as it appears to have passed from Nicholas
Babthorpe to William Caldwell,62 whose daughter and
heir Joan conveyed it in marriage to Sir George
Knighton. Their son John Knighton succeeded on
his father's death in 161 3. He gave the manor to
his sister's daughter Mary, who married Henry-
Gardiner. Mary Gardiner, who survived both her
sons and held a court in 1658, was succeeded by her
daughter Mary wife of Henry Dunster. Mary
survived her husband and was lady of the manor in
I 700.63 On her death the manor passed to her son
Giles, who, dying without issue, left it to his nephew
Henry Dunster, possessor of the manor in 1728.6*
It remained with the family of Dunster65 until the
death of Edward Dunster in I 791, when it was sold
to Thomas Hope Byde. Afterwards it came by
purchase together with the principal manor to
William Parker of Ware Park.66
Revel's Hall, the farm-house north-east of
St. Leonard's Church, probably marks the site of the
old manor-house. The present house is a 17th-
century timber-framed building with additions on the
south side.
TheancientchurchofSr.L£OA^/cZ)
CHURCH consists of a chancel measuring internally
24ft. by 19ft. 6 in., with round apsidal
east end, nave 44 ft. by 2 I ft., west bellcote and south
porch. It is built of flint with stone dressings ; the
nave is coated with plaster and the roofs are tiled.
The church is of early I 2th-century date ; windows
have been inserted in later periods and a south porch
was added in the 1 8th century ; the bellcote is
modern. The interior of the nave is now dismantled
and the chancel arch boarded up ; the chancel is still
used for services.
The east window of the chancel is a
single light with splayed inner jambs of
12th-century date, and splayed light with
square head of the 13th century. In the
north wall is a single original light, now
blocked. In the south wall are three win-
dows ; the most easterly is a window of
two cinquefoiled lights under a square head,
and is of 15th-century date, but the inner
jambs belong to an earlier window ; the
inner sill has been cut down to form a
sedile. The next window is a single pointed
light of 13th-century date, and the third is
a single light with square head of the same
period. In the same wall is a blocked door-
way of the 15th century, with four-centred
arch. Much of the external stonework of
windows and doorway has been renewed.
Next the east window on the south is a rough recess
about 2 ft. 3 in. wide, which may have been used as
a locker ; adjoining the two-light window is a small
piscina with cusped head, but it is fragmentary ;
further west is a larger piscina with pointed arch and
hollow-chamfered edge. The portion of stone now
forming the sill allows the old grooved water drain
to be seen. On the north side of the chancel are
two roughly cut openings through the wall, now
concealed by sliding doors in the internal panelling;
these are about 2 ft. in width and 2 ft. 6 in. apart ;
they are about 4 ft. 6 in. in height and appear to
have been cemented inside. It has been suggested
that one of these openings (the other appears to have
been only a recess) was cut to enable an anchorite
to obtain access to the church from a cell outside.
The chancel arch is semicircular, with a span of
M See r.C.H. Herts, i, 334.
55 Had. Chart. 46, I, 30. Geoffrey de
Bech held Hailey and lands in Cocken-
hatch at the time of the Survey. See
V.C.H. Herts, i, 333-4, and see further
under Hailey for a possible subse-
quent devolution of Ralph the Butler's
interest.
56 Harl. Chart. 46, I, 30.
5? See V.C.H. Herts, i, 334*.
58 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 49.
69 Dug^iale, Mo*. Angl. v, 87.
60 Feud. Aids, ii, 433. The other half
of the knight's fee held by William de
Goldington appears to be Thele, which is
mentioned in the inquisition on Willkim
de Goldington in 13 19 (see Ctil. Inq.
p.m. 10-20 Edtv. II, 113).
426
rl Chan. Files, 1623 (old numbering).
62 Feet of F. East. 33 Hen. VIII.
63 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts.
68-9.
M Salmon, Hist. 0/ Herts. 45.
» See Recov. R. Trin. 24 Geo. Ill,
it. 4;.
s, op. cit. Hertford Hund.
36.
Bengeo Church : Chancel Arch looking from the Nave
HERTFORD HUNDRED
about 8 ft. ; it has a large edge-roll on the west side
and is square on the east. The west jambs have
engaged shafts with carved capitals and moulded bases.
It is of 1 2th-century date. Portions of the jambs have
been cut away. The roof of the chancel is modern.
In the north wall of the nave is a single-light
window with i 2th-century inner jambs and arch and
brick exterior. There is a north doorway, now
blocked. In the south wall is a window of two tre-
foiled lights with tracery under a square head, of late
14th-century date, repaired with cement ; the other
window is also of two lights, but has been renewed in
cement. The south doorway is of 12th-century date,
with an inner round arch and a flat lintel on the
outside, and moulded imposts ; the brick south porch
is of 1 8th-century date. In the west wall is a window
of three cinquefoiled lights under a squarehead; it is
of 15th-century date and has been repaired with
cement. The open collar-beam roof over the nave
appears to be old, but the timber bellcote is modern.
The south doorway has an old oak door which may
date from the 14th century. On the jambs of the west
window on the south side of the chancel are some
faint remains of distemper paintings of figure subjects
in which the figure of a bishop can possibly be dis-
cerned, and on the east wall of the nave are other
indications of figures, one of which is crowned ; on the
chancel walls is a red chequer pattern under which is a
much older masonry pattern. Under the communion
table are a number of 14th-century tiles, much worn.
There is one bell, dated 1636, by Robert Oldfeild.
The plate consists of a cup and paten, 1626, a
flagon, two chalices, and two patens, 1862.
The registers before 1812 are as follows : (i)
baptisms 1538 to 1696, burials 1547 to 1696,
marriages 1539 to 1696 ; (ii) baptisms 169610 1782,
marriages 1696 to 1754 ; (iii) burials 1678 to 18 12 ;
(iv) baptisms 1783 to 1812; (v) marriages 1754
to 1797 ; (vi) marriages 1797 to 1812.
The modern church of HOLT TRINITr was
erected in 1855 of squared rubble with ashlar dressings,
and consists of a chancel with organ chamber and
vestry, nave with aisles, and western tower.
A priest is mentioned in the
ADVOWSON Domesday Survey as holding land
of Geoffrey de Bech.67 In 1 1 56 the
LITTLE
BERKHAMPSTEAD
church of Bengeo was granted to the monks of
Bermondsey by Reginald de Tany. The grant
was confirmed by Henry II in I 1 59 and by Richard
de Tany in I272.68 The monks of Bermondsey
retained the rectory and advowson of the vicarage
until the Dissolution.63 They may, however, have
mortgaged part, for in 1268 a fine was levied, by
which Richard Michelefeld and Alexandra his wife
acknowledged the advowson of a fourth part of the
church of Bengeo to be the right of Michael
Testard.70 The king presented in 1338 and 1378,
when the temporalities of the priory were in the
hands of the Crown by reason of the war with
France.71 In 1553 Edward VI granted the rectory
and church of Bengeo to Edward Walter of London,7'
and in 1 563 they were sold by Henry Walter to
George Horsey,73 whose son Sir Ralph Horsey sold
them to Henry Fanshawe in ij96,7< from which
date they followed the descent of the manor of
Bengeo /J until the sale of the Byde property in
1845. They were then bought by Mr. Abel Smith,
whose son Mr. Abel Smith endowed the vicarage
with the great tithes in i848.7Sa The living was
declared a rectory in 1867. Mr. Abel Henry Smith
is the present patron.
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters were cer-
tified in 1810, 1812, 1813, 1817 and 1831. 76
Mrs. Clarke, as stated in the
CHARITIES Parliamentary Returns of 1786, gave
land for the poor. The charity is
known locally as Shaw's Charity. The land is 4^
acres in extent and is let at £g a year, which is
distributed in bread.
In 1870 Captain William Rayner Best bequeathed
^200, now represented by X2I5 &*• 2a'- consols, in
the names of trustees, the annual dividends amounting
to £5 js. 6d. to be applied, subject to the repair of
tomb, in the distribution of money or articles in
kind.
The almshouses, the origin of which is unknown,
consist of six almshouses occupied by six poor widows
without children.
The Lammas lands consist of 20 a. at Chapmore
End let in allotments, producing in 1908 about £33
a year, which was divided in sums of is. i,d. among
577 recipients.
LITTLE BERKHAMPSTEAD
Berchehamstede (xi cent.).
The parish of Little Berkhampstead is bounded on
the north by the River Lea, which separates it from
the parish of Hertingfordbury. The area of the
parish is 1,581 acres of land and 6 acres of water.
The soil is of clay and gravel, the subsoil clay and
chalk, and the chief crops are grass and wheat. The
village, standing at a height of nearly 400 ft., is
situated on a road which runs north to the Lea and
south to Tyler's Causeway, which forms part of the
southern boundary of the parish, and is continued
as the road to Cheshunt. The church lies at the north
end of the village, and a little further along the road
is the old manor-house of the Welds. The house is
a timber and plaster building of the early part of the
1 7th century, with a tiled roof. It has an open timber
porch on the east side and a bay window with moulded
wooden transoms and mullions on the north. Most of
the internal details are modern, but part of the original
hall ceiling still exists decorated with roses and other
flowers in low relief. The house is the property of
Mr. A. Hale, and is now used as a cyclists' resort.
67 V.C.ti. Hem. i, 3346.
68 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 89 ; Harl.
MS. 231, fol. 18, 42.
69 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 102.
;oFeet of F. Herts. 52 Hen. Ill,
no. 603.
71 Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 60 ; 1377-81,
p. 277.
« Add. MS. 27979 (Ware, co. Herts.
Abstract of Evidences, 1570-1668), fol.
16.
73 Add. MS. 27979, fol. l6 i Feet of F.
Herts. East. 5 Eliz.
427
74 Add. MS. 27979, foL 16; Feet of F.
Mich. 38 & 39 Eliz.
75 Inst. Bks. P.R.O.; Recov. R. East.
20 Chas. II, rot. 153.
75a Information from Mr. H. Gosselin-
Grimshawe.
76 Urwick, Nanconf. in Herts. 484.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The modern house called the Manor House, further
north, is the residence of Mr. Cornelius Hanbury.
On the north side of Berkhampstead Lane and
close to the church and village are the rectory and
Little Berkhampstead House. The latter was formerly
the property of Owen Lloyd, stationer, of Temple
Bar, who died in 1756, and left it to his nephew
Samuel Gibbons. It was acquired early in the last
century by Thomas Daniell, grandfather of the present
owner, Mr. A. E. Daniell. Pondfield, the residence
of Mr. Percival Bosanquet, stands in a park about
half a mile north-east of the church. At the southern
end of the village stands the Village Hall, which was
built in 1888, and south of the hall is the school.
About a quarter of a mile east of the church is
The Gage (formerly the Gaze or Gaze Place), a late
I 6th-century house, much altered subsequently. It
is of brick and timber with tiled roofs and contains
some late I 7th-century panelling. In the grounds on
high land is a circular tower built mainly of 17th-
century bricks in 1789 by John Stratton as an observa-
tory. The house belonged to John Bentley at the
end of the 17th century. It was acquired by John
Stratton in 1 780, and is now the property of his
grandson Colonel J. H. Stratton. At Woodcock
Lodge Farm are the remains of a homestead moat.
This house belonged in the early 17th century to
William Smithsby, groom of the Privy Chamber to
Charles I. He sold it to William Priestley of Cam-
field (see Essendon), in whose family it remained
until the death of Meliora Priestley,1 widow, in 1 76 1.
It afterwards came into the possession of William
Baker of Bayfordbury.
Little Berkhampstead is said to have been the
birthplace of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells,
who was born in 163 7-la
Epping Green, a hamlet, lies I mile south of the
village, and another hamlet, Howe Green (probably
Le Hoo of the 1 5 th century), lies a mile to the north.
Epping House, to the west of Epping Green, was the
property of William Home, attorney-general, who
died in i860. It now belongs to Mr. B. H. Hen-
derson."'
An inclosure award was made in I 842. 2 Ashfield,
Sprowsefield and Mill Field were the principal com-
mon fields.
Hardwin de Scales held LITTLE
MANOR BERKHAMPSTEAD at the time of
the Domesday Survey, when it gelded
at 5 hides. Before the Conquest 2 hides of the
manor were held by Semar, a priest, 2 hides by a
certain widow, Levefa, and I hide by Uluric.
According to the testimony of the shire-moot these
lands were of the ' alms ' of King Edward and his
royal ancestors.3 The manor descended in the Scales
family to Geoffrey de Scales,4 who in 1223 granted
it to Falkes de Breaute and his heirs to hold by the
service of rendering one pair of gilt spurs or 6d.
at Easter, for all service except foreign service.6
Falkes de Breaute forfeited his possessions to the
Crown in 1224,6 and the houses in Little Berk-
hampstead which had belonged to him were
removed to the castle of Hertford.7 The manor,
which should have been restored to the Scales
family, was apparently kept by the king, who in
1225 gave orders that the old court, chapel, brew-
house and ' marescalcia ' were still to be left at Little
Berkhampstead for John Marshall, to whom he had
granted Falkes's lands in Little Berkhampstead during
pleasure. In 1226, however, the sheriff was ordered
to move the ' domus marescalciae ' from Little Berk-
hampstead to the castle of Hertford whenever the
carriage of it should cause least inconvenience to
the neighbourhood.8 The manor was granted by the
king in 1226 to Nicholas de Moels 9 during pleasure,
a grant afterwards changed into one in fee.9" His
son Roger held it in I 278 10 and received a grant of
free warren in 1290." Roger, who died before July
1295, was succeeded by his
son John,13 summoned to Par-
liament as Lord Moels. Ex-
tents of the manor at this date
mention a water-mill. On the
death of John in 1 3 10 the
manor went to his son Nicho-
las,13 who, by a fine with
Philip de Courtenay in I 3 1 3,
settled it on himself and his
wife Margaret and theirheirs.14
When Nicholas Lord Moels
died before 1 2 March 131 5 —
1 6 his heir was his brother
Roger.16 Roger de Moels died
without issue in 1325, and was succeeded by his
brother John,16 who in 1328 obtained a licence to
exchange some of his other lands for the life interest
of Margaret, his sister-in-law, in the manor of Little
Berkhampstead.17 As John had no male heir, on his
death in 1337 the barony of Moels fell into abey-
ance and his lands were divided between his daughters
Muriel and Isabel. Isabel, who had married William
de Botreaux, received Little Berkhampstead in 1347
as part of her share of the inheritance.18
William Lord Botreaux, son of Isabel, was under
age when his father died in I 349,19 and his estates
remained in wardship until 1 3 59-ao He leased the
manor in 1375 to Edmund de Hyndon for the term
of the latter's life,21 and in 1384 to William Frame-
lyngham, citizen and skinner of London, for twenty
years.'2 William Lord Botreaux died in 1 39 1 and
Moels, Lord Mods,
\rgent two bars gule:
nth three roundels pile;
1 the chief.
1 In 1755 Mrs. Priestley created a rent-
charge of £16 ioi. on the house, of
which £10 were to be applied for the
schooling of the poorest girls of the parish
of Bow and ^6 for providing twenty six-
penny loaves on the first Sunday of the
month for nineteen of the poorest inhabit-
ants who should attend divine service
most regularly (Close, 29 Geo. II, pt. vi,
no. 5). la Diet. Nat. Biog.
lb The history of the different houses
in the parish has been kindly supplied by
Mr. C. E. Johnston.
2 Blue Bh. Incl. Awards, 63.
s Dom. Bk. (Rcc. Com.), i, 142a.
4 For the descent of the family of
Scales seeChallers in Reed, p. 248.
6 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Hen. Ill, no. 63.
6 Diet. Nat. Biog. ii, 1 1 58.
7 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 34.
8 Ibid. 48*, 130.
9 Ibid. 131.
9» Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 8o-
The Charter Roll is now defective (see
C.E.Johnston, Early Hist, of Little Bert-
hamstead, 270).
10 Assize R. 323.
11 Cal. Chart. R. 1257— 1300, p. 365.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I, no. 59 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
428
13 Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Edw.
1 04.
« Feet of F. Herts. 7 Edw. II
133 ; Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 528.
lb Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Edw. II, 38
16 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, V, 32
17 Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 262.
18 Cal. Close, 1346-9, p. 298.
19 Abbrcv. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com
202^.
*> G.E.C. Complete Peerage, i, 38S
21 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill,
(2nd nos.), no. 28 ; Close, 49 Edw
m. 26.
■ ), H,
!.
pt. ii
. Ill,
! Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, no. b.
Little Berkhampstead Church from the North
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Botreaux, Lord Bo-
treaux. Argent a griffon
was succeeded by his son William.83 who survived
him less than a year, leaving a son, another William,
under age.24 By 1402 the
manor had passed, probably
by sale, to John Norbury,"'
who had already in 1388 ac-
quired the manor of Bedwell
with lands and tenements in
Little Berkhampstead,26 and
who in 14.06 received a grant
of free warren and licence to
make a park in these manors.27
From 1402 the manor of
Little Berkhampstead must
have followed the descent of
Bedwell in Essendon (q.v.),
as it formed part of the possessions of the Marquess
of Exeter which were granted to Sir Anthony Denny
in I547.28 In 1600 it was sold by Sir Edward
Denny, grandson of Sir Anthony, to Humphrey
Weld, citizen and alderman of London.29 From Sir
Humphrey Weld it passed in 16 10 to his son John
(afterwards Sir John) Weld,30 and the latter, dying
in 1623, left it to his son Humphrey, who was a
minor.31 Humphrey suffered a recovery of the
manor in l639.32 In 1645 it was sold by Frances
Weld, widow of Sir John Weld, to Phineas Andrews,
a London merchant.33 In 1655 Phineas Andrews
sold the manor to George Nevill M of Staple Inn,
London, who died in 1679, leaving as heir a daughter
Elizabeth, the wife of Crom-
well Fleetwood.'5 She died
without issue in [6g2,36when
the manor passed to her cousin
John Nevill's son George,37
who sold it in 171 3 to Sir
John Dimsdale.38 He died in
1726 and his widow was
owner of the manor in 1728."
As Sir John Dimsdale left no
issue, the heir under his will
was his cousin Thomas Dims-
dale,40 who in 1768 was made
a baron of the Russian Empire.
He died in I 800, leaving the
manor to his second son
Nathaniel, who had received
a title similar to his father's.
Nathaniel, dying unmarried in 181 1, left the manor
to his sister Anne Dimsdale, who was the possessor
in 18 17." When she died unmarried in 1832 the
manor went by will to her nephew Thomas Robert
fourth Baron Dimsdale, on whose death without
male issue in 1865 it passed to his wife. On her
Dimsdale. Argent
a Jesse dancetty azure
with three bezants there-
on befzceen three molets
sable and an augmentation
of a scutcheon or -with an
eagle's iving sable thereon.
LITTLE
BERKHAMPSTEAD
death in 1874 it was vested in her sons-in-law, Vice-
Admiral Sir Walter Tarleton, K.C.B., and Colonel
David Henry Mackinnon, as trustees for her four
daughters, Lucinda widow of Major George Darby
Griffith, Ann widow of the Rev. Henry Dawson,
Finette Esther wife of Sir Walter Tarleton, and
Caroline Mrs. Mackinnon.42 The present lords of
the manor are Mr. A. M. Mackinnon and Mr. A. H.
Tarleton.
The church of ST. JNDREW stands
CHURCH about the centre of the village, and con-
sists of chancel 22 ft. by 16 ft., north
chapel 13 ft. by 11ft. 6 in., nave 39 ft. 6 in. by
20 ft., north aisle 24 ft. by 1 5 ft., south porch and
wooden bell-cote ; all the measurements are internal.
The walls are faced with Kentish rag.
The church is said to have been rebuilt about 1647
on the site of an older building, but the only remains
of that date are parts of the east and west walls, the
rest of the church being modern. In the chancel
are some late 17th-century floor-slabs to the families
of Pendred, Nevill and Fleetwood.
There are three bells : the first, by John Waylett,
dated 1718; the second inscribed 'Ave Maria gracia
plena dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus ' in
Lombardic lettering ; the third, dated 1 62 I, cast by
Robert Oldfeild.
The communion plate consists of a cup of 1565, a
cover paten of 1576, another paten, 172 I, an almsdish
with handles (silver), 1 791, a plated flagon (Sheffield),
c. I 790, and two pewter almsdishes, c. 1 720.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms, burials and marriages 1647 to 1708; (ii)
baptisms 1 71 2 to 1 762, burials 1721 to 1762,
marriages 1 7 14 to 1747 ; (iii) baptisms and burials
1769 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1 756 to 1812.
Hugh de Scales, lord of the manor
JDVOIVSON in the 12th century, gave the
church of Little Berkhampstead to
the priory of Lewes, and the grant was confirmed by
Henry his son and Hugh his grandson.43 In 1 397
the king presented ' by reason of his wardship of the
land and heir of William Botreaux, kt., tenant-in-
chief,' '* and he also presented in I 399 45 and again
in 1444,'° but by what title does not appear. In
1538 the advowson of the church of Little Berk-
hampstead was granted to Thomas Cromwell with
the priory of Lewes.47 In 161 2 Robert Earl of
Salisbury died seised of the advowson,48 and the
advowson was retained by his descendants,49 the
Marquess of Salisbury holding the patronage at the
present day.
A house was licensed as a Presbyterian meeting-
place in Little Berkhampstead in 1672, and one at
*> Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, no. 6.
24 G.E.C. op. cit. i, 389.
35 Feud. Aids, ii, 443 ; see Feet of F.
Herts. Trin. 3 Hen. V, no. 34, which is
a fine levied by Sir William Botreaux to
John Norbury in 141 5. This was pro-
bably for assurance of title after Lord
Botreaux came of age.
26 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D448.
87 Chart. R. 6 & 7 Hen. IV, no. 5.
18 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. ix.
29 Feet of F. Herts, printed in Herts.
Gen. and Antiq. ii, 321 ; Close, 42 Eliz.
pt. xxiii. Reservation was made of the
demesne lands which had been inclosed
in Bedwell Park.
* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii,
•73-
31 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. 17.
38 Recov. R. Trin. 15 Chas. I, rot. 60.
33 Close, 21 Chas. I, pt. x, no. 32.
For details about Andrews see Johnston,
op. cit. 66.
31 Close, 1655, pt. xlii, no. 20.
3i M.I.
3« Ibid.
3' C. E. Johnston, op. cit. 67.
38 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 2 Anne.
33 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 26.
40 Clutterbuck, Hist. andAnlij. of Herts.
"» 33-
" Ibid. 34.
429
48 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 168.
43 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 3.
** Cal. Pat. 1396-9, p. 59. There is
no other evidence that the lord of the
manor had anv right in the advowson at
this date (De Banco R. Trin. 23 Ric. II,
m. 324).
45 Ibid. 1 399-1401, p. 38.
40 Ibid. 1441-6, p. 274.
47 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (1), g. 384
(74).
48 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclviii,
10S.
« See Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Recov. R.
East. 9 Geo. 11, rot. 194.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Epping Green was certified as a place of worship for
Protestant Dissenters in lSio.50
In 1730 Maurice Hunt, by will,
CHJRITIES bequeathed £600 in trust for the use
of the poor. The legacy is now repre-
sented by ^558 5/. consols with the official trustees,
producing £1} 19/. yearly, which, in pursuance of a
decree of the Court of Chancery, is distributable in
November among the poor. In 191 1 twenty-four per-
sons received gifts of money varying from 10/. to zos.
BROXBOURNE WITH HODDESDON
Brochesborne (xi cent.) ; Brokesburn.
The civil parish of Broxbourne,1 which has an
area of 1,932 acres, contains 509 acres of arable land,
658 acres of permanent grass and 686 acres of wood.*
The ground slopes downward from the west of the
parish, which lies at more than 300 ft. above the
ordnance datum, to the east, where the elevation is
less than 100 ft., on the banks of the River Lea,
which forms the boundary between Broxbourne and
Nazeing, the neighbouring parish in Essex. The
Spital Brook, which runs into the Lea on the east of
the parish, forms the boundary between the civil
parishes of Broxbourne and Hoddesdon for a little
way before the junction. The main road from
London to Ware and the north passes through the
eastern end of the parish and forms the main street of
the village of Broxbourne. In this street are a few
old houses, notably The Gables at the south end of
the village, which is a two-storied house dating from
the early part of the 17th century. It is a timber-
framed house now covered with plaster, with a modern
front. The chimney-stack and one fireplace are pro-
bably original. The Bull Inn, in the middle of the
village on the west side of High Street, is also a 1 7th-
century timber and plaster house. Opposite the
Bull Inn are the Monson Almshouses erected in
1728. They are contained in a plain two-storied
building of brick, with sash-windows, and a crowning
cornice of moulded brick. Over the entrance door-
way is the following inscription : —
' This Building is Erected at the Sole | charge of
Dame Laetitia Monson | Relict of Sr William
Monson Bart | and was Daughter of John Lord
Poulett I of Hinton St George in the County of
Somersett, which Gift is for the Relief | and Benefitt
of poore Widows of the | Parish of Broxborne in
Hartfordshire | in the year of our Lord 1728.'
Above on a lozenge are the arms of Monson im-
paling Poulett.
The Cedars in the High Street, although an
18th-century house, contains an early 17th-century
staircase. From the main street Pound Lane and
Mill Lane run eastward, the latter passing the church
of St. Augustine and the vicarage, and leading to the
Broxbourne mill, which is picturesquely situated on
the old stream of the River Lea. To the west two
lanes turn off. The lower leads to Baas manor-house,
an early I 7th-century brick and plastered timber build-
ing now divided into two tenements, Cold Hall and
Cold Hall Green, and the higher to Broxborne Bury,
the seat of the lord of the manor. Broxborne Bury
is a 16th-century house of red brick and stone with
roofs partly tiled, slated and leaded. It was probably
built by John Cock, who received a grant of the
manor in I 5+4. In the following century an addi-
tion was made to the west side of the house, and in
the 19th century it was much altered and largely
rebuilt. Some of the chimney-stacks appear to be
original, and there is a fireplace on the first floor,
which is also of the 16th century. The windows
are of the iSth century or modern.
The western half of the parish is largely covered
by beautiful woods, chiefly of oak, beech and horn-
beam.
The Great Eastern railway runs through the parish
parallel to the main street and between it and the
river. The station is situated at the end of Pound
Lane and Station Road. It is doubtless due to the
railway that the new quarter of the town to the
north of the church, consisting mainly of villa resi-
dences and practically continuous with the southern
extension of Hoddesdon, has grown up within the
last fifty years.
The subsoil of the parish is London Clay, with the
exception of a narrow strip of Alluvium on the banks
of the Lea. '1 he chalk is not far below the clay on
the lower lands. There is a disused gravel-pit east
of Broxborne Bury Park.
The inclosure award was made in 1843 and 1850,
and is in the custody of the clerk of the peace.3
The civil parish of Hoddesdon, formed from those
of Broxbourne and Great Amwell, has an area of 2,685
acres, which on 1 January 1895 was divided into
the parishes of Hoddesdon Urban, ',575 acres,
and Hoddesdon Rural, 1,1 10 acres.' The combined
parishes contain 563 J acres of arable land, 912J acres
of permanent grass, and 724 acres of wood.5
The elevation of the western half of the parish is
over 200 ft. above the ordnance datum, with the
exception of a small area by the Spital Brook, where
it falls to 1 70 ft. In the east the ground slopes down-
ward towards the Lea, which forms the eastern boun-
dary of the parish. The town of Hoddesdon continues
up the main road from Broxbourne, and is hardly
separated from that village. About the middle of the
town the road divides into Amwell Street and Burlord
Street, both running north to Ware, the Clock House
being situated at the junction in the open space in
front of the Maidenhead Inn. Amwell Street, on
the west side of which there are some 17th-century
cottages, passes the church of St. Paul and the vicarage,
and meets the road from Hertford a little further
north. Burford Street, which is part of the Stan-
stead Road, has two roads branching off to the east,
Rye Road leading to the suburb of Rye Park, and
Essex Road, the more southerly of the two, which
crosses the New River, passes Geddings and goes on
to the Lea. South of the town hall two roads run
M Urwick, Nonconf. in Hem. 487,
488.
1 The ecclesiastical parish of Riux-
bourne in 1S3I included the present civil
parishes of Hoddesdon and Broxbourne.
Hoddesdon chapelry was formed in 1844
(see below).
■ Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
430
3 Blue Bi. Ind. A-j.-ar
4 Stat. 56 & 57 Vict.
5 Statistics from
(1905).
of Agr
HERTFORD HUNDRED
west from the High Street, Lord Street (formerly
Lord's Lane), the most northerly, leading past High
Leigh, the residence of Mr. Robert Barclay, J. P.
Opposite Lord's Lane was the old market cross which
stood at least until the end of the 17th century. A
little south of the cross was the market-house, built
about 1634. The market-place occupied the space
between the cross and the present clock-house. The
market-house was pulled down in I 8 3 3, and the market
soon after ceased to be held. The cattle market now
held on a site to the south of the old cross was founded
in 1886.5* Eastwards from the High Street Conduit
Lane runs down to Lynch mill pond, from which the
stream called the Lynch flows to the Lea. Lynch
mill pond is mentioned in 1 569 as 'a pond anciently
called "le Lince" where is now built a water mill.'5b
The Wollans Brook, which flows through Box Wood
and the north of the parish, falls into the Lea.
In the High Street are many old houses. Rawdon
House, now St. Monica's Priory, a convent of the
canonesses of the Augustinian order, on the east side
was built by Sir Marmaduke Rawdon in 1622, as
appears from a stone over the porch and many rain-
water heads bearing this date and the initials M.R.
The house is a large red brick rectangular building
with stone dressings and a tiled roof, to which a wing
was added in 1880. It is of two stories with an
attic and has a porch and bay windows, both of two
stories, in front, and a central tower, in which is the stair-
case, at the back. The hall has a ceiling ornamented
with fleurs de lis, roses, &c, and a fireplace with
plaster figures. There are a fine oak staircase with
heraldic figures and some good old doors and panel-
ling, but many of the original fittings were sold by the
canonesses, three of the fireplaces b:ing purchased by
Sir Charles Wittewronge and set up at Rothamsted
House, Harpenden. A little to the north of St. Monica's
Priory on the same side of the road is Stanboroughs
House, now the Conservative club, the main part of
which was built about 1 600 of timber and plaster work
and a wing of brick added in 1637, according to a
date upon the rain-water heads. A good deal of the
woodwork within is original, including a fine oak stair-
case in the added wing and some oak panelling and
doors. On the same side of the road is Hogges Hall,
originally built probably in the 15 th century. The
exterior of the house is modern, but some of the
internal details, including the timber ceiling of the
hall and a wooden doorway, are of the 1 5 th century.
There is also some 16th and 17th-century panelling
which is not in its original position.
On the west side of the road is the Grange (once
an inn called the ' Cock '), a brick house of two
stories, built in 1657, but almost rebuilt in the I 8th
century. It contains some 1 7th century panelling
and an overmantel of the same period, together with
three doors of the early part of that century.
There have always been many inns in the town.
The ' Black Lion ' (now the ' Salisbury Arms ') was
held in the 16th century of the manor of Geddings.6
Henry Barrell or Burwell, serjeant-at-arms and tenant
of the 'Black Lion,' died in 1562, leaving a widow
BROXBOURNE
WITH HODDESDON
Jane, who afterwards married Christopher Lyster.
His son Henry Barrell entered upon the tenement
at his father's death, but died in 1566 and was suc-
ceeded by his brother George 7 Another inn called
the 'George' was held before 1464 by Richard
Riche8 and remained in his family until 1528,
when it was sold by Thomas son of Thomas and
Rachel Riche to Sir Thomas Baldry, alderman, and
John Garwey, mercer of London.1* In the 1 7th
century it was held by George Taylor and afterwards
by John Marshall. In 1702 it was sold by Matthew
Clarke to Edward Browne.10 The Golden Lion Inn
stands on the west side of the High Street and is a
two-storied house of plastered timber and brick with
an overhanging story built in the early part of the
17th century, but much altered at a later date. The
Old Swan Inn is a similar house built in the latter
part of the 17th century, and the Griffin Hotel
contains some woodwork possibly of the same century.
Another inn called the ' Bull,' the front of which
appears to date from the 1 8th century, projects over
the pathway, the two upper floors being carried on
Ionic columns. Near the southern end of High Street
is some good Georgian work. A house on the east
side three stories in height, with a moulded brick
string-course and cornice, has a good Doric doorcase
with elaborate fretwork in the metope of the frieze
containing in Roman characters the date 1746.
At Connals Farm is the stone conduit-head pre-
sented to the town by Sir Marmaduke Rawdon in
the early part of the 1 7th century. It formerly
stood at the town well in the High Street, and repre-
sents the three-quarter length figure of a woman carry-
ing a pitcher. The old ' Thatched House,' immor-
talized by Izaak Walton, stood on the site of the
brewery offices of Messrs. Christie & Co., adjoining
the brewery in the High Street. The clock-house
itself stands on the site of the ancient chapel of St.
Catherine. In it is hung a bell, probably from that
chapel, which was cast by Thomas Bullisdon at the
beginning of the 16th century and bears the inscrip-
tion ' Sancta Ana ora pro nobis.'11
In the west of the parish, which is thickly wooded,
runs the Ermine Street, a Roman way, which crosses
the Spital Brook and passes through the Hoddesdon
Woods. There is a tumulus at Hoddesdonbury on
the south side of the road. The hospital of St. Laud
and St. Anthony, of which the first record seems
to be in the 14th century, has left its name in
Spital Brook, near which it stood. The hospital
(which survived the Dissolution) fell into decay
towards the end of the 16th century, and the Spital
House was then adapted for the use of the free
grammar school founded by Queen Elizabeth by
charter of 4 January 1559-60. By the same charter
the queen incorporated the town of Hoddesdon
under the style of a bailiff and warden of the
town and school, and eight assistants, and granted
the tolls of the market and of two fairs to the cor-
poration. The school, however, was apparently
discontinued before 1 595, and nothing further is heard
of the corporation.113
6» Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 243
seq.
252, where a history of the
Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cli, 59 ; clxi,
, 91.
There is a brass in the church
mill is g
6Cha.
said to be that of John Barrell,
jeant-at-arms to Henry VIII (see u
church).
» P.C.C. 4 Godyn.
9 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 19 I
VIII.
10 Close, 1 Anne, pt. ix, no. 9.
431
11 For an account of many other houses
and inns see chapter on Roads and Ways
and Inns and their Signs in Tregelles's
Hist, of Hoddesdon.
u" See article on Religious Houses,
V.C.H. Herts, iv ; Tregelles, op. cit. 229
et seq. ; Pat. 2 Eliz. pt. Hi, m. 31.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The Great Eastern railway passes through the
east of the parish and Rye House station is in the
extreme north-east.
The subsoil of the parish is chiefly London Clay
on chalk, but in the east this gives place to Woolwich
and Reading Beds, beyond which is a strip of Allu-
vium by the Lea. In the north-east a wedge of
Chalk separates the two latter. There are many
gravel-pits in the parish.
The inclosure award was made in 1855, and
Lampits Field was inclosed in 1 84.1 . Both awards
are in the custody of the clerk of the peace.12 The
chief common fields were Lowefeld, Westfeld, Mid-
dlefeld (or Ditchfeld), Estfeld (or Ryefeld), Lampit-
feld, and Southfeld. The chief common meadows
were Dole Mead, Ditch Mead, Chaldwell Mead and
South Mead.12a
Other place-names that occur in Broxbourne and
Hoddesdon are Phelippesholm, Flodgate Bridge,
Huttescroft, Beggeres-grene, Gosewellehelle, Algores-
holme, LofFeld (xiii cent.) ; Hathell, le Newelonde,
Coppethorne (xiv cent.) ; Pikottes, Sawells, Sampsons,
Broderedyng, Longhedge and Ptockinges (xv and
xvi cent.) ; Tunefield, Harfield, Cockabury Stable
(xvii cent.) ; Morsforlong, Sparewynesmade, Lawe-
feld, Godewelleacre, Blakemad, Pafoghel and Curst-
marsh.
The manor of BROXBOURNE was
MANORS held in the time of Edward the Con-
fessor by Stigand, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, whose reeve held half a hide of it as a soke-
man. In 1086 it was held by Adeliza wife of
Hugh de Grantmesnil, and was assessed at 5^ hides.13
Ivo de Grantmesnil, son and heir of Hugh," gave
Broxbourne to the abbey of Bermondsey, but as a con-
sequence of his having previously mortgaged his estates
to Robert Count of Meulan and first Earl of Leicester
to defray the expenses of his journey to the Holy Land
and dying on the way, Robert is said to have taken
possession of Broxbourne with the consent of the monks
of Bermondsey.1' Robert died in I I I 8, and Waleran,
his eldest son, took his father's Norman lands and
became Count of Meulan,
while Robert, the second son,
became Earl of Leicester and
inherited the English estates.16
Robert Earl of Leicester, son
of the latter, married in 11 68
Parnell or Petronilla, the
heiress of the Grantmesnils
and apparently granddaughter
of Ivo,17 shortly after which
Robert and Parnell, with the
consent of their sons William
and Robert, gave the manor
of Broxbourne to the Knights
Hospitallers.18 King John confirmed this grant in
I 199,19 and the manor remained in the hands of the
Hospitallers until the dissolution of their order in
PITALL
argent.
1540.20 In 1 33 1 the king confirmed a charter of
the late prior, Thomas Larcher, by which he granted
the manor, reserving the lordship and royalty of his
tenants there, to Edward de St. John for life, at a
rent of 1 o marks for the first
five years and of 5 marks for
the rest of the term.31 In
1539 it was leased to John
Sargeante, dyer, of London,
for twenty-nine years.2'
In 1544 Broxbourne
Manor, with woods of 70
acres called Broxbourne Wood,
Broderedyng, and Longe-
hedge, was granted to John
Cock,23 who died seised of it
in 1557, leaving it to his wife
Anne as jointure, after whose
death it passed to his son Henry.2' Sir Henry Cock died
in March 1609- 10, leaving two daughters, Frances,
the wife of Sir Edmund Lucy, and Elizabeth, who
married first Robert West and secondly Sir Robert
Oxenbridge.25 Broxbourne was apportioned to Eliza-
beth, who married thirdly Sir
Richard Lucy about 1 6 1 7, and
died in 1645.26 Sir Richard
survived her and continued
to hold the manor until his
death in 1667, when it passed
to Ursula Oxenbridge, daugh-
ter of Elizabeth Cock by her
second husband.27 Ursula was
the w'fe of Sir John Monson,
bart., K.B., who died in 1683,
and was succeeded by his grand-
son Henry.28 Sir Henry Mon-
son died childless in I 7 1 8 and
his brother William died in
March 1726-7, when Broxbourne
Monson, Lord Mon-
son. Or ttL-o ckei'crons
rules.
1 his
This
rSSS.
passed
nephew John, son of a third brother George.
Sir John Monson was created
Lord Monson of Burton in
1728 and lived until 1748.30
His son John died in 1774,31
and his grandson, also named
John, joined with his mother
Theodosia Dowager Lady
Monson in selling the manor
of Broxbourne in 1790 to
Jacob Bosanquet.3' The latter
was succeeded in 1830 by his
son George Jacob Bosanquet,
whose daughter and only child
Cecily married Horace James
Smith, second son of Samuel
George Smith of Sacombe.33
Upon becoming lord of the
manor of Broxbourne in right of his wife in 1866
Mr. Horace Smith assumed the surname of Bosanquet.34
a chief wav
a crescent I
six-pointed t.
rgent
12 Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 64.
Ua Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 90 et
acq., where the position of these fields is
described. See also p. 1 84 et seq. tor many
other rield-names.
13 V.C.H. Herts, i, 344,,.
14 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
u Dugdale, Man. v, 87.
16 G.E.C. op. cit. " Ibid.
^ Cat. Rot. Chart. 1190-1216 (Rec.
Com.), 16. 19 Ibid.
80 Assize R. 323 ; Dugdale, Mon. vii,
799-800.
21 Cal. Tat. 1330-4, p. 101. See also
Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddtsdm, 76.
a Misc.Bks.Land Rev.Recvii.fol.Igza.
23 L.andP. Hen. fill, xix(l), 80(48).
" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iii, 82.
83 Ibid, cccxix, 200.
»6 N. and Q. (Ser. 2), vii, 37 j Recov.
R. Herts. Mich. 15 Jas. I, rot. 1 1 1.
•'7 N. and Q. loc. cit.
432
28 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage; Chauncy,
Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 289.
29 Ibid. ; Recov. R. Mich. 10 Geo. I,
rot. 165. s0 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
31 Ibid. ; Recov. R. East. 24 Geo. II,
rot. 1 ; 3.
32 Close, 30 Geo. Ill, pt. xiv, no. 10.
33 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford Hund.
187, 201.
3< Ibid. 177; Burke, Landed Gentry
(1906).
HERTFORD HUNDRED
He died in 1908 and was succeeded by his son Mr.
George Smith-Bosanquet, who is the present possessor.
Broxbourne possessed a mill in 1086,35 which passed
with the estate of the Knights Hospitallers. The
mills were granted with the manor in 1544 to John
Cock, together with ' le lokk ' upon the River Lea,
through which water was carried from the river to
the mills.36 John Cock in the same year granted
the lock and the mills to William Garnett and
Agnes," and in 1550 the mills were granted as
' parcel of the lands of William Garnett ' to Ralph
Sadleir and Laurence Wennyngton and the heirs of
Ralph, being then or late in the tenure of Richard
Stansfeld.'8 William Garnett, however, died seised of
them in 1559, leaving a son William.39 At the end
of the 1 6th century the mills and lock were held by
Robert Garnett, who died in 1600 or shortly after,
leaving his property to his daughter Elizabeth, who
was then the wife of Abraham Hartwell. She soon
afterwards married Robert Bennett, and died in 1610,
when she was succeeded by John Hartwell, her son
by her first husband." John Hartwell died in 1 644
seised of two water-mills called Broxbourne Mills and
two other mills, and also the lock, all of which passed
to his cousin Henry Hartwell, son of Abraham Hart-
well's brother Alexander.41 In 1671 the vicar of
the parish sued the occupier of the water-mills, then
Thomas Pryor, for his tithe. This had been fixed
at one peck of the best wheat meal weekly, for which
a former vicar in 1662-3 na^ compounded for £4
a year. It was then stated that there were three
water corn-mills under one roof."
In 1547 'the sewer called a Weyre, and a fishery
called the Weyre, and one island called the Islande
and the shrubbery and wood,' and two meadows in
Broxbourne and Nazeing (the neighbouring parish
of Essex) were granted to Sir William Herbert and
his heirs, having been part of the possessions of the
Knights Hospitallers.13 This weir and fishery with
the island were subsequently held by Elizabeth
Bennett, the heiress of the Garnetts," and descended
with the mills."
In 1670 Sir John Monson obtained a licence to
make a park of 320 acres, and to ' enjoy franchise
and liberty of free chace and free warren within the
same,' and to store it with deer and coneys.46 It is
mentioned in 1 75 1, but is said to have been dis-
parked in the time of the last Lord Monson who held
Broxbourne, and to have been converted partly into
a grazing farm and partly cultivated.47 A park of
about 330 acres still surrounds the Bury.
Besides the manor of Broxbourne there were in
1086 several holdings in Hoddesdon, whose assess-
ment made a total of about 10 hides.48 Of these one
holding assessed at 2 hides and 3 virgates was in the
hands of Alan Count of Britanny and formed a
Baa. Guksacheiteron
between three roundels
argent.
35 V.C.H. Hem. i, 344a.
3« L. and P. Hen. Fill, xix (l), 80 (48).
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxxvii, 6.
38 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 21.
39 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxxvii, 6.
40 Ibid, cccxvi, 19.
41 Ibid, dxxxi, 78.
« Exch. Dep. Mich. 23 Chas. II, no. 3.
,s Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 24.
44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxvi, 19.
45 Ibid, dxxxi, 78.
46 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1660-70, pp. 337,
563 ; Recov. R. East. 24 Geo. II, rot.
"S3-
" Paper among Sir J. Ei
Herts. Co. Museum, St. Albans.
48 V.C.H. Herts, i, 320a, 322, 330,
331.342*.
49 Ibid.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 1.
51 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 467.
" Ibid.
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 1.
54 Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 24
(quoting deed at Hatfield).
5<a Ibid.
55 Feud. Aids, ii, 433. The fee is said
to be held of the Earl of Oxford, but
433
BROXBOURNE
WITH HODDESDON
berewick of his manor of Cheshunt, and another,
consisting of i hide, was held of Geoffrey de Mande-
ville49 by a certain Ralph.
The manor of BAAS, was formed out ot lands
held of both these fees.50 Early in the 13th cen-
tury this manor seems to have been in the tenure of
John de Burgh, and he en-
feoffed of it Henry de Baa or
Ba (Bathonia),61 from whom
it takes its name. The manor
was recovered against Henry
by the king as an escheat on
the ground that Henry was
a Norman, but in 1 257 it
was confirmed to him and his
wife Aline.5' Aline, widow
of Henry de Baa, died about
1274 seised of a messuage,
120 acres of arable land, 3^
acres of meadow, 10 acres of
pasture, 8 acres of wood,
19/. <\.d. rent of assize, and a fishpond in Broxbourne,
held of the Earl of Hereford (representing Geoffrey
de Mandeville) by scutage for a quarter of a knight's
fee and of the Count of Britanny by a rent of 20/,
with small services to other lords.53 Henry left a
son and heir John, who conveyed the manor to John
Pykard and Joan his wife, niece of John Baa.54 In
1297 John Pykard, keeper of the king's forests in the
county of Huntingdon, exchanged the manor with
Richard Chertsey .5(a John Chertsey is recorded as
the holder of a quarter of a fee in Broxbourne in
1303,55 and in 1394-5 the 'manor of Bas ' was
settled on John Chertsey and Isabel his wife.56 In
1402-3 it was held by Richard Spice, who seems to
have been the second husband of this Isabel, for he
leased the manor to John Chertsey (apparently the
son and heir of the above-mentioned John) ' for the
term of the life of Isabel wife of the said Richard.'57
After the death of Isabel the manor evidently came
to John Chertsey and descended to his son, also John,
for in 141 8 'John, son and heir of John Chertsey,'
conveyed Baas to Robert Hackeston and John
Neweton.58
The manor seems to have remained in the hands
of trustees for some time. In 1426-7 one William
Rotse surrendered his right in the manor to William
Lochard and others,59 and in 1430-1 Edmund
Chertsey, son and heir of John Chertsey, released
his right to Nicholas Dixon and others.60 Pro-
bably these transactions were for the purpose of a
mortgage to Thomas Gloucester, for the latter held
courts at Baas from 1433 onwards,61 although it does
not seem to have been formally conveyed to him
until 1438. It was then surrendered by William
Chertsey and Lettice his wife.63 Ten years later
there is probably some mistake as to the
tenure. 56 Close, 18 Ric. II, m. 1 1 d.
» Ibid. 4 Hen. IV, m. 9, 19.
58 Feet of F. Herts. 6 Hen. V, no. 38.
Apparently the father was still living at
this date, for a little later there is mention
of John Chertsey the elder (Anct. D.
[P.R.O.], B 567).
69 Close, 5 Hen. VI, m. 19.
60 Ibid. 9 Hen. VI, m. 3, 4.
«' Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 60, 61.
62 Feet of F. Herts. 16 Hen. VI,
no. 89.
ans's MSS.
55
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
it was conveyed to John Say by John Edward and
Joan his wife,63 brother and sister-in-law of Thomas
Gloucester. Sir John Say died seised of Baas in
1478 and was succeeded by his son William," after
whose death in 1529 it passed to his daughter Mary
and her husband Henry Earl of Essex,6' and thence
to their daughter Anne, the wife of William Lord
Parr, created Marquess of Northampton in 154.7."
The marquess was attainted in 1553 and his lands
forfeited.67 Queen Mary granted the manor to the
Earl of Arundel and others in 1553, to hold during
pleasure, apparently to the use of Anne Marchioness
of Northampton.68 Elizabeth granted it in 1569 to
Sir William Cecil,69 who also obtained releases of
title from Anne Parr 70 and other heirs of Sir William
Say." From that time Baas descended in the Cecil
family ' J and eventually became amalgamated with
the manor of Hoddesdonbury. It is mentioned
separately as late as 1S20.73 Courts held at Baas are
recorded from 1404 onwards."
The manor of HODDESDONBURl' seems to
have been also formed of lands held of the fees of
Mandeville and Richmond. Those held of the latter
fee owed a service of a quarter of a knight's fee to
the Earls of Richmond, is. 6d. rent for the ward of
the castle of Richmond and the service of inclosing
1 1 perches of hedge belonging to Cheshunt Park.75
The Mandeville fee descended to the Earls of Here-
ford through Maud, heiress of the Mandevilles, who
married Henry de Bohun Earl of Hereford, who
Bohun. Azure a
bend or cotised argent
between six lions or.
died in 1220.™ A half fee in Hoddesdon remained
in the hands of the Bohuns 77 until the death of the
last Humphrey de Bohun in January I 372-3/* when
it passed to his elder daughter Eleanor, who married
Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Gloucester and died
in 1399.79 Eleanor left three daughters : Joan, who
also died in 1399,80 Isabel, who became a nun in
1402, and Anna, who married first Thomas Earl of
Stafford and secondly his brother Edmund Earl of
Stafford,81 and inherited her sister's lands. At the
death of Edmund in 1403 82 a redistribution of the
estates took place between the heirs of Eleanor and
Mary, daughters of Humphrey de Bohun, and
Hoddesdonbury fell to Mary's son and heir Henry,
who ascended the throne as Henry V. The over-
lordship thus became vested in the Crown, and the
view of frankpledge at Hoddesdon was granted by
Henry VI to his mother Katharine in dower in
1422.83 The rolls of the courts of the honour of
Mandeville, parcel of the duchy of Lancaster, held
there in 1539 and later are preserved at the Record
Office.81
The sub-tenant of the Mandeville fee at Hoddesdon
before the Conquest was Godid, and in 1086 it was
held of Geoffrey de Mandeville by Ralph. "° The next
sub-tenants of whom there is record are the Bassing-
burn family, who probably
acquired the manor towards
the end of the 12th century.
The first to be mentioned in
Hoddesdon are Humphrey de
Bassingburn and his mother
Aubrey, who appear in 1242.86
This Aubrey was probably
identical with Aubrey the
wife of John de Bassingburn,
who was holding the manor
of Woodhall in Hatfield in
1 1 9s.87 Humphrey was ap-
parently succeeded by another
John de Bassingburn,8- perhaps his brother John,
who is mentioned in 1243.89 John died about 1276,90
and was succeeded by Stephen de Bassingburn, whose
son John was in possession by 1301-2.91 About
1323 Agnes de Bassingburn, mother of this John,
died seised of Hoddesdon Manor, which she held for
the term of her life ' from the inheritance of Agnes,
daughter of John, son of the deceased Agnes.' 9S The
granddaughter Agnes, who was aged five in 1323,
may have been assigned the manor by her father, but
in this case must have died young, for Stephen de
Bassingburn, son of John, was holding Hoddesdon
in 1333. Joan, widow of John de Bassingburn, was
then holding a third in dower.93
Later in the same century the manor was held by
Thomas de Bassingburn. He was holding Astwick
(in Hatfield) in 1370, and presumably Hoddesdon
at the same time, for he is mentioned later as having
held it.94 He died before 1397, leaving an infant
son John, whose wardship he had sold to Alexander
Bassingburn. Gy -
ronny or and gules.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 27 Hen. VI,
no. 146 ; Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 63 ; Mins. Accts. bdle. 862, no. 16,
17-
64 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 43.
For accounts of the manor during Sir
John Say's tenure see Tregelles, Hist, of
Hoddesdon, 35.
65 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
66 Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 372 d. ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33
Hen. VIII.
67 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
68 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. ii, m. 11. She
was holding Gcddings, one of the manors
similarly granted, in 1569 (Chan. Inq.
p.m. [Ser. 2], cli, 59).
69 Pat. 11 Eliz. pt. viii.
70 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 12 Eliz.
71 Ibid. Hil. 14 Eliz. ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), clvii, 82.
72 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlii,
123 ; Recov. R. East. 13 Chas. II, rot.
194 ; East. 9 Geo. II, rot. 194.
73 Recov. R. Mich. 1 Geo. IV, rot. 223.
u Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 58-63 ; 227, no. 82.
75 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. II, no. 42.
76 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
77 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
291 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 58.
78 Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill, no. 10.
79 Ibid. 21 Ric. II, no. 29 ; 1 Hen. IV,
no. 50. *» Ibid. 1 Hen. IV, no. 49, 51.
81 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
82 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41.
83 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xviii (2),
fol. 49.
434
84 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 171, no. 14
85 V.C.H. Herts, i, 33 ii.
8fi Red. Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, P. xlvii
87 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Ric. I, no. 21.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. Incert. temp
in.
89 Feet of F. Herts. 27 Hen. HI,
no. 30;.
'"' Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 344,
quoting Plac. Hil. 5 Edw. I ; Plac. de
Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 276, 285 ;
Assize R. 323.
91 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 58 ;
Cat. Pai. 1307-13, p. 472.
92 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. II, no. 42.
93 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 7 Edw. Ill,
no. 135.
94 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. IV, no. 50 ;
4 Hen. IV, no. 41 ; 21 Ric. II, no. 29.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Besford for ioo marks. The wardship was duly
delivered to Alexander by Thomas Arundel, Arch-
bishop of York, and Edward Earl of Rutland, but
he afterwards entered into an agreement to deliver
the child up to Ralph Hamelyn and Ralph son of
Richard upon payment of 200 marks. A little later,
however, in spite of this, Alexander granted the ward-
ship of the infant John to Robert Whytington and
others. The two Ralphs gave up the child to
Robert's servants, but afterwards Ralph Hamelyn
' chased the servants and took away the child by
force.'" In 1457 apparently another John de
Bassingburn and Katherine his wife conveyed the
manor of Hoddesdonbury to trustees,96 probably for
the purpose of a settlement, for John de Bassingburn
was lord of the manor in 1 477, and two of the same
feoffees granted it to John's son Thomas Bassingburn
and his wife Katherine in 1 49 3." In the follow-
ing year Thomas Bassingburn conveyed Hoddesdon-
bury to Sir William Say,98 his wife's brother. At the
death of Sir William Say in 1 529 the manor descended
to his daughter Mary and her husband Henry Earl of
Essex,99 whose daughter and heir Anne Bourchier
married William Parr, afterwards Marquess of North-
ampton.100 Sir William Parr was attainted in 1553
and his lands forfeited to the Crown. The reversion
of Hoddesdonbury after the expiration of a grant made
in favour of Anne was granted by Queen Elizabeth in
1 566 to Robert Earl of Leicester,1 who in the following
year conveyed it to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord
Burghley, who obtained releases from the Marchioness
of Northampton and other possible heirs of Sir John
Say." From him it passed to his second son Robert
Cecil,3 who was created Earl of Salisbury in 1605 ;
it has since descended in that family,4 the Marquess
of Salisbury being the present lord of the manor.
Stephen de Bassingburn claimed a park in Hoddes-
don in 1 277 of ancient custom.5 Hoddesdon Park
Wood probably marks the site of it. Stephen de
Bassingburn also claimed by charter of King John
free warren, gallows, and waif.6
In 1533 Henry Earl of Essex petitioned for a
licence to change the day of the fair at Hoddesdon,
which, he said, would be ' a great ease for the in-
habitants.' This evidently referred to the fair origi-
nally gra'nted to Richard de Boxe in Hoddesdon in
1253 (see below). The date, that of the vigil, feast
and morrow of St. Martin (in winter), 1 1 November,
was changed to the vigil, day and morrow of the Trans-
lation of St. Martin in summer (3-5 July).7 The
charter of Queen Elizabeth granted two fairs to the
corporation, one beginning on the vigil of St. Martin
in winter (l I November) and the other on the vigil
of St. Peter (29 J line). s In 1792 the fair was held on
29 June as a toy fair,9 and a pleasure fair is still held
BROXBOURNE
WITH HODDESDON
on 29 and 30 June. A market, to be held on Thurs-
days, originally granted to Richard de Boxe,10 was also
confirmed to Henry Earl of Essex at the same time as
the fair. By Queen Elizabeth's charter the tolls (the
ownership of which was said to be unknown) were
granted to the corporation. The market is now
held on Wednesdays.
In 10S6 the manor received twenty-two eels from
the weir.11 A water-mill which it was hardly possible
to use except in winter is mentioned in 1 3 Z3.12 In
1277 Stephen de Bassingburn was expected to pro-
vide a bridge in Rutholm, 16 ft. by 6 ft.13 In 1656
it was presented that the town of Hoddesdon was
destitute of stocks, and that the parishioners of Brox-
bourne ought to provide them.1'
Another manor of Hoddesdon may perhaps be
identical with a hide in Hoddesdon held before the
Conquest by Asgar the Staller, later by Ingelric, and
in 1086 by Count Eustace of Boulogne.15 The
sub-tenant of Asgar the Staller in this hide was
Godid, but it was given soon after the Conquest
to the canons of St. Martin-le-Grand, London,
probably by Ingelric, their founder, predecessor of
Count Eustace, of whom the canons held it in
1086. 16 It had been confirmed to them by William
the Conqueror in the second year of his reign.17
The church still had demesne lands in Hoddesdon
in 1290, when the dean, William de Luda, had
licence to stock his park there from the forest of
Essex,17a but probably most of their lands had been
already granted in sub-fee, for in 1287 18 certain
privileges exercised by the canons in their lands were
claimed by John le Sarmonner, who was apparently
holding under them. The hide was confirmed to
them as late as 1422-3, and at the end of the 15th
century suit was still owed to the leet of St. Martin
by tenants in Hoddesdon.19
The earliest sub-tenants of the manor apparently
were a family of Boxe, who took their name from
Boxe in Walkern and Stevenage and who held that
manor. Alan de Boxe, nephew of a Hugh de Boxe,
is mentioned as holding land in Hoddesdon in 1 198.'°
In 1253 Richard de Boxe had a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands of Boxe (i.e. Boxe in Walkern)
and Hoddesdon and a weekly market on Thursdays
at Hoddesdon and a yearly fair on the vigil, feast and
morrow of St. Martin (11 November).31 In 1256
he had licence to inclose and build on a space of
ground between the two high roads and the cross
of Hoddesdon.22 He was apparently succeeded by
John le Summoner or Sarmonner, who is men-
tioned in Hoddesdon in I 276," and in 1287 claimed
view of frankpledge and assize of bread and ale
at Hoddesdon as among the liberties belonging
to the Dean and canons of St. Martin's, London
95 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 69, no. II.
96 Feet of F. Herts. 35 Hen. VI,
no. 182 ; Mms. Accts. bdle. 862, no. 17.
9? Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 769 ; B 1600.
98 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 9 Hen. VII.
99 Pat. 27 Hen. VIII, pt. i.
10<> Ct. of Wards, Misc. Bks. dlxxviii,
fol. 372 d. ; Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 33
Hen. VIII.
1 Pat. 8 Eliz. pt. vii, m. 28.
2 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Hern.
ii, 59 (quoting deed at Hatfield House) ;
Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 12 Eliz.; Hil.
14 Eliz.
8 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 45 Eliz. In
1602 there was a grant of the manor to
Roger Houghton and Richard Langley.
These were presumably fishing grantees
(Pat. 44 Eliz. pt. xiii, m. 9).
4 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 287 ;
Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 22.
5 Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 276.
6 Ibid.
7 L. and P. Hen. VIII, vi, p. 611 ; viii,
g. 962 (6).
8 Pat. 2 Eliz. pt. iii, m. 31.
9 Rep. on Market Rts. and Tolls, i, 170.
10 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 416;
Pat. 8 Edw. IV, pt. ii, m. 4.
11 V.C.H. Herts, i, 331*.
435
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. II, no. 42.
13 Plac. de Quo fVarr. (Rec. Com.), 285.
" Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 115.
15 V.C.H. Herts, i, 322a. 16 Ibid.
17 Dugdale, Mon. viii, 1324.
17a Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 64.
Is Assize R. 325.
19 Dugdale, loc. cit. ; Tregellea, Hist,
of Hoddeidon, 66.
20 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 175,
16S.
-1 Cal. dart. R. 1226-57, p. 416.
»» Cal. Pat. 1 247-58, p. 473-
23 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1030 ; Assize
R. 325.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
(see above). He was living in 1290," but before
1303 his lands seem to have been divided between
heirs. These were apparently Thomas Langton and
Richard de St. Edmund, then both minors." In
1307 Mabel widow of Thomas de Langton con-
veyed her share of the manor to Robert de Langton,
clerk, probably for a settlement.80 This part of the
manor continued as the manor of Langtons, whilst
the part of Richard de St. Edmund, which seems to
have descended to an heiress Margery wife of Ralph
de Foxton," became known as Foxtons.
The part of the manor known as LANGTONS
descended to John de Langton,24 who was son of
Robert de Langton, and may have been nephew of
Thomas and Mabel.89 From John de Langton it
descended to his daughter and heir Alice wife of
Sir Robert Corbet, whose only child Agnes married
John Halle, citizen and goldsmith of London. In
1429 John and Agnes conveyed one year's rent of
60;. from lands in Hoddesdon called ' Langtonnes-
land' to Richard Benyngton and William Burton.30
In the same year the 'manor' of Langtons was
acquired by Thomas Gloucester, who held courts
there from that year until about 1442.31 It then
came into the hands of John Edward, brother of
Thomas Gloucester, and Joan his wife, and they
conveyed it in 1448 to Sir John Say,3' who in
1468 obtained an inspeximus of the grant of free
warren and the market and fair granted to Richard
de Boxe.3Za He died seised of it in 1478." His
son and heir Sir William Say became lord of the
manor of Hoddesdonbury,34 in which this small estate
seems to have afterwards become absorbed.
The quarter fee of FOXTONS, held in 1325 by
Ralph de Foxton in right of Margery his wife," had
come into the same hands as Langtons by 1380,36
and follows the same descent.37
The manor of BOXES was a part of the holding
of the Boxe family, which seems to have become
separated from the larger holdings in the divisions
of the 14th century. In 1376 a messuage and
30 acres called ' Le Boxes' with rents and services
in Hoddesdon were held by Simon son of Imbert.'8
After his death these tenements were acquired by
the Langtons 39 and thenceforth descended with their
manor.'"' In the inquisition on William Say in I 5 29
it is mentioned as the manor of Boxes.41
MARIONS formed part of the lands of the Knights
Hospitallers," to whom a rent was payable from the
manor. Under the Hospitallers the manor was held
in the 15th century by John Edward and Joan his
wife, who conveyed it to Sir John Say in 1448,
together with Langtons and Foxtons and other
manors,13 whose descent it follows. Maryons Manor
House stood west of the high road above Spital
Brook. 43a
The • manor ' of HALLE or HALLES was another
holding in Hoddesdon which by the 14th century
had given its name to a family of Halle. Richard
and John atte Halle were holding lands in Hoddesdon
of the manor of Great Amwell at the end of the
14th century." There is a rental of the manor
made in the reign of Henry VI.45 In 1448 it was
in the possession of John Edward and Joan his
wife. They conveyed it in that year to Sir John
Say,40 and it followed the same descent as the above
manors.47
The manor of GEDDINGS probably formed part
of the berewick of Hoddesdon, which was originally
appurtenant to the manor of Hatfield Broadoak in
Essex,48 and which in 1086 seems to have been in-
cluded in the manor of Great Amwell, then held by
Ralph de Limesi.49 With that manor (q.v.) it came
into the possession of the Abbot of Westminster.
Lands in Hoddesdon were held under the abbot in
the 13th century by a family of Gedding. William
de Gedding is mentioned at Hoddesdon during the
abbacy of Richard of Ware,50 who held that office
from 1258 to 1283." A Richard de Gedding is
mentioned in Hertfordshire in 1287. In 1327
Edmund de Gedding received a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands of Amwell and
Hoddesdon." He died before 1 33 1, when the
wardship of Robert de Gedding, son and heir of
Edmund, was granted by the Abbot of Westminster
to Richard and William of Hailey.53 In 1332
Beatrice widow of Edmund de Gedding was assigned
in dower one-third of a messuage in Hoddesdon.54
Robert son of Robert de Gedding was returned as
holding a fourth of the vill of Amwell by half a
knight's fee in the latter part of the 14th century,5j
and this must have included his lands in Hoddesdon.
In 1378 Reynbroun de Gedding, son of Robert,
conveyed a messuage, 300 acres of arable, 25 acres
of meadow, 6 acres of pasture and 40 acres of wood
and 100/. rent in Hoddesdon to Philip de Melreth,
24 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 138. He
.seems to have held some of his lands of
the manor of Great Amwell (see Anct.
D. [P.R.O.J, A 1030).
20 cf. Feud. Aids, ii, 430 and 433.
The overlordship both here and in later
records is given as vested in the overlords
of the manor of Boxe in Walkern, and
evidently some of the lands forming this
fee were held with that manor of the
Balliols and their successors, lords of
Bennington (cf. deed quoted in Tregelles
Hist, of Hoddesdon, 69).
26 Feet of F. Herts. 35 Edw. I, no. 432.
27 See Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 296:
Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 62.
28 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 26.
29 cf. Feet of F. Herts. 35 Edw. I,
no. 432 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 50 Edw. Ill
(2nd nos.), no. 55.
30 Close, 8 Hen. VI, m. 11.
31 Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 68 ;
Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177.no. 59-61.
32 Auct. D. (P.R.O.), B241 ; Feet of
■ 43-
'7",
F. Herts. 27 Hen. VI, no. 146 ; Mins.
Accts. bdle. 862, no. 16, 17 ; Cal. Pat.
1446-52, p. 253.
saa Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 123.
33 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, n
34 Ibid. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
35 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 296.
30 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf.
no. 56-61.
37 Feet of F. Herts. 27 Hen. VI,
no. 146 ; Mins. Accts. bdle. 862, no. 16,
17 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV,
no. 43 ; (Ser. 2), li, 50.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. 50 Edw. Ill (2nd
nos.), no. 35. 3tf Ibid.
40 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 56.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
42 Ibid. ; Mins. Accts. no. 114, m. 34.
43 Feet of F. Herts. 27 Hen. VI,
no. 146 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. iS Edw. IV,
no. 43 ; (Ser. 2), li, 50 ; Mins. Accts.
bdle. 862, no. 16, 17.
«» Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 23.
44 Add. R. 26828. See also Chan.
Inq. p.m. 50 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 3,
for John atte Halle.
45 Rentals and Surv. Herts, portf. 8,
no. 27.
46 Feet of F. Herts. 27 Hen. VII,
no. .46.
47 Mins. Accts. bdle. 862, no. 16, 17 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50 ; Feet of
F. Div. Co. Hil. 12 Eliz. ; Hil. 14 Eliz.
48 V.C.H. Essex, i, 429*.
49 V.C.H. Herts, i, 325*; Doc. at
Westm. Press 17, shelf 4, box 85,
no. 4733 ; box 76, no. 4247 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 50.
50 Doc. at Westm. Press 17, shelf 4,
box 85, no. 4732.
51 Dugdale, Mo„. i, 2 ; Assize R. 325,
m. 4 d.
52 Chart. R. 1 Edw. Hi, m. 29, no. 50.
53 Doc. at Westm. Press 17, shelf 4,
box 85, no. 4733.
54 Ibid, box 76, no. 4247.
" Add. R. 26828.
436
HERTFORD HUNDRED
clerk, and his heirs." In the next century these lands
were in the possession of Edward Chertsey, who in
1430-1 granted them as the manor of Geddings
to Nicholas Dixon and others,5' after which the
manor follows the same descent as the manor of
Baas (q.v.).
The reputed manor or tenement of BERNARDES
or BJRNETTS belonged about the middle of the
1 6th century to the family of Castell. Thomas son
of Dorothy Castell mortgaged Bernardes about 1559
to Henry Brograve, who sold the property to William
Frankland of London.58 In I 582 William and Hugh
Frankland (for this family see Thele Manor in Stan-
stead St. Margaret's) conveyed the 'manor,' then called
Barnetts, to Bernard Dewhurst and Thomas Bennett.59
Within the next ten years the two latter sold it to
Sir William Cecil, lord of the manor of Geddings,60
after which it follows the same descent as that manor.61
Before the Conquest nearly 6 hides in HODDES-
DON (Odesdone, Dodesdone) were held by Gode of
Queen Edith, wife of Harold, as two manors.62 In
1086 the larger of these, assessed at 3§ hides, was
held by Edward the Sheriff of Salisbury.63 The
other, of the extent of 2 hides, was held of the king
by Peter, a burgess. The latter was evidently iden-
tical with the Peter of St. Olave, Southwark, who in
1096 gave his lands at Hoddesdon to the monks of
Bermondsey.64
About 1 1 80 these lands or part of them seem to
have been held by Robert de Hurtford in chief, for
in that year he is entered as owing 2 marks for
3 hides in Hoddesdon,65 and in the following year
the same amount for 2 hides, of which he had ' not
yet had right.' 66 He died three years later without
having obtained it.67 In 1 2 10-12 Simon son of
Gilbert held a quarter fee in Hoddesdon of the
king in chief,68 which perhaps represents this estate.
The RECTOR!' MANOR of Broxbourne was
held with the church by the Bishops of London,69
who seem to have generally farmed it out.70* In
1 65 1 the rectory and glebe lands were sold by the
trustees for the sale of bishops' lands to Edmund
Lewin and his heirs for £^zz.n The Bishop of
London regained it at the Restoration, and in 1728
it was leased to the lord of the manor,'2 and was
probably acquired by him together with the advow-
son in 1868.
The church of ST. AUGUSTINE
CHURCHES stands a little to the east of the
village. It consists of chancel 35 ft.
by 17 ft., north and south chapels, each 34 ft. by
10 ft., nave 68 ft. 6 in. by 17ft., north and south
aisles, each 69 ft. by 10 ft., vestry, with upper room,
adjoining the north chapel, south porch and west
tower, all internal dimensions.
The church was entirely rebuilt and enlarged in
the 15th century, and no detail now remains of the
former nave and chancel, which appear to have been
added to from time to time. The north aisle was
the earliest addition, then the two east bays of the
south aisle and the west bay of the south chapel ;
BROXBOURNE
WITH HODDESDON
shortly afterwards the south aisle was extended west-
wards the full length of the nave and the south
chapel eastwards to the east wall of the chancel ;
the west tower was erected about the close of the
15th century, the north chapel and vestry are dated
1522, and the south porch was added in the early
17 th century.
The walls are of flint rubble, except the north
chapel and vestry, which are faced without and within
with squared limestone ashlar. The nave and chancel
roofs are tiled, the others lead-covered.
In the east wall of the chancel is a 15th-century
window of three cinquefoiled lights with traceried
head ; hidden behind the table of the Command-
ments on the north side of the window are some
remains of the splayed jamb of an earlier window ;
on each side of the chancel is an arcade of two bays
with arches of two moulded orders and jambs of four
engaged shafts with moulded capitals and bases.
The north chapel east window is of three cinque-
foiled lights with traceried head under a four-centred
arch ; in the north wall are two similar windows
with the door to the vestry between them. The
doorway has a splayed four-centred arch and jambs,
and retains its original oak door and ironwork. In
the east wall of the vestry are two small recesses
under four-centred arches ; in each of the north and
west walls is a small two-light window under a square
head ; in the chamber over the vestry are two similar
windows ; a third window, now blocked, opened into
the church. The north chapel and vestry, both built
in 1522, have an ornamental parapet carried round
outside on which is carved the inscription ' Pray for
the welfayr of Syr Wylyam Say knyght wych fodyd
yis chapel in honor a ye trenete the yere of our Lord
God 1522.' Stags' heads and traceried panels with
the arms of Say are carried at intervals above the
parapet ; the upper parts of the panelled and
crocketed buttresses are set diagonally.
The south chapel has a two-light window with
traceried head in the east wall and two traceried
windows of three lights under four-centred arches
in the south wall ; the junction between the earlier
and later 15th-century work can be seen outside.
In the south wall between the windows is a large
recess for a tomb under a four-centred arch, with
moulded jambs and arch. In the same wall is a
piscina belonging to the earlier portion of the
chapel, partially destroyed by the later tomb recess ;
the jambs of the piscina are moulded and have a ball-
flower ornament. The four bays on either side of
the nave are continuations of the arcades between
chancel and chapels, and their detail is similar, though
they are somewhat earlier in date. At the east end
of the north wall of the north aisle is a semi-octagonal
stair turret projecting on the outside leading to the
rood-loft and roof over the aisle ; the doorway to the
rood-loft is blocked. In the north wall of the aisle
are four windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights
with traceried head under a pointed arch ; the external
stonework has been renewed. In the west wall is a
56 Close, 1 Ric. II, m. 4 d.
57 Ibid. 9 Hen. VI, m. 3, 4.
58 Chan. Decree R. bdle. JI, no. 6.
59 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 24 & 25
Eliz. '"Ibid. East. 35 Eliz.
61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclviii, 10S.
62 V.C.H. Herts, i, 342, 330.
63 Ibid. 330«.
64 Ibid. 342 ; Dugdale, Mm. Angl. v,
96. The connexion was shown by Mr.
Tregelles in his Hist, of Hoddesdon, 58.
« Pipe R. 26 Hen." II, m. 1.
66 Ibid. 27 Hen. II, m. 7.
«7 Ibid. 30 Hen. II.
437
65 Red Bk. oj Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
499 ; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 270.
69 Lond. Epis. Reg. Gravesend and
Baldock, fol. 41.
70 Ibid. Braybrook, fol. 345-6.
71 Close, 1651, pt. xxxi, m. 3.
71 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 16.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
splayed loop light. In the south wall of the south aisle
are four windows similar to those in the north aisle ;
there is no window in the west wall. The south
doorway has continuously moulded jambs and four-
centred arch. In the east jamb of the doorway, in
the porch, are remains of a roughly executed stoup,
and in the south aisle, a little to the east of the door-
way, is a plain recess, probably for a stoup. The south
porch has a semicircular arched doorway with flanking
pilasters and pediment over, and above is a shield
charged with arms.
The roofs over the chancel and chapels have flat
panelled ceilings of early 16th-century date ; those
over the nave and aisles are of the 1 5th century, but
have been much restored. Over the east end of the
nave is a painted inscription recording that the
ceiling and decoration of the chancel roof was done
by John Bryce.
octagonal plinth ; it is of late 12th-century date
In the chamber over the
north vestry are two oak
chests, one belonging to the
14th, the other to the 17th
century. In the south-east
window of the south chapel
is some 15th-century heraldic
glass.
On the south side of the
chancel is the Purbeck marble
altar-tom b of Sir John Say and
his wife, dated 1473. The
sides of the plinth are panelled
and traceried panels, three of
which contain shields which
retain some of their original
colouring. On the moulded slab are fine brasses of
Say of Broxbourne.
Party azure and gules
three cheuerons or voided
party gules and azure.
Broxbourne Church from the North-east
The west tower is of three stages and is buttressed ;
at the south-west angle is a turret staircase ; both tower
and turret are finished with embattled parapets.
The four-centred tower arch is of two moulded
orders ; the jambs have engaged shafts with moulded
capitals and bases. The west doorway has a two-
centred arch under a square head with traceried
spandrels. The west window is of four cinquefoiled
lights with tracery under a two-centred arch ; the
stonework is much decayed. On the north and
south faces of the second stage of the tower are
narrow trefoilcd lights with square heads ; on the
west is a clock face. The belfry windows are of
two cinquefoiled lights under square heads.
The font has an octagonal bowl of Purbeck marble,
on each face of which are two plain sunk panels with
round heads ; the bowl rests on a circular shaft with
eight smaller ones under the angles of the octagon ;
the shafts have moulded bases and stand on a plain
the knight and the lady ; the knight is in plate
armour with surcoat charged with his arms, the
figure is now headless. The lady wears a sideless
surcoat and a mantle charged with her arms. The
figures are elaborately engraved and retain much of
ihe original coloured enamelling. Two shields still
remain with the arms of Say, and a brass inscription,
parts of which are missing, runs round the margin.
On the north side of the chancel is the altar-tomb of
Sir William Say, the builder of the north chapel ; it
is of early 16th-century date. The plinth is orna-
mented with square moulded and cusped panels set
diagonally, in which are shields bearing indents of
missing brass figures. On the plinth is a slab of
Purbeck marble. Above the tomb, supported on
octagonal columns, is a canopy, the soffit carved with
pendants and fan vaulting ; under the east end is a
slab with indents of a knight and a lady. In the
south chapel is the tomb of Sir Henry Cock and his
438
HERTFORD HUNDRED
wife, 1609, with recumbent effigies, in alabaster,
under a semicircular canopy with panelled soffit over
which is the achievement of arms ; on the plinth
below are the kneeling figures of two daughters and
their children. In the chancel is a mural monu-
ment to William Gamble alias Bowyer, 1646, with
inscription and arms. In the north chapel is a mural
monument to Sir R. Skeffington, 1646, and another
to John Baylie, 1609. There are several 17th-
century floor slabs to members of the Monson and
Rawdon families ; in the south aisle is a tablet in
memory of John Loudon McAdam, the great road
maker, who was buried at Moffat in 1836.
On the chancel floor is the brass of a priest in
chasuble and holding a chalice ; it is without in-
scription, but is of late 15th-century date; another
of a priest in cassock and amice is also without inscrip-
tion. At the corners are symbols of the Evangelists,
and part of an inscribed scroll remains ; it belongs
to the early 1 6th century. In the nave are indents
of a knight and a lady ; a portion of the knight's
figure remains. In the centre of the nave is a shield,
vair bordered crusilly, and dated 1630 ; also the brass
of a knight clad in armour and holding a mace,
said to be that of John Barrell, serjeant-at-arms to
Henry VIII. This brass was recovered from Roding
in Essex in 1 892.
There are eight bells : the treble, second, third
and sixth are dated 1903 ; the fourth, fifth and
seventh by Robert Oldfeild, 161;, and the eighth by
John Hodson, 1670.
The communion plate consists of cup and cover
paten, 1606, a paten, 1633, a cup and cover paten,
1824, and two flagons.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms,
burials and marriages from 1688 to 1741 ; (ii) baptisms
and burials from 1 74 1 to 18 1 2, marriages 174 1 to
1754 ; (iii) marriages from I 754 to 1812.
The church of ST. PAUL, Hoddesdon, near the
centre of the town, was built in 1732 and repaired
in 1822 and 1849; in 1865 the building was
enlarged by the addition of a chancel with north and
south chapels or aisles ; in 1888 the brick tower
and spire were added. It now consists of chancel
3 5 ft. 6 in. by 2 I ft., north and south chapels or aisles,
each 34 ft. by 19 ft., nave 6 1 ft. 6 in. by 3 I ft., vestry
and semi-detached tower, east of the south nave wall ;
all the dimensions are internal. The church is built
of brick with stone dressings. There are eight bells
in the tower hung in 190 1. The plate consists of
three chalices, two patens and a fligon, all modern.
The advowson of the church of
ADFOWSONS St. Augustine originally belonged
to the lords of the manor of Brox-
bourne and was granted together with that manor
to the Knights Hospitallers by Robert Earl of
Leicester." In I 1 90, however, Garner of Naples,
Prior of the Hospitallers, granted the church of
Broxbourne to the Bishop of London for a yearly
payment of 4 marks.74 The advowson remained in
the hands of the Bishops of London until 1852,
BROXBOURNE
WITH HODDESDON
when it was transferred to the Bishop of Rochester."
In 1868 it was acquired by Mr. Smith-Bosanquet,
lord of the manor,76 and is now in the hands of
trustees.
Sir John Say left 200 marks in 1478 for a priest
to sing mass for his soul for twenty years,77 and his
son Sir William Say built the chapel of our Lady
within the parish church of Broxbourne as a chantry
for his family (see above). He also left to the chapel a
chalice of silver gilt and 'a payer of cruets of silver parcel
gilt with other ornaments as shall be necessary for the
chapel.' The salary of the priest belonging to the
chapel was to be paid out of Sir William's lordship
of Bengeo.79 In 1578 it was reported that until
about thirty-three years before two priests had been
accustomed to sing mass in ' Sir William Saye's
chapel,' and received {10 a year for it. It was also
stated that until thirty-five or thirty-six years before
' there was usually set up a hearse in the midst of the
church, furnished with lights and torches, and bells
were rung.' '9
There was a chapel at Hoddesdon in the 14th
century which seems to have been appurtenant to the
manor of Hoddesdon. It was the subject of a dis-
pute in 1 242-3 between Alexander de Swereford,
Treasurer of St. Paul's, and Humphrey and John de
Bassingburn.80 Alexander acknowledged the right of
the Bassingburns to the advowson, and Humphrey
and John granted that the chapel should be moved
back to its former situation by the side of the road
which led to the court of Alexander de Swereford
and near to the court of Humphrey de Bassingburn.
Humphrey and John also agreed to supply a chaplain
to celebrate service daily for their souls and that of
Alexander and of their ancestors, and they confirmed
all lands previously belonging to the chapel.81 This
chapel seems to have fallen into disuse, for in 1336
William de la Marche obtained licence to build a
chapel in honour of St. Catherine on a ' void place '
in Hoddesdon, 30 ft. by 20 ft., and to alienate it in
mortmain when built to a chaplain or religious man.88
In the time of Henry IV witnesses declared that the
chapel lay in the parish of Great Amwell,83 and in
1650 it was said to be partly in Amwell and partly in
Broxbourne. It was then suggested that it could be
conveniently constituted a parish church for Hoddes-
don %> ; the suggestion, however, was not carried out.
At the end of the 17th cencurythe chapel was pulled
down, with the exception of the clock-tower, which
remained until about 1836.85
In 1 844 the parish of St. Paul, Hoddesdon, was
formed as a consolidated chapelry out of Broxbourne
and Great Amwell.86 The living is a vicarage, and
the patronage goes with that of Broxbourne.87 There
is a mission church at Rye Park, served from the
parish church.
The priory of St. Monica at Hoddesdon is now
used as a convent of tht order of Canonesses Regular
of St. Augustine.83 There are also Congregational,
Wesleyan, and Baptist chapels there, as well as meet-
ing places of the Society of Friends 89 and Plymouth
73 Chart. R. i John, pt. i, r
10. in.
7« Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App
*"5 Lond. Gaz. Index, 264.
76 East Herts. Arch. Sac. Trans.
77 P.C.C. 35 Wattys.
78 Ibid. 6 Thorver.
'9 Exch. Spec. Com. no. 1027,
» Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls
Ser.),
81 Feet
no. 305.
82 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 259.
83 Doc. at Westm. Herts. A
439
Herts. 27 Hen. Ill,
64 Chan. Surv. of Church Livings, i,
p. 35. ■ Herts. Const. Mag. ii, 96.
08 Lond. Gax. Index, 827. 87 Ibid.
88 Catholic Dir.
69 For a history of the Quakers in Hod-
desdon see Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon,
217 et seq.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Brethren. Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters
were certified in Broxbourne in 1 8 1 3, and at Hod-
desdon in 1689, 1691, 1692, 1704 and 1821.90
Broxbourne : The Free school,
CHARITIES founded in 1667 by will of Sir
Richard Lucy, bart.90a
The Girls' school at Baas Hill.91
The following eleemosynary charities are regulated
by scheme of the Charity Commissioners 3 October
1899. They comprise the charities of:
(1) Lady Lucy, gift about 1676, consisting of
4 a. or. 29 p., situate at Roydon, of the annual letting
value of £6.
(2) Roger Marsh, deed, 1635, being a rent-
charge of £2 \s. t>d. issuing out of Hailey Hall
estates in Great Amwell.
(3) William Purvey, will, proved in 1617, being
a rent-charge of 3/. \d. out of Wormley Bury estates.
(4.) George Swaine, will, proved in 1829 ; trust
fund £125 consols, with the official trustees, pro-
ducing £ 3 2/. \d. yearly ; and
(5) William Thorowgood, will, proved 25 Febru-
ary 1603, being a yearly sum of £1 4/. issuing out
of Hoddesdon vicarage.
In 1909 the income was applied as to £1 in
surgical aid, £5 towards coal and clothing clubs, £2
in money gifts and the balance in the distribution of
calico and bread.
The ecclesiastical charity of William Thorowgood
consists of £107 1 3 s. $d. consols, in the names of
the Rev. John Salwey and two others, producing
£2 13/. 8d. yearly, representing the redemption of
an annuity of £2 to the vicar for preaching six
sermons, and an annuity of 16/. for repairing the
windows in the church.
The almshouses erected by Dame Letitia Monson
for six poor widows, and endowed by her will, dated
in 1729, are regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners 6 January 1888. The present endow-
ment consists of £2,663 6s. gd. Bank of England
stock, which produced in 1909 £254 10/. lid., and
a sum 0^519 1 os. gd. consols, producing £ 1 2 lgs.Sd.
yearly ; the former sum of stock is standing in the
name of the Paymaster-General in the High Court
of Justice, and the latter is held by the official
trustees.
In 1909-10 the sum of £163 16/. was paid to
nine inmates, £7 4/. gd. for gowns, £34 9/. for
wood and coal, 5/. to the vicar for gloves and £10
for prayers and services.
The charity of Catherine Augusta Baroness of
Sternberg, founded by will, proved in 1859, consists
of £504 16s. id. consols, with the official trustees,
producing £12 12s. \d. yearly, which is in pursuance
of a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 10 Feb-
ruary 1882, applied for the benefit of the poor by
the district visitors.
The Cecilia Smith-Bosanquet Memorial Trust,
founded by deed 15 December 1904, for providing
a nurse for the sick poor, is endowed with £2,500
New South Wales 3J per cent, stock, with the official
trustees, producing £87 ioj. yearly.
The official trustees also hold a sum of £100 i\
per cent, stock, arising from the sale in I 89 1 of land
known as the Clock Half-acre, the income of which is
applicable for the winding, &c, of the church clock.
Hoddesdon : The following eleemosynary charities
are regulated by scheme of the Charity Commis-
sioners 3 October 1899. They comprise the charities
of:
(1) Lynch Mill Corner, founded by an agreement,
dated 21 April 1679, in consideration of the inclosure
of certain Lammas land, being a yearly sum of
£2 i5'-
(2) Roger Marsh, by deed, 1635, being a rent-
charge of £4 8/. ud. issuing out of Hailey Hall
estates in Great Amwell.
(3) William Purvey, will, proved in 1617, being
a rent-charge of 10/. out of Wormley Bury estates.
(4) George Swaine, will, proved in 1829, trust
fund, £375 consols, with the official trustees, pro-
ducing £9 Js. \d. yearly.
(5) William Thorowgood, will, proved 2 5 Feb-
ruary 1603, being a yearly sum of £4 issuing out of
the land now occupied by Hoddesdon vicarage, for
distribution of bread.
(6) William Thorowgood, for distribution of beef
and bread, consisting of a rent-charge of £4 4/.
issuing out of Balls Park, near Hertford.
(7) Unknown donor — but stated in the Parlia-
mentary returns of 1786 to have been given by Lady
Oxendon in 1635 — being a yearly sum of £1 6s. id.
issuing out of the Grange, Hoddesdon.
In 1909 the sum of £4 was paid to the clothing
and coal clubs, £1 to the dispensary and £25
applied in the distribution of meat and bread to 220
recipients.
In 1818 Easter Jones purchased land and erected
a school thereon for girls, and endowed the same
with £1,000 consols.
The income of a sum of £450 consols, the gift of
— Game, is also applicable for educational purposes.
The Priscilla Manser Fund consists of £508 I zs.
Local Loans 3 per cent, stock and £400 East Indian
Railway 3 per cent, stock, in the names of Robert
Barclay and four others, producing £27 5/. yearly.
In 1907 £11 14/. was paid to three inmates of
the homes, and the balance added to the fund for
their upkeep.
Samuel Dunn's Charity for the organist is endowed
with a piece of meadow land near Hoddesdon, let
at £4 a year.
In 1 9 10 William Alfred Pryor, by his will, proved
at London 12 October, left £50, now represented
by £60 Great Northern Railway 3 per cent, stock,
the annual dividends, amounting to £1 16/., to be
applied for the benefit of the poor of the Congrega-
tional church.
Hoddesdon, St. Catherine: In 1885 George
Ringrose, by his will, proved at London 25 Sep-
tember, left a legacy, now represented by £90 lis. \d.
consols, with the official trustees, the annual dividends,
amounting to £2 5/., to be distributed to the poor in
coal, bread, or money.
Urwick, Nonconf. in Hens. 496.
** See article on 'Schools,' F.C.H. He,
440
HERTFORD HUNDRED
CHESHUNT
CHESHUNT
Cestrehunt (xi, xii, xiii cent.) ; Chesthunt (xiv,
xv, xvi cent.).
Cheshunt is an extensive parish containing about
8,479 acres. The urban part lies at the eastern end,
east of the New River, which flows through the
parish ; the rural and more thinly-populated district
is found in the western, higher-lying ground, and
consists chiefly of scattered farms and parks, with
Cheshunt Common extending to the western border.
The surface of the parish is undulating and its
physical aspect varies. Large areas are devoted to
fruit culture, roses, horticultural nurseries and
market gardens.
The River Lea or one of its streams forms
the eastern boundary, which has been the cause
of many disputes between the Abbots of Walt-
ham and the lords of Cheshunt ; the former
maintained that the Small River Lea flowing
half a mile west of Waltham was the dividing
line, and that all the adjacent meadows belonged
to Waltham ; the latter tried to prove that the
River Lea itself, flowing through the town of
Waltham, was the county boundary, and that
the land west of it belonged to the manor of
Cheshunt. Peter of Savoy, when lord of the
manor, quitclaimed to Simon the abbot his right
to the meadows and marshes in question, but
the dispute broke out again, and at the time of
the Dissolution was undetermined between
Robert, the last abbot, and the lord of Ches-
hunt.1 The quarrel was carried on by the two
neighbouring towns,2 and in the middle of the
19th century was still unsettled.3 The present
boundary appears to be a compromise, the
southern part being formed by the Small River
Lea, the northern part by the River Lea itself.
Cheshunt Common covers a large area to the
extreme west of the parish. An inclosure award
made in 1804 and enrolled in 1806 is in the
custody of the vestry clerk of the parish of Ches-
hunt. By a further local Act an allotment of
100 acres of common was made.'
Under the provisions of the Local Govern-
ment Act of 1894 the parish is now governed
by an urban district council of twelve members
and divided into three wards — that is, the
Northern, Central and Southern Wards, known
for parochial purposes as Waltham Cross, Cheshunt
Street and Woodside Wards.
The original settlement was probably at St. Mary's
Church, now called Churchgate, oft' the Roman road
(Ermine Street) on the east side. At an early date,
however, a road settlement must have been established
along the present high road which replaced the
Roman road some time before the Conquest, for by
1086 there was already a trading community of ten
merchants at Cheshunt, who would naturally be on
the line of traffic.
At Churchgate is Cheshunt College, a large build-
ing standing south-east of the church. It was origin-
ally founded at Trevecca in 1 768 by Selina Countess
of Huntingdon as a training college for the ministry
of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, and
moved to its present site in 1792. In 1905 it was
converted into a theological college of the Church of
England, and is now known as Bishop's College.
Although largely added to during the 19th century,
there still exists a small block of the original building,
which is of red brickwork, with plain arched window
openings. Above the upper floor windows is a
moulded brick cornice with dentil course, surmounted
by a brick parapet. On one side is an old lead rain-
water head on which is a crest of a unicorn, and
Older Part of Cheshunt College
above is the date 1 746, which is probably the date of
the erection of the building.
Not far from Bishop's College is a 17th-century
brick house, now divided into three tenements. To
the north is Dewhurst School, a brick house with
brick mullioned windows and a tiled roof, built in
1640 by Robert Dewhurst, whose arms and initials
and this date are on the east wall. The upper story
and the interior of the house have been modernized
and a large new school added on the north side.
On the east side of the church are many
17th-century houses and cottages of half-timber and
brick with tiled roofs ; among them is the Green
1 Fuller, Hilt, of Waltham Abbey, 265.
8 Cal. 5. P. Dom. 1 591-4, pp. 499-501.
3 Brown, Cheshunt in the Olden Times,
441
4 East Herts. Arch. Sot. Trans, ii, I io-
56
interesting, having been recased in brick (all but the
north front) by John Shaw in 1750, and in 1801 a
large part was pulled down, having become ruinous.
According to an early I 8th-century print it was at that
time quadrangular, inclosing a courtyard, and there are
indications of a wing having been removed from the
The Cjrfat House. Cheshunt
TThn
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Dragon Inn a timber-framed house now cased with resting, though greatly altered and modernized. It
, . f consists of a large hall on the ground floor, at the
"westward lies the Lordship, the res;dence of back of which are some rooms and a staircase, and
Mr Wyndham Birch near to which is the moated underneath the whole is a large basement. The hall
site' of Cheshunt Manor House. On the west side is open up to the .oof, but the rooms behind have a
of the island formed by the moat are the remains of second and attic floor over them. The basement is
the abutments of a bridge. North of this homestead very interesting, but it is not easy to indicate the
moat on the op osite side of the road to GofFs Oak uses of some of the places in it. Though now
is the Great House. Externally the house is not very lighted only from the east side by means of a modern
sunk area, there are built-up windows in the west
wall showing that it was lighted from the courtyard
also. It is entered at the north end of the building
by a doorway in the external wall, the ground level
being only a few steps up from the floor. This north
room or kitchen, the ceiling of which is lath and
plaster, has also a door to the
staircase. The next room is
somewhat similar ; it has also
a large, plain fireplace. The
floor above is supported by
three old oak beams, each sup-
ported in the centre by a cir-
cular pier, 15 in. in diameter,
built with 2 J in. bricks; these
piers have no capitals, but have
small moulded octagonal bases
resting on square brick plinths,
about 2 ft. 6 in. high. One of
the piers has gone, its place
being taken by a wooden post.
There are two windows in the
east wall and a built-up win-
dow in the west wall. There
are two openings in the south
wall ; one, at the western end,
is a vaulted passage, now partly
bricked-up, leading to a vaulted
place beyond, the other is a
doorway leading to a passage
along the east main wall, which
gives access to the vaults under
the hall. The first of these, at
the northern end, measures
about 23 ft. by 15 ft. and is
covered by a brick vault, ellip-
tical in section, in one span.
** On the south side is a curious,
small, irregularly-shaped closet,
which, perhaps, had a window
to the passage at one time. The
doorway to this has a low four-
centred arch. In the same wall
is a small arched recess or aumbry. There is a built-
up window in the west wall and a fireplace in the
north wall, with moulded four-centred arch and
north end of the west front. The south wing has also
been pulled down. The house was originally of the
latter part of the 15th century and was of two stories
with a tiled roof. The south, west, and east fronts of
the part that remains arc of plain red brickwork, with
a parapet at the top, over which the tops of the old
tiled roofs may be seen. The south front has a four-
centred arch of stone to the entrance doorway and a
round-arched brick window above, all built in 1750.
Part of the north front, however, has not been touched,
for the old walling of narrow bricks, rising 10 J in. in
four courses, still remains, and in the gable is a three-
light window with stone mullions, now bricked up,
and above are the bases of three diagonal brick chim-
neys, probably of early 1 7th-century date.
The interior of the building is much more inte-
ambs.
The adjoining vault is curious. There is no sign
of any doorway between it and the rest of the exist-
ing building ; the only doorway is a built-up open-
ing in the main south wall of the building, which
gave access to the former south wing. It is not
known what is beyond this doorway, but there is a
tradition of a stair down to a lower basement, indica-
tions of which can be traced by tapping the floor,
and it is possible that the stair went up to the
hall above. This apartment is covered with three
elliptical brick vaults running east and west, separated
into nine compartments by moulded brick ribs resting
442
HERTFORD HUNDRED
on octagonal piers. The small closet previously men-
tioned projects into this apartment at its north-east
corner. Two of the piers are of clunch, with 15th-
century moulded capitals and small bases ; the other
piers and all the vaults and arches are of brick covered
with plaster. In the east wall are two groups of
windows into the passage. One group consists of two
lights, each 2 ft. wide, with sills 2 ft. 6 in. from the
floor and wide seats inside, the wall here being
3 ft. 2 in. thick ; these openings have four-centred
arches over them. The adjoining group consists —
though now much decayed — of four lights, each about
10 in. wide, having pointed arches. All these are of
brick with splayed jambs and arches
and have been plastered. There is a
fireplace, now partly bricked-up, in
the south wall and a built-up window
in the west wall. It is difficult to say
to what use this vault was put, as,
although it is locally known as the chapel,
there are no indications that it was
ever used for that purpose, and it prob-
ably owes its name to its semi-ecclesias-
tical appearance.
On the ground floor the principal
entrance door, which is modern, opens
directly into the south end of the old
hall. The hall itself measures about
37 ft. 6 in. long by 24 ft. 6 in. wide
and is open up to the roof. The old
minstrels' gallery and screen underneath
at the south end have disappeared, but
the old opening from the stair-turret
on the west side still exists, though the
stair and turret belong to the rebuild-
ing of 1750. The roof is original and
is a simple open one, having curved
principals with collars near the apex
and resting on carved corbels, some of
which, however, have disappeared. Of
the four remaining corbels two repre-
sent angels holding shields and two
human heads. The floor of the hall is
paved with large square slabs of black
and white marble. The fireplace is of
stone, and both it and the panelling
round the walls belong to the middle
of the iSth century.
A doorway at the north-west corner
of the hall leadi to a corridor, off which
are now two rooms which probably
originally formed one. Beyond the
corridor is a good mid-l 8th-century
oak staircase, with turned and moulded balusters.
There are three balusters to each step, each of the
three of different design, and all repeated in suc-
cession. The ends of the steps are carved. There is
not much of interest in the rooms on the ground and
upper floors, though in one is a well-carved 1 8th-
century chimney-piece.
In College Road is Water Lane Farm, a mid-
l6th-century house of brick and timber, covered with
rough-cast, with a tiled roof. On the north side is a
19th-century addition.
The main part of the village lies along the North
Road. The southern part is in Waltham Cross, which
was formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1855,
with the church of Holy Trinity built in 1832. The
CHESHUNT
road, here called the High Street, enters the parish at
the county boundary, at which are the ' Spital Houses,'
originally built in 162; but rebuilt in 1908. As
may be expected along a main high road, there are
throughout the z\ miles of the road which Cheshunt
and Waltham Cross cover numerous inns and taverns,
one or two of which, such as the Four Swans Inn,
near Waltham Cross, may date back to the 1 7th
century, but the greater number are of the 1 8th
century and later.
Waltham Cross stands at the junction of Waltham
High Street with E'eanor Cross Road, and, although
much restored, is one of the best preserved of the twelve
CHtsHUNT Great House : North End of the Hall
Eleanor crosses, of which only three survive. Eleanor,
the first wife of Edward I, died at Harby, co. Notts.,
7 miles west of Lincoln, on 28 November 1 290.
Apparently the body rested at St. Albans on the night
of I 2 December and was carried thence to Waltham
on the following day, where it rested for the night
at Waltham Abbey and arrived in London on
I 4. December. Of the twelve Eleanor crosses Waltham
Cross was the only one which was designed by
a foreigner, ' Nicholas Dymenge de Reyns,' or
' Dymenge de Legeri.' It was begun in I 291 and
completed before Christmas 1292. The sculptors
engaged upon it were Roger de Crundale, Alexander
le Imaginator or Imagemaker and Robert de Corf,8
6 V.C.ri. Dorset, ii, 335, a. 38.
+4l
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
tne last of whom came from the Purbeck quarries and
made the shafts, capitals and rings (verg. capit. et
anul.). The stone was brought from Caen and the
total cost was £<)$.e The cross is a fine specimen of
architecture of the 13th century, although the four
basement steps and the two upper stages are modern,
having been extensively restored, and, indeed, almost
wholly rebuilt in 1833 under the direction of Mr.
W. B. Clark, and again, the soft Bath stone having
decayed, in 1887-9 by Mr- C- E" P°nting- The
lowest stage is original. It is hexagonal with panels
of two ' lights,' having tracery in pointed heads under
crocketed gables with finials, set against a diapered
Old House, Cheshunt Street
background which is surmounted by a sculptured
cornice very much weathered. In the panels are
shields suspended from foliage and carved with the
arms of England, Castile and Leon, and Ponthieu.
At the angles are small pinnacled buttresses. The
second stage has six elaborately gabled and crocketed
canopies with pinnacles between them. They con-
tain three statues of the queen, said to be original,
except the head of that on the west, which has been
renewed.
The third stage, which is also hexagonal, rises from
a plinth set in the space inclosed by the heads of the
* Arch, xxix, 184. Extracts.
canopies below it, and masked on the centre of each
side by tall heavy crocketed pinnacles with finials not
too happily designed. The plinth has a foliated
cornice at its base, and the panels on the sides of
the stage, with the buttresses at the angles, are of a
design practically repeating that of the canopies of
the second stage, but solid. Above this is a low
hexagonal plinth supporting a tall pinnacle, crocketed
on its six angles, and surmounted by a cross. Practi-
cally the whole of the second stage is of the restora-
tion of 1833, and the upper stages are also very
much renovated. The general features of the old work
have, however, been carefully preserved, much old
stone laid aside in 1833 having been
reintroduced in 1887-9. A"
addition to the width of the road-
way, for the better preservation of
the monument, was secured by the
purchase and demolition of the
Falcon Inn by the late Sir Henry
Meux, bart., and completed in
1892.
Beyond Waltham Cross High
Street the road is called Turner's
Hill. On the west side is a row
of ten almshouses, founded in
1620. They are plain erections
of brick of one story, with mul-
lioned windows, and appear to
have been a good deal restored.
There is no inscription on them.
On Turner's Hill there still
remains the old watch-house built
in 1789. Further on is the New
Road, from which branches off
Blindman's Lane, an old road con-
taining a I 7th-century farm-house,
now converted into a shop. At
the corner of the lane is a row of
three brick gabled cottages, two
stories in height with tiled roofs.
Northward of New Road is Ches-
hunt Street, in which are several
old houses and cottages. One of
these is now converted into a shop.
At the northern end on the east
side is a brick house with steep
twin gables at the end. On the
front, over the shop, is a brick
panel in which are the initials
G.K.M. and the date 1689. There
is a moulded architrave round the
panel, with a swelled frieze above,
broken in the centre with a human
head, above which is a moulded
cornice and curved and broken pediment, in the
centre of which is a shield with coat of arms : a
cheveron between three garbs with a fleur de lis for
difference. Immediately to the north is the Anchor
Inn, a brick two-storied house of about the same
date, whilst on the same side of the road, further
south, adjoining Hill View, is a good two-storied
house of the early 1 8 th century.
Further northward along the same road is the ham-
let of Turn ford, where there are the large nursery
gardens at Turnford Hall and elsewhere. A farm-
house beside the railway stands on the site of the
Cheshunt or Turnford Nunnery, of which nothing
444
- --(:"
HERTFORD HUNDRED
now remains except some old garden walls, which may
be old inclosure walls, and a fragment of a moat which
may have surrounded the monastery. As early as
1183 Lucius III exempted the site from payment of
tithes.7 The nunnery, or part of it, appears to have
been destroyed by fire between the granting of a
charter by Henry III in 1240 and 13 15, when the
nuns stated in a petition to the king that the charter had
been burnt.8 The fire must have taken place about
1290, in which year the nuns sought help from the
king because they were impoverished by a fire.9 In
1 3 1 2 indulgence was granted for the fabric of the
church of the house of the nuns of Cheshunt for their
dormitory and other places.10 The last remains of the
nunnery were taken down early in the 19th
century.11 Eastward of Turnford is Hell
Wood, which contains a good example of a
homestead moat inclosing two islands.
Flamstead End is a hamlet north of
Churchgate, and is approached from the
Great North Road by Brookfield Lane,
which skirts the reservoir formed by the
New River Water Company. The hamlet is
built at the meeting of four roads. There
are here some nursery grounds, cottages and
one or two inns, including the Plough Inn,
a 1 7th-century timber-framed house, now
plastered, with a projecting upper story on
the south side.
In Church Lane near to the Great North
Road is a row of 1 7th-century cottages.
This lane continues under the name of
Andrews Lane, probably so called from the
manor of Andrews, of which the Great
House is the manor-house, to Burton
Grange, the residence of Mrs. Mason, to
which is attached a small park.
GofF's Oak, formed into a district chapelry
in 1 87 1 with the church of St. James built
in I 861, is a hamlet on the west side of the
parish which communicates with the village
of Cheshunt by GofFs Lane. The early
tradition as to this name being taken from
a certain Sir Theodore Godfrey, a follower
of William the Conqueror, or from a Saxon
personal name, seems to be baseless.1* The
remains of an ancient oak tree still exist
opposite GofF's Oak public-house, but Goff
is not an uncommon surname in the parish.
William Goff had a ninety-nine years lease
of Cheshunt Park in 1650, and there is a
19th-century monument to a member of
the family in the church. It is probably
from a member of this family that the oak
was called. On the east side of GofF's Oak, a little
off the road on the north side, is a homestead moat.
In GofF's Lane is ' Claramont,' a modernized house,
to which is attached a small park. Southward oF
GofF's Lane is Silver Street, which forms the northern
boundary of Woodgreen Park, the house of which
was built by Mr. James Bentley, D.L., in 1840, and
is now the residence of Mr. Edmund T. Doxat, J. P.
Other hamlets are Hammond Street and Appleby
Street in the north of the parish and Bury Green
CHESHUNT
hamlet in the south. At some distance south of the
village and church lies Theobalds Park, through
which the New River flows. A description of the
house will be found later. As might be expected
in a low-lying district, there are many homestead
moats in the parish. Besides those already referred
to there are others at Factory Farm, near Theobalds
Park Farm, and near Cheshunt station.
Cheshunt has numbered amongst its inhabitants at
different times many people oF historical importance.
Queen Elizabeth lived for several years at Sir Anthony
Denny's house at Cheshunt before she came to the
throne, and when Roger Ascham succeeded Grindal
as her tutor in 1548 he too took up his residence at
Goff's Oak, Cheshunt
Cheshunt.13 John Tillotson, afterwards Archbishop
of Canterbury, who was cur.ite of Cheshunt from
1 66 1 to 1663, lived with Sir Thomas Dacres 'at the
great house near the church.' " Richard Cromwell
on his return to England in 1680 stayed with
Serjeant (afterwards Chief Baron) Pengelly in a house
near the one now called Pengelly House close to the
church. This was a I 7th-century house, which was
burnt down in 1 888, after which the site was covered
with cottages. Richard Cromwell died at Cheshunt
7 Dugdale, Mon. Angl.
8 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p.
9 Pari. R. i, 53.
v, 328.
10 Line. Epis. Reg. Dalderby, Mem.
11 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 329.
18 See Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
445
Hund. 206, citing Shirley Hibberd'
BrambUi and Bay Leaves, 1 20-34.
u Diet. Nat. Biog. " Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in 1712." Dr. Watts spent the latter part of his life
with Sir Thomas and Lady Abney at Theobald's
Park.16
No trace of permanent Roman occupation has
been proved to exist at Cheshunt.17 The boundary
bank, known as 'Above and Below Bank,' which runs
through Theobalds Park over Beaumont Green to
Nine Acres Wood and is now hardly distinguishable
from the field banks, is said to have formed the
boundary between Mercia and Essex.1' In con-
nexion with this bank a curious custom of land
tenure exists. In cases of intestacy all copyhold
property on the west side, ' or above bank,' goes to
the eldest son, all on the east side, or ' below
bank,' to the youngest son. The greater part of
the p.irish is ' below bank.'
A mill is mentioned in the Domesday Survey. It
appears to have been included, later, within the
manor of Periers.19
CHESHUNT, which, with its bere-
MJNORS wick Hoddesdon, had been held in the
time of King Edward by Eddeva the
Fair,20 was one of the many manors granted by the
Conqueror to Count Alan of Britanny, who held it
in 1086, when it was assessed for 20 hides and had
land for thirty-three ploughs. A little later than
this the count built the castle of Richmond, and his
lands were formed into the honour of Richmond,21
the descent of which Cheshunt followed as a rule.
Peter de Braine, who married Alice daughter of Con-
stance of Britanny, daughter and heir ofConan Count
of Britanny, had seisin of the manor in his wife's right
in 1217." He forfeited in 1227, and the manor was
Britanny. Ermine
Peter de Braink.
Cheeky or and azure -with
a border of ENGLAND
and a quarter of BRIT-
ANNY.
granted to Walter, Bishop of Carlisle, to hold until the
king should restore it to Peter Count of Britanny or
his heirs.23 By renouncing his homage to Henry III
in 1234 the Count of Britanny finally forfeited his
English possessions,2' and in 1 241 the manoj- of
Cheshunt was granted to Peter of Savoy 25 with the
honour of Richmond. In 1 244 Peter received a
grant of a weekly market on Monday at his manor
of Cheshunt and a yearly fair on the vigil, feast and
Assumption of St. Mary'6 (15 August), the days of
the fair being changed in 1257 to the morrow of
the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September) and the
three days following." In 1268 Cheshunt was again
in the hands of the Crown, Peter of Savoy having
left the honour of Richmond to his niece Queen
Eleanor, who sold it to her husband. The latter
granted it to the descendants of Peter de Braine,
whose grandson28 John of Britanny in 1278 claimed
view of frankpledge, assize of bread and ale, gallows
and free warren in Cheshunt.29 In 1335 John Duke
of Britanny, great-nephew of the above,30 received
a grant ot a weekly market at his manor of Ches-
hunt.31 In 1 341 the earldom of Richmond was
again in the hands of the Crown after the death
of John de Britanny Earl of Richmond, Queen
Philippa being appointed to the custody of the lands.32
In 1342 John of Gaunt was created Earl of Rich-
mond.'" A weekly market at Cheshunt was granted
to him in 1344,31 and he appears to have held Ches-
hunt and the other lands of the earldom until 1372,
when he surrendered them to the king.35 In the
same year the earldom of Richmond was granted to
John de Montfort Duke of Britanny (son of John
de Montfort, half-brother and
heir male of the last-mentioned
John de Britanny), who had
married as his second wife
Joan half-sister of Richard II.36
On the death of the Duke
of Britanny in I 399 3r Ralph
Nevill Earl of Westmorland
received a life grant of the
earldom of Richmond.'8 He
granted, for his own life, the
manor of Cheshunt with the
knights' fees, parks, warrens,
franchises and liberties to John <""£"> ■
Norbury and his heirs. In
141 2 Henry IV confirmed the grant to John Nor-
bury for life, with successive remainders to Elizabeth
his wife, Henry their son, the
king's godson, and John the
brother of Henry.39 Ralph
Earl of Westmorland died in
1425,40 and in 1433 it was
enacted that the manor of
Cheshunt should go to the
Duke of Bedford after the
deaths of Elizabeth Norbury,
Henry and John." The Duke
of Bedford died without sur-
viving issue in 1435," and in
1447, on petition from the
Commons, the reversion of
the manor of Cheshunt after
the death of Elizabeth and
Henry Norbury was granted in frankalmoign to the
college of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Cambridge."
By the Resumption Act of 1455, however, the
Nevill, Earl of West-
morland. Gulesasalttre
Norbury. Sable a
te-veron engrailed be-
veen three bulls' heads
\boshed argent.
15 Cheshunt in the Olden Times, 36.
" Die,. Nat. Biog.
17 Hist. Monum. Com. Rep. Herts. 76.
18 Ibid. 5.
19 See Ct. R. portf. 1 77, c
. P. Dam. 1591-4, p. 501.
-° V. C.H.Herts, i, 320.
21 G.E.C. Complete Peerage
22 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Cc
n Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57
63 ; Cal.
', 343-
), i,325/,
52.
34 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vi, 350.
" Cal. Chart. R. 1228-57, P- 259-
26 Ibid. p. 281.
27 Ibid. p. 469.
28 G.E.C. op. cit. vi, 352.
39 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Con
290. 80 G.E.C. op. cit. vi, 353.
31 Chart. R. 9 Edw. Ill, m. 50, no.
32 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 236.
33 G.E.C. Peerage,yi, 354.
446
»* Chart. R. 18 Edw. Ill, m. 4, no. 1 3.
35 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xiii,
fol. 8. 36 G.E.C. oP. cit. vi, 355.
1,7 Ibid. 356.
3S Ibid. ; see Feud. Aids, ii, 443.
33 Cal. Pat. 140S-13, p. 404.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. VI, no. 37.
<> Pari. R. iv, 462.
• G.E.C. op. cit. i, 295.
<» Pari. R. v, 1 3 3.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
reversion returned to the Crown." The manor
continued to be held by Elizabeth Lady Say, widow
of John Norbury, whose life interest was regranted
to her in 1461 " by Edward IV, and was exempted
from the Resumption Act of 1 46 1 .'*6 In the same
year the reversion after the death of Elizabeth Lady
Say was granted for life to Sir John Clay, Joan his
wife, and John his son." In spite of this grant, after
the death of Elizabeth Lady Say the manor was
granted in 1465 to George Duke of Clarence and
heirs of his body.48
On the attainder of Clarence in 1477 his estates
passed to the Crown,49 and in 1484 Richard III
granted the manor of Cheshunt for life to Walter
Devereux Lord Ferrers,50 who was killed at Bosworth in
1485. 5l In 1487 it was granted for life by Henry VII
to Margaret Countess of Richmond,'2 who held it
until her death in 1509.53 In 15 17 two annuities
of {10 each were provided out of the issues of the
lordship of Cheshunt for Katharine wife of Leonard
Pole, nurse to ihe Princess Mary,54 and in 1525 th;
manor, with many others, was granted to Henry
Fitzroy Duke of Richmond," who died without
heirs in 1536. In 1538 Joan Brignan, widow, re-
ceived a grant of an annuity of 5 marks out of the
manor of Cheshunt in consideration of her services
to Henry Duke of Richmond in his childhood.56
Edward VI in 1547 granted the reversion of the
site of the manor, then held by Henry Sell, yeoman,
pricker of the king's buckhounds, with the manor
itself, to Sir John Gates,57 who was executed for
treason in 155 3-s3 The manor, having reverted to
the Crown once more, was granted in 155410 Sir
John Huddleston,59 who immediately sold it to John
Cock of Broxbourne.60 From
this date the manor of Ches-
hunt followed the descent of
Broxbourne (q.v.) until 1782,
when it was sold by John
third Lord Monson to George
Prescott. It descended to his
son George William Prescott,
Sheriff of Herts, in 1793-4,
created a baronet in 1794,
who died in 1801, then to
his son Sir George Beeston
Prescott, who died in 1840,
then to the latter's son Sir
William Prescott, and in 1850
to Sir George Rendlesham Prescott, fourth baronet,61
whose son Sir George Lionel Lawson Bagot Prescott
succeeded in 1 894 62 and is the present owner.
Cheshunt Park is mentioned in 1339, when John
Duke of Britanny complained of trespass in his park
at Cheshunt.63 The keepership of Cheshunt or Bran-
tingshey Park appears to have been held as a rule with or to have built on another site a house which, it is
Prescott, baronet.
Sable a che-veron between
three oivls argent.
CHESHUNT
the office of bailiff of the manor of Cheshunt.64 In
I 5 1 9 Cardinal Wolsey received a grant of it, from the
death of William Bedell, with \d. a day out of the
issues,65 and in 1538a grant of the office in survivor-
ship was made to Anthony Denny and Sir Thomas
Hennage.66 Cheshunt Park was apparently separated
from the manor of Cheshunt before 1570, in which
year it was conveyed by John Harrington to Sir
William Cecil." In 1607 it passed with Theobalds
to the Crown.68 It appears subsequently to have
followed the descent of the manor of Theobalds, with
which it is now held.69 The house, a mid- Victorian
stuccoed building, is the residence of Mr. F. G.
Dcbenham.
The manor of THEOBALDS is first mentioned in
1 44 1, when it was confirmed by Henry VI to John
Carpenter, clerk, master of the hospital of St. Anthony,
London, John Somerset, chancellor of the Exchequer,
and John Carpenter the younger, citizen of London.
The manor, which is described as being late of
John Hylton, clerk, with a messuage, 1 J virgates of
land and 5 acres of meadow in Cheshunt, was to
be held as of the manor of Cheshunt of Elizabeth,
Henry ar.d J ohn Norbury, and, after their deaths, of the
king by fealty and the rent of a bow worth zs. or of zs.
and a barbed arrow worth i,d. or of id. yearly for all
suits and services and secular demands.70 A grant
was also made to these tenants of quittance from all
shires, leets, hundreds and sheriffs' tourns, from ser-
vice on juries and inquisitions and from seizure of
goods by royal officials without payment.'1 These
grantees were probably feoffees to uses. The manor
sjems to have come to Edward Green (see Cressbrokes),
for in 1497 it was conveyed by William Craythorn
and Cecilia his wife, Edward's
heir, to William Denton,
Clement Carsey and his heirs,
and William Embroke,72 pos-
sibly for purposes of settle-
ment, as Cecilia Bedell died
seised of it in 1521. Cecilia
left a son and heir Thomas
Burbage,73 in whose family
the manor appears to have
remained74 until it was finally
conveyed by Robert Burbage
in I 564 to Sir William Cecil,7''
created Lord Burghley in
1571.
Under its new owner Theo-
balds became historically im-
portant. The original site of the manor, according
to Lysons, was a small moated house, the traces of
which were still visible in Sir George Prescott's park
796." Cecil appears either to have added to this
Cecil, Lord Burgh-
ley. Barry of ten pieces
argent and azure six
scutcheons sable with a
lion argent in each.
1 Pari. R. v, 306.
' Cal. Pat. 146 1-7, p. 20. For this
:abeth see Little Berkhampstead.
8 Pari. R. V, 471.
' Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 92.
3 Ibid. p. 388.
■ Pari. R. vi, 194*.
3 Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 513.
1 G.E.C. Peerage, iii, 331.
2 Pat. 2 Hen. VII, pt. i.
3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxiii,
;; G.E.C. Peerage, vi, 357.
1 L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii, 3429.
5 Ibid, iv (i), 1500 (p. 673 n.).
x Ibid, xiii, 1309 (38).
57 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. ii, m. 2.
58 Diet. Nat. Biog.
59 Pat. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. ii,
m. 20.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iii, 82.
61 Cus8ans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 209.
62 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, v, 293.
63 Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 285.
64 See Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 68 ; L.
and P. Hen. Fill, i, 349, 4637.
65 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii, 485.
66 Ibid, xiii (2), g. 734(10).
67 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 12 Elir.
447
68 See Cal. S. P. Dom. 1580-1625,
p. 498.
6a Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 214,
217. ro Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 510.
71 Ibid. p. 551.
7a Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 Hen. VII.
73 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxx, 11.
7< See Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 2 & 3
Eliz.
M Ibid. Hil. and Trin. 6 Eliz. A John
Eliott and Eleanor his wife joined in the
conveyance. Eleanor possibly had a right
of dower.
76 Lysone, Environs ofLonJ. iv, 31.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Elizabeth's Privy Council awaited his coming and
did homage, and where he stayed four days ' with
entertaynment such and so costly as hardly can bee
expressed.' s? He visited Theobalds again in February
1604, August 1604 and in May and July i6o6.M
In July he was accompanied by the King of Den-
mark, and Ben Jonson wrote an entertainment for
the occasion. Sir John Harrington, who was present,
writing to Mr. Secretary Barlow in 1606, gives a
description of the revels :
One day a great fer.st was held ; and after dinner the repre
sentation of Solomon's temple and the coming of the Queen of
Sheba was made, or (as I may better say) was meant to have
been made, before their Majesties, by device of the Earl of
Salisbury and others. But, alas ! as all earthly things do fail
to poor mortals in earthly enjoyments, so did prove our pre-
sentment thereof. The lady who did play the Queen's part did
carry most precious gifts to both their Majesties ; but forgetting
the steps arising to the canopy, overset her caskets into his
Danish Majesty's lap and fell at his feet, though I rather think
it was in his face. Much was the hurry and confusion . . .
His Majesty then got up and would dance with the Queen of
Sheba j but he fell down and humbled himself before her, and
was carried to an inner chamber and laid on a bed of state.
. . . The entertainment and show went forward, and most of
the presenters went backward or fell down ; wine did so occupy
their upper chambers.89
In 1607 the manor of Theobalds, with the house,
park and neighbouring manors, was surrendered to
the Crown '" and settled on the queen, the Earl of
Salisbury receiving Hatfield and other manors in
exchange." Ben Jonson wrote a masque to be acted
at the formal surrender of Theobalds to the queen,
which took place on 22 May 1607.92
In July 1607 the king, having spent some time at
Theobalds and found it a suitable place for sports,
decided to make some alterations there and appointed
the Earls of Suffolk, Worcester and Salisbury, with
the officers of the works, to supervise the proposed
improvements.'3 The alterations in question appear
to have involved the enlargement of Theobalds Park
and the inclosure of Cheshunt Park.9' The process
was both long and expensive. By September 1608
320 acres of land belonging chiefly to the manors of
Theobalds and Periers had been included in the
park.95 On 17 February 16 12 warrants were issued
for the payment of ^11,070 13/. 6d. for the pur-
chase of inclosed lands from neighbouring land-
owners, of whom the chief were Sir Robert Wroth
and Sir Thomas Dacre.96 Several freeholders, appa-
rently, held back before consenting to sell their lands
and caution was necessary.9' ' Mr. [Richard] Hale,'
wrote Sir Fulk Greville, 'refuses His Majesty's offer
of buying his house and land for more than its
value ; but he is old and will soon be out of the
way.'98 The Earl of Suffolk and Sir Fulk Greville
reported in 161 7 that they had met with much
Burghley died in 1598, and the manor passed to opposition from the people in taking in ground for
his younger son Robert Cecil, created Earl of Salisbury the enlargement of the park,99 some apparently object-
in 1605. In May 1603 James I, on his way from ing to surveys of their lands being made,100 and the
Scotland, came to Theobalds, where the lords of inhabitants of Waltham Forest being fearful of the
said, he intended to be the residence of his younger
son," and which eventually became a palace.
If my buildings mislike them [wrote Burghley, in 15S5, with
regard to slanders raised against him by his enemies] I confess my
folly in the expenses, because some of my houses are to come, it
God so please, to them that shall not have land to match them :
I mean my house at Theobalds ; which was begun by me with
a mean mesure ; but encreast by occasion of her Majesty's often
coming ; whom to please, I never would omit to strain myself
to more charges than building it. And yet not without some
especial direction of her Majesty. Upon fault found with the
smal mesure of her Chamber, which was in good mesure for me ;
I was forced to enlarge a room for a larger chamber : which
need not be envied of any for riches in it, more than the shew
of old oaks and such trees with rainted leaves and fruit.75
Elizabeth first visited Theobalds in 1 564, and
it was probably before her second visit, in 1 566, that
the house was enlarged/9 although building was going
on there in 1568.80 Elizabeth again visited Theo-
balds in 1 571 (when some verses and a picture of
the house were presented to her), 1572, 1573, 1575,
1577, 1578, 1583. 1587. i59'> '593. 1594 and
1596.81 In May 1583 the queen stayed five days
and brought with her a large retinue.8' Foreigners
and ambassadors sometimes came to the queen at
Theobalds ' where she hath byn sene in as great
royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently,
as at anie other tyme or place, all at his Lordship's
chardg.' 83 Norden was much impressed by the beauty
of Theobalds. ' A most stately house,' he says,
.... 'To speak of the state and beauty thereof as
large as it deserveth, for curious buildings, delightfull
walkes, and pleasant conceites within and without, and
other things very glorious and ellegant to be seene
would challenge a great portion of this little treatise,
and therefore least I should come shorte of that due
commendation that it deserveth, I leave it, as indeed
it is, a princely seate.' M A contemporary biographer
of Cecil says : ' He greatlie delighted in making gar-
dens, fountaines and walkes ; which at Theobalds were
perfected most costly, bewtyfully, and pleasantly.
Where one might walk twoe myle[s] in the walks,
before he came to their ends.' 8S Paul Hentzner,
describing his visit to England in 1 598, gives the
following description of Theobalds :
In the gallery was painted the genealogy of the Kings of
England ; from this place one goes into the garden, encompassed
with a ditch full of water, large enough for one to have the
pleasure of going in a boat and rowing between the shrubs ;
here are great variety of trees and plants ; labyrinths made with
a great deal of labour ; a jet d'eau with its bason of white
marble ; and columns and pyramids of wood and other materials
up and down the garden. After seeing these we were led by the
gardener into the summer-house, in the lower part of which,
built semi-circularlv, are the twelve Roman emperors in white
marble W. were not admitted to see the apartments
of this palace, there being nobody to show it, as the family was
in town attending the funeral of their Lord.86
" Lysons, Environs of Lond. iv, 31;
Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, i, 25. Norden
describes the house as being erected from
its first foundation by Cecil.
78 Nichols, Progress, of Queen Eli*, i,
205.
79 Ibid. 291.
80 Cat. S. P. Dom. 1547-80, p. 3 10.
81 Nichols, op. cit. i, lot.
,a Ibid, ii, 400.
^ Lysons, Environs of Lond. iv, 12.
64 Norden, Dcscr. of Herts, (ed. 159S),
3"-
85 Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, i, 26.
86 A Journey into England in the year
1598 (ed. 1758), 54.
1,7 Stow, Annals, 822.
88 Nichols, Progresses of lames I, i, 319,
454 5 ", 48, 63.
89 Jesse, Court of Engl, under tie Stuarts,
i.44-
90 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 5 Ja«. I.
91 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, pp. 354,
358, 359, 385-
92 Ben Jonson, Works (ed. 1616), i,
885-7.
93 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1580-1625, p. 498.
9< Ibid.
95 Exch. Spec. Com. 1 Chris. I, no. 5343.
96 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 120.
97 Ibid. p. 461.
9S Ibid. P. 462.
« Ibid. p. 466. "» Ibid. p. 462.
448
HERTFORD HUNDRED
commons being inclosed. By July 1 617 the arrange-
ments for the inclosure of neighbouring lands seem
to have been concluded. 'All is paid for,' wrote the
Earl of Suffolk and Sir Fulk Greville, ' and the king
will find that he pays like a king for his pleasure.' '
In September the Council mentioned the enlarging
of Theobalds as one of the items of the extraordinary
expenditure which would swallow up the £ 120,000
borrowed from the City and Merchant Strangers for
the payment of the king's debts.2 The surrounding
of the park with a wall 3 9 miles long involved further
expenditure in 1620-2,' and in July 1623 Lord
Brook reported to Secretary Conway that the 3 miles
of wall which required coping at Theobalds Park
could not be completed that year without heavy
additional expense/ The building of this wall
appears to have led to riots at Cheshunt in 1 62 3,
the commoners rising against the inclosure of part
of the common near Theobalds.6 In July 1624. a
warrant was issued for the payment of ^5,700 and
upwards to the paymaster of the works for a new
chapel, bedchamber, rooms and tennis court to be
built next spring at the king's house at Theobalds,'
and warrants had already been issued in June for
the payment of persons appointed by Sir Patrick
Murray to store the fish-ponds at Theobalds and to
keep the herons, French fowls, elks, silkworms,
partridges, pheasants, &c.a In 1620 the keeping of
Theobalds House and Park was granted to William
Earl of Salisbury, whose son, Charles Lord Cranborne,
received a similar grant for life in 1629.9
James I spent a great deal of time at Theobalds.10
It was there that he received the ambassador of the
Princes of the Union in February 1620," and that
the Council met in July 1623 to hear the articles
of the proposed Spanish marriage." On Sunday
27 March 1625 James died at Theobalds, and the
Lords of the Council with many others presently
assembled together, penned and signed a proclamation,
and instantly at the Court Gate proclaimed Prince
Charles king."
Charles I seems to have been less fond of Theobalds
than his father, although he visited it occasionally.14
It was at Theobalds that the last petition of Parlia-
ment concerning the militia was presented to him on
1 March 1642," and from Theobalds on 3 March
he set out for Royston on his way to Nottingham.16
In 1650 Theobalds House and Park were in the
possession of the Parliamentary trustees,17 but in April
1652 Major William Packer is described as one of
the proprietors.18 ' This Packer,' says George Fox,
' was a Baptist. . . . He set up a great meeting of
the Baptists at Theobalds Park ; for he and some
other officers had purchased it. They were
CHESHUNT
exceedingly high, and railed against Friends and truth
and threatened to apprehend me with their warrants
if ever I came there. Yet ... I was moved of the
Lord God to go down to Theobalds, and appoint a
meeting hard by them." 19 Most of the buildings
and the wall of the park appear to have been
demolished during the Commonwealth and the
materials to have been sold.20 When Anne Countess
of Bristol petitioned in 1660 for a lease of Theobalds
Park she urged that the walls and tenements were so
much out of repair that it was not likely to be again
used for pleasure.21 In the survey of 1650 the
trustees recommended that ' the Spittle,' an alms-
house for the entertainment of lame, impotent and
decayed persons of the parish, should be continued as
such." A chapel was left standing and used by the
Presbyterians as late as 1689."
In 1 66 1 the manor and park of Theobalds,
excepting mines royal and the passage of the New
River, were granted to George
Duke of Albemarle, his wife
and heirs male." In 1667
Charles II promised that, if
the Duke of Albemarle and
his son Christopher Lord Tor-
rington should die without
heirs, he would create the
Earl of Bath Duke of Albe-
marle and grant him the house
and park of Theobalds"
When, however, Christopher
Duke of Albemarle died with-
out issue in 1688 20 the estate
of Theobalds reverted to the
Crown, and in 1694 James II issued a warrant from
St. Germains granting it to James Duke of Berwick
and his heirs male with remainder to his brother
Henry Fitz James, Grand Prior of England,27 whom
he created Duke of Albemarle in 1696.28 This
warrant apparently was not carried into effect, as
both the brothers were outlawed in 1695 ; the Earl
of Bath, too, seems to have given up his claim.29
The manor, separated from the park and house,
passed to Elizabeth widow of Christopher Duke of
Albemarle ; she married as her second husband Ralph
Earl of Montagu, to whose son by his first wife,
John Duke of Montagu, the manor came in 1709.30
In 1736 the latter sold the manor to Mrs. Letitia
Thornhill,31 who died without issue. On her death
the manor went to the granddaughters of Sir Robert
Thornhill, Sarah wife of Richard Cromwell, and
Eleanor Hinde, widow. Both moieties of the manor
finally passed to the daughters of Sarah Cromwell,
and then, as they all died unmarried, to their cousin
Monk, Duke of Albe-
marle. Gules a chcveron
between three lions' heads
razed argent.
1 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 475.
1 Ibid. p. 485.
s Part of the original wall may be seen
at Aldbury Farm (Hist. Monum. Com.
Rep. Herts. 79).
* Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, pp. 151,
262, 424.
5 Ibid. 1623-5, pp. 86, 87.
« Ibid. p. 10.
' Ibid. p. 307.
s Ibid. p. 280. In 1618 the keeper of
the garden had been paid £50 for making
a place for the silkworms and providing
mulberry leaves (Cal. S. P. Dom. 161 1-
18, p. 592).
9 Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 26.
10 S. P. Dom. las- I, passim.
11 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 125.
12 Ibid. 1623-5, P- 3°-
15 Ibid. 1625-9, P- ■■
14 Ibid. 1635-6, p. 523; 1636-7,
p. 138; 1637-8, p. 523.
15 Clarendon, Hist, of the Rebellion, iv,
322 n.
16 Ibid. note.
17 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 147.
18 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1651-2, pp. 209,
214, 218.
"Journal (ed. 8), pp. 212-13. The
campaign which followed was lively, but
Geo. Fox appears to have been satisfied
with the result.
449
a> Earle, Palace of Theobalds, 23 ; Cal.
S. P. Dom. 1 660- 1, p. 70.
" Cal. S. P. Dom. 1 660-1, p. 289.
88 Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 24.
53 Earle, Palace of Theobalds, 23.
24 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1660-1, p. 523 1
1663-4, p. 502.
» Stuart Papers (Hist. MSS. Com.), i, 2.
36 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, i, 59.
17 Stuart Papers (Hist. MSS. Com.), i,
88. » G.E.C. Complete Peerage, i, 59.
" Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 10 & 11
Will. III.
30 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 214.
31 B.M. Add. MS. 9434, fol. 46.
57
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
lion argent.
Oliver Cromwell. The latter died at Cheshunt
Park in 1821, leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth
Oliveria, wife of Thomas
Artemidorus Russell.
On the death of the latter
in 1858 the manor of Theo-
balds, with Cheshunt Park,
came by will to his third son
Thomas Artemidorus Russell
for life, with remainder to the
testator's daughters Elizabeth
Oliveria, wife of Frederick
Joseph Prescott, Letitia Crom-
well Whitfield, wife of Frede-
rick Whitfield, and Emma
Bridget Warner, wife of
Richard Warner. On the death of Thomas Arte-
midorus Russell the younger in 1863 the manor
came to his sisters Mrs. Elizabeth Prescott and Mrs.
Emma Warner.33 It thus came to the Prescott family,
and is now owned by Sir George Lionel Lawson
Bagot Prescott, bart., of Isenhurst, Sussex. The
estate now comprises little more than the manors of
Cullings alias Tongs and Crossbrokes alias Darcies.
The house and park of Theobalds descended
separately from the manor. After reverting to the
Crown on the death of Christopher Duke of Albemarle
they were granted by William III to William
Bentinck Earl of Portland. From the latter they
descended to William Henry Cavendish, third Duke
of Portland, who sold them in 1763 to George
Prescott, by whom the present house was begun.
He was succeeded in 1790 by his son George
William Prescott, created a baronet in 1794. From
this date Theobalds house and park passed like the
manor of Cheshunt (q.v.) to
Sir George Beeston Prescott,
who sold them to Sir Henry
Meux, bt.32a His son Sir
Henry, who died in 1 883,
was succeeded by his son Sir
Henry Bruce Meux. He died
in 1900 and left the estate to
his wife Valerie Susie. Lady
Meux died in 1910, leaving
by her will Theobalds Park
to Sir Hedworth Lambton,
who took the name of Meux,
and is the present owner.
Of the original house built
in 1564-71 by Lord Burghley
scarcely anything remains, owing to th; dismantling
of the house in the time of the Commonwealth.
It consisted of two great quadrangles, 86 ft. and
1 10 ft. square respectively. On the east side of
the former was a cloister, and there was a black
and white marble fountain in the centre. The
second quadrangle had cloisters, with galleries over,
on the east and west sides, and a chapel on the
south. There were two large gatehouses, one
between the two quadrangles, and on the south side
of the house was an open cloister, with paintings,
inscriptions and pedigrees. This cloister existed till
1765, though the palace was for the most part
Meux, baronet.
Paly or and azure a chief
gules 'with three crosses
formy or therein.
demolished in 1 65 1. The existing remains consist of
a strip of walling, about 2 ft. wide and I 5 ft. high,
in the south side of the gardener's cottage at Old
Palace House, of clunch in its lower portion, with a
moulded plinth, and a moulded string at the top,
much decayed, and in its upper half of red brick
with clunch quoins. This appears to have been the
south-west angle of the palace. Just to the north-east
of this is a wide three-light window with moulded
stone jambs and mullions under a brick four-centred
arch ; it is set in an old brick wall, but it is uncertain
whether this is its original position or whether it is
re-used material, as in the case of two stone-mullioned
windows in Old Palace House. The original garden
wall of red brick survives in several places, the most
perfect being the lengths which inclose the gardens
of Old Palace House and Grove House on the north
side. In the dividing wall is a rectangular peep-hole
rebated for a shutter, and having chamfered jambs and
head. In the west wall of the Old Palace House
garden are several niches, and one in the south wall.
They are all about 2 ft. 6 in. above the ground,
1 ft. 9 in. high, 1 ft. wide, and 10 in. deep, and
some have small holes at the bottom. They appear
to have been used for charcoal fires, as the mortar
joints above them are blackened by smoke. The
west wall is carried on to the north of the garden of
Grove House, and at its north and south ends are
remains of circular angle-turrets. At the south-east
of the ' Cedars,' the third house on the site, which
takes its name from two large trees probably con-
temporary with the palace, is another wall, with
returns for the central east gateway, and there is
another piece of wall running eastward towards the
London road, as well as a few other fragments.
Old Palace House, the residence of Mr. Frederick
W. Lane, was built in 1768 on the site of the
gardens and terraces. The garden walks still remain
as formerly. The old banqueting-table is at the
Old Palace House.33
The present house at Theobalds Park is a large
red brick building with stone dressings begun in
1768, the wings being added at a later date. There
are extensive gardens and grounds and in the park
an ornamental lake formed from the New River.
This house stands about three-quarters of a mile
westward of the old palace.
The north-west gateway of Theobalds Park is
formed by old Temple Bar removed from the Fleet
Street entrance to the City in 1878, and re-erected
in its present position in 1888 by Sir Henry Meux,
bart., to whom it had been given. It was built in
1672 from Sir Christopher Wren's design, of stone
with rusticated joints, and has a large central gate-
way with a three-centred arch having a carved pro-
jecting keystone and moulded imposts, flanked by
smaller gateways with round heads. Above is an
upper stage with a frieze and cornice, surmounted
by a curved pediment, and divided on each face by
shallow Corinthian pilasters. In the end bays are
round-headed niches, containing, on the outer side,
statues of Charles II and Queen Anne, and on the
inner side of James I and Charles I. In the middle
bay and at each end are round-headed windows.
32 Cussans, loc. cit. ; Add. MS. 943+,
fol. 46 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 30 & 31
Geo. II (K.S.B.) ; Recov. R. East. 25
Geo. Ill, rot. 307 ; Trin. 6 Geo. IV, rot. 1 z.
32a Sir George Beeston Prescott is
called of Theobalds in 1837 {Sess. R.
[Herts. Co. Rec], ii, 370) and Sir
Henry Meux is so described in his M.I.
45O
in Cheshunt Church, 1S40. Se
Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 458.
33 Hist. Monum. Com. Rep.
79-
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Walter Culling in 1303 held a fourth part of a
knight's fee in Cheshunt of the Earl of Richmond.3'
In 1383 a tenement called CULLINGS in Ches-
hunt, held, with a tenement called Mores, by William
atte More, was valued for debt.35 It is first described
as a manor in I 387, when Baldwin de Radyngton, kt.,
and others received licence for the alienation in mort-
main of the manor of Cullings, held of the manor of
Cheshunt, to the Abbot and convent of Waltham
Holy Cross,36 who in 14.28 held the fourth part of
a knight's fee formerly held by Walter Culling.3'
The convent of Waltham Holy Cross continued to
hold Cullings until its dissolution in 1540, when
Robert Fuller, formerly abbot, received a life-grant
of the manor.38 In 1544 Cullings was granted to
Thomas Blanke and others39 in return for money lent
to the king on condition that the grant was to be
void if the loan should be repaid within a year."
In 1552 the manor passed by a fine from Henry
Beecher and Alice his wife to Edward Baeshe," who
conveyed it to Sir William Cecil in 1573," since
which date it has followed the descent of Theobalds
TONGS was one of the properties of which
Theobalds was composed, but of its existence as a
separate manor there is practically no evidence.
Cussans says that in the latter part of the 13th
century it belonged to the family of Fitz Bernard,'3
but he is confusing it with the manor of Tonge in
Kent." He identifies it with the manor of Cullings,
which, according to Lysons, was afterwards called
Tongs, then Theobalds, and was made over to William
de Tong in 1385 by William atte More in payment
of debt.'5 In no documents, however, is Cullings
described as Tongs until it appears as one of the
aliases of Theobalds. Possibly both estates were
originally in the hands of William atte More, and
this one, having come to William de Tong, took the
name of Tongs.
The manor of DARC1ES or CRESSBROKE*6
apparently gained its first name from John first
Lord Darcy of Knaith, co.
Lincoln, who in 1347 owned
two messuages called Cress-
broke and Tunsted," which
descended to his son John Lord
Darcy. On the death of the
latter in March 1355-6 his
heir, John Darcy, was a minor,
consequently the manor, which
was held of the earldom of Rich-
mond in socage, was taken
into the king's hands. John
Darcy the younger died in
1362, apparently being still a
minor, and his brother and
heir, Sir Philip Darcy, did not come of age until
CHESHUNT
1373.48 He was succeeded by his son John in 1398,
and the latter in 141 I by his son Philip, who died
without male issue in 1418.*9 In 1434 John Darcy,
brother and heir male of Philip, released to Sir John
Stiward, Alice his wife and their heirs ah right in the
manor of Cressbroke.50 In the following year Sir
John Stiward and Alice granted the manor to John
Stopynden, clerk, and Thomas Weston, citizen and
fishmonger of London,51 who were probably acting as
trustees for a settlement. In 1441 the two daughters
of Philip Lord Darcy,5' Elizabeth wife of James
Strangeways and Margery wife of John Conyers, con-
veyed the manor to Richard Appleby, clerk, Henry
Holden and Robert Founteyns,53 evidently the trustees
of John Clay, for by a settlement made in 1446 the
manor passed from these to other trustees, who, acting
in compliance with the will of John Clay, confirmed
the manor to his widow Joan and his son John.5*
In 1480 Cecily daughter of John Clay,55 wife of Sir
Robert Green and formerly wife of John Acton, died
seised of the manor of Cressbroke.56 Her son and
heir Edward Green was a minor at the time of her
death, and the manor with a messuage called Clays
Place was taken into the king's hands. Edward Green
died in January 149 1— 2, and was succeeded by his sister
Cecily, the wife of William Burbage." Cecily Bur-
bage seems to have married again twice, as in 1 498
William Craythorne and Cecilv his wife were holding
the manor,58andin I 521 Cecily Bedell died seised of the
manor of Cressbroke, leaving a son and heir Thomas
Burbage.59 From this time the manor appears to
have been held with Theobalds.
In the survey of 1650 the boundaries of the manor
are given : ' The aforesaid Mannor extends itselfe to
Walthamcrosse on the east and to Enfield cm the south,
and Wormely on the north and to Northall on the
west, being also intermingled with the lands belonge-
ing to Sir Richard Lucy called the Mannor of
Chesthunt.' Courts were then held for the manor at
the manor-house.60
The manor of PERIERS appears to have taken its
name from a family who owned land in Cheshunt in the
I 3th century. At some date between 1275 and I 292
Richard de Periers granted 1 mark of yearly rent
with 6 acres in Cheshunt Meadow to Robert Burnell,
Bishop of Bath and Wells,61 and in I 3 17 Richard de
Periers and his heirs received a grant of free warren
in Wormley and Cheshunt." When Richard de
Periers died in 1335 his lands were divided between
his three sons, the eldest, Richard, receiving the
Cheshunt property, which consisted of a messuage,
land and rent, including two parks containing 40
acres, held of John Duke of Britanny by service of a
quarter of a knight's fee.63 It was still in the hands
of the Periers family in 1430, when William
Periers granted his manor of Periers to Thomas
34 Feud. Aidh ii, 453.
55 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Rio II, no.
36 Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 356.
37 Feud. Aids, ii, 450.
3' L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, p. - 1
3Mbid. xix (2), g. I66(43).
10 Ibid. (1), 891.
41 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 EJv
" Ibid. East. 15 Eliz.
13 Hilt, of Hem. Hertford Hund. :
44 See Cal. Close, 1302-7, p. 421.
* Environs of London, iv, 29.
"John de Cressebrok (Kersebr.
mentioned in connexion with Cht
in 1324 and Henry de Cressebrok in
1337 (see Cal. Inq. 1 0-20 Ediv. II,
318; Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 446). Pro-
bably their lands comprised part of this
ik) is
shunt
47 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 EJw. Ill, no. 54.
"Ibid. 47 Edw. Ill, no. 11.
49 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 373.
50 Close, 1 3 Hen. VI, m. 14.
51 Feet of F. Herts. 1 3 Hen. VI,
no. 72.
a Visit, of Torts. (Harl. Soc. xvi), 91-2.
53 Feet of F. Herts. 19 Hen. VI,
no. 107.
4SI
54 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antij. of
Herts, ii, 104.
Si Will P.C.C. 6 Godyn.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. IV, no.
24.
57 Cal. In j. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 330.
58 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 1 3 Hen. VII.
59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxx, n.
One copv of the inquisition describes her
as Cecilia wife of William Burbage.
60 Pari. Surv. Herts, no. 20.
61 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 3521.
62 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 334.
65 Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Edw. Ill, 453.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Gloucestei and William Thornton.64 John Edward,
brother and heir of Thomas Gloucester, conveyed the
manor to Lord Sudeley and others, who in 1448
demised it to John Say and certain co-feoffees." Sir
John Say died seised of it in 1478.66 The manor of
Periers then followed the descent of Baas and Hoddes-
don, and with them came into the possession of Sir
William Cecil in 1572." For some years it was held
with Theobalds.
In connexion with a dispute about the River Lea,
which was referred to the judges in 1594, it was
stated that the honour of the manor of Theobalds
paid £1 6s. %tt. a year to the lord of the manor
of Periers for the course of the water going through
his ground from Lea to Cheshunt Mill until both
the manors came to the Lord Treasurer.68 In 1 608
part of the manor of Periers was inclosed in the king's
park,69 the residue of the manor with the manor-
house being leased in the same year for thirty-one
years70 to Thomas Dewhurst,7' son of Barnard
Dewhurst, formerly English secretary to Lord
Burghley." Thomas Dewhurst did not live for the
term of his lease, and in the survey of 1 62 2 the manor
of Periers was included in the manor of Theobalds."
In 1629 the site of the manor was leased to Sir
William Gardiner for twenty-one years." The subse-
quent descent of the manor is not very clear. It was
granted in 1661 to George Duke of Albemarle with
Theobalds,7,1 with which it was still held in 1699.'6
In 1774, however, it was held with the manor of
Beaumond Hall by Hannah, Mary and Robert Sax."
It subsequently pas;ed by marriage to — Griffenhoofe,
whose devisees sold it in 1842 to Matthew son of
Isaac and Judith Munt of Kingston, Jamaica. In
1 85 1 Mr. Munt sold it to James Fort, who was
the possessor in 1874," since when it has passed to
Mr. G. F. H. Grant.
Cussans suggests that the manor of BEAUMOND
HALL derives its name from Robert Beaumont, third
Earl of Leicester, who during the reign of Richard I
gave the adjoining manor of Bioxbourne to the
Knights Hospitallers.79 As, on the eve of the Disso-
lution, the manor of Beaumond Hall formed part of
the possessions of the hospital of St. Mary without
Bishopsgate,80 it was more probably identical with
the lands in Cheshunt which were granted to the
hospital of St. Mary by Richard de Periers in I297.8'
That this was the case is further suggested by the
survey of 1650, which describes the manor as being
'intermixed with .... the Mannor of Periers.'82
In 1540 the manor of Beaumond Hall was granted
by Henry VIII to Thomas Wrothe of Enfield.83
The latter appears to have sold it in 1572 to Sir
William Cecil.84 It evidently followed the descent
St. Mary's Hospital
without Bishopsgate.
Party argent and sable a
mill-rind cross counter-
coloured -with a martlet
gules in the quarter.
of Theobalds, in which manor it was included with
Periers in the survey of 1622, when it belonged to the
Crown.8' In 1639 the manor
of Beaumond Hall was granted
to Richard Barnard for eight
years.86 It was included in
the survey of the king's lands
in 1650, at which date Beau-
mond Hall and Periers were
separate manors. The boun-
daries of Beaumond Hall are
given in the survey : ' The
Boundes of the Mannor afore-
said extend to Wormeley
Woodd on the North and on
the River Leigh on the East
And on the Lande of the
Earle of Salisbury called
Bassetts on the West and unto
the Landes of Thomas Dacres on the South.'87 For
some time after this the manor was apparently held
with Theobalds ; that was the case in 1699, when
it is described as ' Beaumonts and Periers,' 6S and in
1734.89 By 1774, however, it had become separated
from Theobalds and was held jointly with Periers,90
with which it subsequently descended.
CLARKES alias LOCKETS alias TERBS was a
tenement or farm-house, let to foan Ireton for life in
1 61 8. It was included in the manor of Beaumond
and Periers in 1622 9I and in Periers in 1650,92 but
by 1699 it had apparently become merged in Theo-
balds."
The manor called LA MOTE first appears in the
14th century, held of the Earls of Richmond and of
other neighbouring lords, by the family of Valence,
Earls of Pembroke. Aymer de Valence Earl of
Pembroke died seised of it in 1324, and Mary his
widow held the manor for life after the death of her
husband, and died seised in 1377.9* The heir was
John de Hastings, descendant of Isabel, sister of Aymer
de Valence. John de Hastings Earl of Pembroke
died in 1389 seised of the manor of La Mote, and
as he died without issue his heir was Reginald de
Grey, whose grandmother Elizabeth was daughter of
Isabel de Hastings, sister and co-heir of Aymer de
Valence.95 In 14 14 Reginald de Grey conveyed
the manor to Robert Bishop of London and others,96
who were probably trustees, as by 1439 the manor
had become divided into moieties,97 held apparently
by two heiresses. One moiety, which was conveyed
by Robert Ellerbek and Agnes his wife to John Fray
in 1439, seems to be the manor de la Mote which
in 1507 Hugh Clopton and Katherine his wife
surrendered by a fine to Edmund Denny and others,98
6< Close, 9 Hen.VI, m. 10. Apparently
it was subsequently granted to John
Halle, who may have been acting as
tiustee for Gloucester (see Close, 25
Hen. VI, m. 9).
65 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 241 (see Ct.
R. [Gen. Ser.], portf. 177, no. 63).
66 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 8 Edw. IV, no. 43 ;
Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 116.
67 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 14 Elir.
68 Cal. S. P. Don. 1591-4, p. 501.
« Exch. Spec. Com. 1 Chas. I,
no. 5343.
70 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xv.
71 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 406.
" M.I.
" Land Rev. Misc. Bks. ccxvi, fol. 33.
74 Pat. 5 Chas. I, pt. viii.
75 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1660-1, p. 523.
76 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 10 & 11
Will. III.
77 Ibid. Herts. Trin. 14 Geo. III.
78 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 219.
79 Ibid. 218.
80 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vii, 626.
81 B.M. Add. Chart. 10647*.
M Pari. Surv. no. 1 5.
8:1 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 733 (64).
8< Feet olF. Hil. 15 Eliz.
85 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. ccxvi, fol. 33.
86 Pat. 14 Chas. I, pt. ix.
' Pari. Surv. no. 15.
' Feet of F. Hil. 10 & 11 Will. III.
> Recov. R. Hil. 8 Geo. II, rot. 189.
> Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 14 Geo. III.
1 Land Rev. Misc. Bks. ccxvi, fol. 36.
' Pari. Surv. no. 30.
» Feet of F. Hil. 10 & 11 Will. III.
1 Cal. Inq. p.m. 10-20 Edio. II, 318 ;
tn. Inq. 51 Edw. Ill, no. 28.
'• Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, pt. ii,
179.
* Feet of F. Div. Co. 2 Hen. V,
16.
7 Ibid. 17 Hen. VI, no. 108 ; 19
3. VI, no. 96.
8 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 23 Hen. VII.
45-
HERTFORD HUNDRED
and which passed in I 5 20 to Thomas son of Edmund,"
and later to John son of Thomas. John Denny
exchanged it in 1544 with George Dacres,100 who
already held the other moiety of the original manor.1
This other moiety was conveyed in 1440 by Roger
Ree and Rose his wife to John Walsh and others a ;
it is in association with this moiety that the manor
of JNDREWS first appears, both being held in 1474
for life by Margaret widow of John Walsh,3 and from
this time the moiety in question and the manor of
Andrews are always associated. In 1487 a court was
held for the latter in the name of John Walsh and
Christine his wife.' This John Walsh, who was
probably the son of the former owner, conveyed the
manor of Andrews with a moiety of the manor of
'Moteland' to John More and others in 1500 as
feoffees to the use of his last will.5 The feoffees
transferred the property to Henry Stafford Earl of
CHESHUNT
wife received a grant in survivorship of the estate " ;
but in 1538, before the death of the Earl of Worcester,
it was granted in fee to Robert Dacres of London,"
to whom the Earl of Worcester released his interest."
Robert Dacres was succeeded in 1543 by his son
George," who united the two moieties of the Mote
(see above).
On the death of George Dacres in 1580 the manors
went to his son Sir Thomas Dacres,15 who died in
1615, leaving a son and heir Thomas Dacres.16 The
latter, outliving his eldest son, was succeeded by his
grandson Sir Robert Dacres, who sold the property
in 1675 to James Cecil third Earl of Salisbury.1' By
the end of the 1 7th century the manors are described
as the manor of Andrewes le Mote, for which courts
were held in 1690 and 1 69 1 in the name of James
Earl of Salisbury.18 In 1892 the latter conveyed
the manor to Sir Edward des Bouverie,19 who, dying
Cheshunt Great House from the North-west
Wiltshire and Lucas Langland6; the latter appears
to have been acting for Cardinal Wolsey, who by
1 5 19 had bought up the claims of John Rufford
and Michael Nevill, nephews of John Walsh,7 Alice
wife of William Chesyll, his sister,8 and others.9 On
the attainder of Wolsey in 1529 the manor of
Andrews and a moiety of the manor of ' la Mote '
were forfeited to the Crown and granted to Henry
Duke of Richmond, who died without heirs in I 5 3 6.10
In I 53 1 Henry Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth his
in 1694, left directions in his will that the manor
should be sold by his sons William and Jacob;
it was bought by Sir John Shaw, second baronet,
who was the possessor in 1 700. *° Sir John Shaw
lived until 1721," but by 1715" the manor had
come by settlement to William Shaw, the eldest
son of Sir John and his second wife.'3 In 1750
William Shaw, barring the entail, conveyed the estate
to trustees for the use of his son John Shaw and
Meliora Huxley, the latter's future wife. On the
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxv, 49.
'oo L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (1), 25
(cap. xxiii).
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiii, 8q.
* Feet of F. Herts. 19 Hen. VI,
no. 108.
> Ibid. 14 Edw. IV, no. 98.
1 Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 28.
5 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 6801.
6 Ihid. A 6729.
7 Ibid. A 6730, 6733, 1 157.
8 Ibid. A 6715.
9 Ibid. A 673 1, 6732. La Mote seems
to have been acquired by Wolsey tor a grant
to Cardinal College, Ipswich (see L.
andP.Hen. Fill, iv [2], 4229 [4] [?])■
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxxii, SS.
11 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, g. 220 (13).
« Ibid, xiii (2), g. 734 (37)-
13 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 31
Hen. VIII.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxiii, 89.
453
15 Ibid, exev, 56. 16 Ibid, ccclix, 119.
17 A Brief Hist, of Cheshunt Great
'ouse, 6.
1S Stowe MSS. 847, fol. 37*, 94A.
" Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Will, and
lary.
20 Chauncy, Hist. Anriq. of Herts. 301.
81 G.E.C. Baronetage, iv, 13.
22 Salmon, op. cit. 1 1.
23 A Brief Hist, of Cheshunt Great
louse, 6.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
death of John Shaw in I 772 the property went to
Meliora, and at her death in 1788 to Anne widow
of William Shaw, jun., third
son of William Shaw, sen.
According to the will of
William Shaw, jun., the
manors and estate were to
come, after the deaths of his
widow, Anne Shaw, and his
two sisters, to the Rev. Charles
Mayo, grandson of Rebecca
daughter of Sir John Shaw
and his second wife. Charles
Mayo, who had previously
been a lessee of the estate,
succeeded to the property in
1824, and when he died with-
out issue in 1858 he was suc-
ceeded by his nephew William Herbert Mayo. On
the death of the latter in 1888 the estate passed to
his nephew, the Rev. Herbert Harman Mayo,24 who
dying in 1 goo was succeeded by his son the Rev.
Charles Edward Mayo."
In 124.0 Henry III granted the lands of the
canons of Cathal to the nuns of Cheshunt,26 which
lands became known as the manor of CHESHUNT
NUNNERr. In 1352 Edward III granted the
nuns exemption from payment of tenths, fifteenths,
aids and tallages," and in 1358 free warren in all
their lands of Cheshunt,28 a grant which was con-
firmed by Richard II and Henry VI.29 In 1536
the site of Cheshunt Nunnery, or the priory of the
nuns of St. Mary de Swetmannescrofte, was granted
to Sir Anthony Denny.™ The latter was succeeded
by his eldest son Henry Denny, who in 1564 sold
the estate to Richard Springham, Anthony Throck-
morton and Richard Davys. In 1590, however,
Edward Denny, younger brother of Henry, bought
back the estate, which he sold in 1 592 to Sir William
Cecil.31 Cheshunt Nunnery then probably followed
the descent of Theobalds until in 1608 it was leased
by the Crown to Thomas Dewhurst for thirty-one
years.32 In 1 6 14 it was granted to Robert Dewhurst,"'
who settled the estate upon his great-nephew Robert
Gill. On the death of the latter it came to his
brother William Gill, who in 1675 conveyed it to
Mark Mortimer, by whom it was sold in 171 3 to
Samuel Benson. The latter conveyed it in 17 14 to
Robert Benson Lord Bingley, who left it by will in
1729 to Robert son of Samuel Benson, who released
it to William Jansen.34 Catherine Ann, the daughter
of William Jansen, had married John Blackwood, and
in 1776 Cheshunt Nunnery was settled upon her.3*
From her it passed to the Hon. Lionel Damer and
Williamza his wife, only surviving daughter and heir
of William Jansen. In 1804 the Nunnery was re-
leased to William Butt of Corney Bury, and he in
1 81 1 sold it to John Early Cook, who was the
Di
Chapter
Assure a cross paty be-
tween Jive martlets or
and a chief or with a pale
quarterly of FRANCE
and ENGLAND be-
tween two Tudor roses.
owner in I 82 I.3" At the present time the property
is in the possession of the devisees of the late Thomas
Rochford.
After the Dissolution the rectory of Cheshunt, to
which was attached an estate called the RECTOR}'
MANOR, became part of the
possessions of the Dean and
Chapter of Westminster,37 who
in 1544 received licence to
alienate it to Anthony Denny.
From the latter it passed by
exchange in the same year to
George Dacres, who at the
same time acquired the manor
of Mote.38 By 161 2 the
rectory had come into the pos-
session of Henry Atkins, phy-
sician in ordinary to James I
and Charles I,3' who in that
year received £"Joo from the
Crown for the surrender of
tithes arising from land lately
inclosed in Theobalds Park.10
In 1632 Henry Atkins conveyed the rectory to
Sir Edmund Scott ; from the latter it passed with
the parsonage-house and two water-mills to his
brother Sir Stephen Scott," whose youngest sur-
viving son sold them to Sir Edward des Bouverie."
The latter, dying in 1695," left the rectory to be
sold, and it was bought by his elder son William
des Bouverie, who was the possessor in 1 700." He
left it to his son Sir Edward, who sold it to Thomas
Martin before 1728.'° The rectory manor appears
to have been still in the hands of the Martin family
in I 8 14.46 In 1855 it came by purchase to James
Bentley of Woodgreen Park." His estate was sold
in I 88 I, and the present owner of the manor of the
rectory is Mr. Edmund Theodore Doxat, but there
is now no copyhold left.
The church of ST. MAR}' stands
CHURCHES a little to the west of the town, and
consists of chancel 45 ft. by 21 ft.,
south chapel, north chapel or vestry, nave 74 ft.
by 22 ft., south porch, north and south aisles, each
75 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in., and west tower 16 ft. square;
all internal dimensions. The walls are cemented,
probably on flint rubble ; the east wall and the
modern portions are faced with flint, and the west
tower is built of ashlar.
It appears from a brass in the church to Nicholas
Dixon, rector, that the whole of the church was
rebuilt by him between 1 41 8 and 1448, and no
structural work of an earlier date now remains.
The south chapel, north vestry and south porch are
modern, and the church generally was extensively
restored during the latter part of the 19th century.
The five-light traceried window in the east wall of
the chancel is almost entirely modern, only the inner
M A Brief Hist, of Cheshunt Great
House, 7.
2i Burke, Landed Gentry (1906).
26 Cal. Chart. R. 1226—57, p. 253.
" Cal. Pal. 1 381-5, p. 56.
2» Chart. R. 32 Edw. Ill, m. 3, no. 5.
S9 Cal. Rot. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 19S, 2-6.
30 L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii, g. 519 (12).
31 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, ii, 10S.
32 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xv.
38 Ibid. 12 Jas. I, pt. xxiii.
81 Clutterbuck, loc. cit. citing private
deeds.
35 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Herts. East. 16
Geo. III.
36 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
37 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvii, 714 (5).
See under advowson.
38 Ibid, xix (.), 25 (cap. xxiii).
39 M.I. in church.
« Cal. S. P. Dom. 1611-1S, p. 12:.
454
In 1620 the vicar of Cheshunt also
received a grant of £21 a year as com-
pensation (see ibid. 1619-23, p. 53).
« Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxc 76.
43 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 301.
43 Harl. MS. 5802, fol. 13.
44 Chauncy, op. cit. 302.
4i Salmon, op. cit. 10.
46 Recov. R. East. 54 Geo. Ill, rot. 370.
" C.ssans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 242.
Cheshunt : The Great House/from the South-west
Cheshunt Church from the South-east
HERTFORD HUNDRED
jambs being original. The north and south arcades
are modern, the former being blocked. In the south
wall is a 15th-century piscina with cinquefoiled arch
under a square head, and traceried spandrels ; part of
the bowl has been cut away. The triple sedilia now
detached, in the first bay of the arcade, are 15th-
century work restored. The chancel arch is of two
moulded orders. The jambs have engaged shafts with
moulded capitals and bases ; it is of 1 5th-century date.
The north and south arcades of the nave are of
five bays, with arches of two moulded orders ; the
piers consist of four engaged shafts of Purbeck marble
and have moulded capitals and bases. The wide
eastern respond of the north arcade is pierced with
a small opening with three traceried lights of I 5th-
century date ; in the south arcade is a modern copy,
and above it is the doorway to the former rood-loft.
The clearstory windows, of two cinquefoiled lights
under a square head, retain much of their original
stonework.
In the north aisle wall are five windows of three
cinquefoiled lights with traceried heads ; these have
all been repaired with cement. The window in the
west wall is now blocked by an 18th-century monu-
ment. The windows in the wall of the south aisle
are similar to those in the north ; two of these are
of 15th-century date, the other two are modern
copies. At the east end of the south wall is a plain
piscina of rude workmanship, which may belong to
an earlier period. The roofs are almost entirely
of modern work, but the carved corbels under the
trusses are of 1 5th-century date.
The west tower is of three stages, the lower stage
only being buttressed. At the south-east angle is an
octagonal turret rising above the embattled parapet
of the tower ; the turret is entered by a doorway
from the nave. The lofty moulded tower arch rests
upon engiged shafts with moulded capitals and bases ;
in each of the north and south walls of the first stage
is a window of two cinquefoiled lights with traceried
head. The west doorway has a pointed arch under
a square head with traceried spandrels ; the west
window above is of three cinquefoiled lights with a
traceried head. The first stage is vaulted with stone ;
the vaulting is modern, but the shafts from which it
springs are 15th-century work. The second stage
has a window of two cinquefoiled lights under a square
head in the north, south and west walls ; the belfry
stage has a similar window on each face. The stone-
work of all the windows of the tower is much
decayed.
The font has a late 12th-century octagonal bowl ;
on each face are trefoiled panels of a later date or
modern ; the stem and eight small flanking shafts
are modern. In the tower is an iron-bound chest
with three locks of late 1 6th or early 17th-century
date. There are some fragments of 15th-century
glass with white and gold roses in one of the windows
in the north aisle.
On the north side of the chancel is a large tomb
to Robert Dacres, 1543 ; it also bears the names of
his son George Dacres, 1580, his grandson Sir
Thomas Dacres, 161 5, and of their wives. The tomb
was repaired by Sir Thomas Dacres in 1641. It
has a canopy upon Ionic columns, surmounted by a
coat of arms. In the south chapel is a small altar
CHESHUNT
tomb with canopy to Henry Atkins, physician in
ordinary to James I and Charles I ; he died in 1635.
Under the communion table is a brass to Nicholas
Dixon, rector, who died in 1 448 ; the remains
consist of a portion of a crocketed canopy, two
shields charged with fleurs de lis and a Latin
inscription which records the rebuilding of the church.
At the north-east of the nave is a brass to William
Pyke, 1449, and his wife Ellen ; the head of the
male figure is missing. In the north aisle is a small
brass with the kneeling figure of Elizabeth Garnett,
wife of Edward Collen, 1609 ; another brass of the
late 15th century, with figure of a woman and
indents of a man, children and inscription ; another,
also of a woman without inscription, of the 15th
century ; there is also a slab with indents of a knight
and shields, probably of the late 15 th century. On
the wall above these brasses is a brass inscription to
Constance wife of John Parr, 1 502 ; there is also
an inscription to Agnes Luthyngton, 1468. In the
south-east of the churchyard is an ancient stone coffin.
The six old bells were recast and two new ones
added by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon in 1 9 1 1 .
The communion plate includes cup and flagon,
1638, and a paten, 1672.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows : (i) all
entries I 559 to 1610 ; (ii) 161 I to 165 I ; (111)1651
to 1678 ; (iv) 1678 to 1688 ; (v) 1688 to 1736 ;
(vi) 1747 to 1792 ; (vii) baptisms and burials 1792
to I 812 ; (viii), (ix) and (x) marriages 1 754 to 1776,
1776 to 1793 and 1793 to 1812.
The church of ST. JAMES, Goff's Oak, is a cruci-
form building of brick and stone in 13th-century
style, consisting of chancel, nave, transept, north
porch, vestry and north tower.
HOLT TRINITr, Waltham Cross, is of brick in
15th-century style, consisting of chancel, nave with
two crocketed turrets at the west end, and small bell
turret.
The church of Cheshunt appears
JDFOfVSON to have been appendant to the manor
of Cheshunt and to have formed
part of the earldom of Richmond, as Conan Duke
of Britanny granted it to the canons of Fulgeres 48
between 1146 and 1 1 7 1 .49 This grant later gave
rise to a controversy with the church of St. Paul,
who apparently claimed some right, Constance of
Britanny and her second husband, Ralph Earl of
Chester, each petitioning Richard Bishop of London
that the canons of Fulgeres should be allowed to
remain in undisturbed possession of the gift of
Conan.50 The matter was finally settled by a com-
promise ; it was arranged that the canons of Fulgeres
should have perpetual right in the church of Cheshunt
on the following conditions : they were to pay to the
church of St. Paul a pension of 8 marks a year, pay-
able at Michaelmas and Easter, and they were to
endow a vicarage, of which they were to be the
patrons.51 The church of Cheshunt was again a
subject of dispute in 1 2 19, the rival claimants
being the abbey of Fulgeres and Alice daughter of
Constance." Probably as a result of this dispute the
advowson of Cheshunt again became part of the
earldom of Richmond, for in 1305 it was in the
king's gift by reason of the lands of John, late Earl
of Richmond, being in his hands.53 The church
« Cott. Chart, xi, +5.
« G.E.C. Complete Peerage, \
K Cott. Chart, xi, 44, 45.
61 Newcourt, Repert. i, 817.
455
" Coll. Topog. et Gen. i, 143.
63 Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 410.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
remained appendant to the manor from this date
until the 1 6th century, the rectors, as a rule, pre-
senting to the vicarage.5' In 1 479 Edward IV
granted the advowson of the parish church of
Cheshunt to the Dean and canons of St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, with licence for them to appro-
priate the church in mortmain, on condition that
the vicarage of the church should be sufficiently
endowed and a sufficient sum of money should be
distributed yearly amongst the poor parishioners of
the church.55 As a result, however, of an action
brought by Margaret Countess of Richmond, who
claimed in right of her grant of the manor, the
Dean of St. George's Chapel quitclaimed his right
in the church in 1497,56 and the Countess of Rich-
mond presented to the rectory in 1492 and 1494."
She granted the advowson to the Abbot of West-
minster,5'' who presented as rector in 1503 and
1526,59 and whose right to the advowson was con-
firmed by the Act of 1530-1 which confirmed the
manor of Cheshunt to Henry Duke of Richmond.60
The advowson of the vicarage was granted by Mary
in 1554 to the Bishop of London,61 in whose hands
it apparently remained until it was assured by Act of
Parliament in 1606 to Robert Earl of Salisbury and
his heirs.6' From this time it followed the descent of
the manor of Theobalds. The Marquess of Salisbury
is patron at the present day. The descent of the
rectory is traced under the descent of the rectory
manor (q.v.).
The chapel known as ' Saint Laurence in the
Busshe of Wormeley ' was in the parish of Cheshunt,
and was probably founded in the 13 th century.63
It belonged to the canons of Thetford, and in 1538
the chapel, with lands belonging to it, was granted to
William Cavendish.64
The living of St. James's, Golf's Oak, is a vicarage
in the gift of the vicar of Cheshunt, as is also that of
Holy Trinity, Waltham Cross.
During the 17th century Cheshunt was a strong-
hold of Nonconformity,'5 licences being granted
for meeting-places from 1672. The tendency was
probably increased by the establishment of Cheshunt
College in 1792. The Congregational Church in
Crossbrook Street, representing a cause dating from
1600, was built in 1705 and the present building was
erected in 1857 on the old site. The Wesleyans also
have a chapel in Crossbrook Street. There are two
churches of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion,
one in High Street, which was rebuilt in 1889 ; the
other at Turnford was built in 1834. The Primitive
Methodist chapel at Goff's Oak was built in 1868.
A licence was granted to a Baptist teacher at ' Ches-
ton ' in 1672.66 A Baptist chapel was opened in
Cheshunt in 1909.
In Waltham Cross is the Roman Catholic Church
of the Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph, and a
Baptist chapel (1895) in King Edward Road.
The Beaumont Trust comprises
CHJRITIES a considerable part of the charitable
endowments of the parish, the prin-
cipal parts of the lands lying at a place called Beau-
mont Green, whence, it is conjectured, the title was
derived. The endowments consist of the Beaumont
Farm, containing 22 a. 3 r. ; the Curtis Farm, Nazeing,
containing 18 a. ; Boundary Lodge, Waltham Cross,
2 a. or thereabouts ; Colesfield Farm, Cheshunt,
13a.; and house and land at Cheshunt, 5 a. 3 r. ;
the rental to Lady Day, 1910, being ,£240 17*.;
a rent-charge of 1 3/. \d. out of Wormley Bury, gift
of William Purvey, 1677 ; anc' tne following sums of
stock: — £5,187 ~s. $d. Local Loans 3 per cent,
stock, £13 6s. %d. consols, representing redemption
of a rent-charge of 6s. Sd. formerly paid by the
governors of St. Thomas's Hospital under will of
Mrs. Elizabeth Friend, 1562, and £1,199 ' 7s- 9^-
New Zealand i£-per cent, stock, producing together
in annual dividends £197 19/.
The trust properties had their origin for the most
part from the following sources, namely, the compen-
sation of King James I for inclosing a large piece
of common for increasing Theobald's Park, £500,
£180 of which was expended in the erection of
almshouses at Turner's Hill and the balance of
£320 in the purchase of Curtis Farm, Nazeing ;
legacy of £100 for the almshouses by will of Lady
Jane Mico, 1670; £200 by will of Humphrey
Flint, 1 610 ; £200 by will of Sir Edmund Scott,
1638 ; £900 stock, gift of Mrs. Sarah Gwilt, 1783 ;
£2,000 by will of Samuel Brookland, 1799.
In I 8 10 Frances Leeson, niece of the said Samuel
Brookland, also bequeathed to the trustees of the
Beaumont Charity £400 stock for the poor in the
almshouses on condition that £l is. be paid to the
clergyman on I June yearly, 10/. 6d. to the clerk
and zs. 6d. to the sexton, and that her burial-place
be kept in repair.
In 1620 Richard Coulter by his will left £100,
which was invested in a house in Cheshunt Street,
10/. to be given yearly to the vicar for a sermon on
the first Sunday in Lent and the residue to forty
aged poor.
In 1 8 14 Elizabeth Auber, by deed, gave £500
stock, the interest to be distributed amongst the
inmates of the almshouses.
The income of the Beaumont Trust, after pro-
viding for the ecclesiastical payments above mentioned
and for the Beaumont educational trusts after men-
tioned, is applied for the benefit of the almshouses at
Turner's Hill for ten poor widows and the alms-
houses, known as the Spital Houses, for five poor
widows, the origin of which is not precisely known.
The following charities are likewise administered
by the Beaumont trustees : —
The Dewhurst Almshouse Charity founded in 1642
by Robert Dewhurst. By an order of the Charity
Commissioners 7 February 1905 the governors of
the Free school were authorized to pay to the Beau-
mont trustees a yearly sum of £13 to be applied in
payment of 6d. a week to the ten inmates of Turner's
Hill almshouses, and a yearly sum of £8 for providing
coals for the same inmates.
In 1880 Dr. William Buchanan, by deed, gave
£105, now represented by £102 9;. 6d. Local
54 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 109-I]
55 Cat. Pat. 1476-S;, p. 142.
56 MSS. of D. and C. of Westn
4688 (press 17, shell" 4, box 84).
j7 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 110;
court, Refer 1. i, 819.
68 MSS. of D. and C. of Westm
4695 (press 17, shelf 4, box 84).
59 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, ill.
60 Priv. Act, 22 Hen. VIII,
61 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. iv, m. 19.
4J6
n Slat, of the Realm (Rec. Com.), iv (2),
133. « Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 886.
« /.. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii.g. 714 (8);
vi, 1308(34).
Iis Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 509-12.
66 Ibid. 507.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Loans 3 per cent, stock, the annual dividends,
amounting to £3 is. \d., to be applied in the
purchase of wearing apparel for distribution on the
first Monday in October to the widows at Turner's
Hill almshouses.
In 1882 Henry Timson and Philip Augustus
Browne, by deed, gave £540, now represented by
£516 os. \\d. Local Loans 3 per cent, stock, the
annual dividends, amounting to £15 9/. Sd., for the
benefit of inmates of Turner's Hill almshouses and
of the Spital almshouses.
In 1584 Mildred Lady Burghley, by deed, granted
an annuity of £10 payable by the Haberdashers'
Company, whereof £2 1 3/. \d. is payable to the
vicar for sermons on the first Sunday after Michael-
mas Day, and at Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide,
and the remainder in the distribution of bread and
meat.
CHESHUNT
In 1794. Samuel Brookland, by deed, gave an
annuity of £3 10/. payable out of a house in the
High Street, £3 thereof to be distributed among
the inmates of the workhouse and \os. to the master
for his trouble. The rent-charge is duly paid.
Allotment in lieu of common rights. By an
inclosure award, [4 May 1804, 100 acres, part of
Cheshunt Common, were inclosed for the benefit of
cottagers having right of common ; the land i3 let
producing £ I 50 a year or thereabouts. In 1909—10
the net income, amounting to £125 5/. yd., was paid
to persons entitled to common rights. There was
also a sum of £250 on deposit account at the bank.
The Cottage Hospital, founded about 1 890, is
supported partly by voluntary contributions and
partly from endowments of about £80 a year derived
from gifts by the late Lady Meux, J. and C. Docwra,
Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Gayler and Thomas Leigh, and
Almshouses, Turner's Hill, Cheshunt
In 1725 Joseph Alcock by his will gave £4 yearly
to be distributed equally among forty poor men and
women, 10/. to the inmates of the ten almshouses,
and 10/. to the vicar for a sermon on the Sunday
before Christmas. These sums are paid out of a
house in the High Street.
In 1725, as recorded on a tablet in the church,
Mrs. Nicholls gave the dividends for ever upon
£54 10/. 4 per cent, stock to be laid out in bread
for the poor. This sum, with accumulations, is now
represented by £70 consols, producing _^ 1 15;. yearly.
In 1793, as recorded on the same tablet,
Mrs. Elizabeth Cook, and in 1 794 Mrs. Sarah
Cook, gave £50 each, the interest to be distributed
in bread. These gifts, with accumulations, are now
represented by £144 ()s. yd. consols, producing
£l \%s. yearly. These charities are duly applied.
from legacies under the wills of Miss Sanders,
Mrs. Hird, John Crawter and W. Stevens.
In 1854 John Britten, by deed, gave £1,000,
represented by £1,060 os. o.d. consols, in the names
of John Crawter and others, producing £26 10s.
yearly, of which £; is payable every fifth year for
the repair of a vault in the parish church, as an
ecclesiastical charity, two-thirds of the remaining
income being applicable in the distribution of money,
food, clothing or fuel, and the remaining one-third
as an educational charity.
In 1880 James Bentley, by will proved at London
7 December, bequeathed £1,000 consols upon trust
that out of the dividends £10 should be distributed
among five boys at the Dewhurst Free School (see
under Educational Charities below), and that the
remaining income should be distributed among the
457
58
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
poor of the ecclesiastical district of St. Mary. By an
order of the Charity Commissioners 21 June 1904
£4.00 consols has been set aside as the educational
branch and £600 consols as the eleemosynary
branch of the charity. In 1909 gifts of Js. 6d.
each were made to thirty-nine labourers.
Educational Charities :
The Free school was founded in 1642 by Robert
Dewhurst.t;
By an order of the Charity Commissioners
10 February 1905, made under the Board of
Education Act, 1899, a sum of £100 Local Loans
3 per cent, stock was set aside, producing £3 yearly,
for providing dinners for boys attending the school,
in respect of the gift in 1762 by John Gwilt for that
purpose.
In 1880 Dr. William Buchanan, by deed, gave
£105, now represented by £102 14/. io(/. Local
Loans 3 per cent, stock, the annual dividends, amount-
ing to £■} is. Sd., to be applied in books or other
articles as prizes on the last Monday in February to
boys at the school.
In 1904 John Earley Cook, by will proved
28 September, left .£200 for the benefit of the
school, subject to repair of family tombs in Cheshunt
churchyard. The legacy was invested in £223 8/. 3d.
Cape of Good Hope 3 per cent, stock, producing
£6 14/. yearly.
Mrs. Elderton by her will (date not stated) gave
_£ioo for the use of the Sunday school at Cheshunt.
The endowment now consists of £200 consols ; the
annual dividends, amounting to £5 a year, are under
a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 3 Novem-
ber 1 863 expended in prizes at Sunday school.
See also under charity of John Britten above.
James Bentley's educational charity (see above)
consists of £400 consols, the annual dividends of
which, amounting to £10, are distributed among
five boys at the Dewhurst School for good conduct
and attainments.
Goff's Oak, St. James: In 1880 James Bentley
by his will bequeathed £1,000 consols, now repre-
sented by £932 I js. id. Local Loans 3 per cent, stock
with the official trustees, the annual dividends,
amounting to £27 19/. Sd., to be applied as to £10
for the vicar and the remainder to be distributed to
the poor of this district not in receipt of parochial
relief.
ESSENDON
Essendene (xi cent.) ; Isendene (xiii cent.) ;
Esvngden (xvi cent.).
The parish of Essendon is bounded on the north
for some distance by the River Lea, which crosses its
north-west and north-east corners. Near the southern
border of the parish the land reaches a height of
400 ft., from which it slopes down towards the north,
where the lower-lying land near the river is liable to
floods. The parish contains 2,331 acres, of which
nearly a half consists of permanent grass, arable land
forming about one-third.1 The soil is clay and gravel,
the subsoil clay and chalk. Grass and corn are the
chief crops. The greater part of the parish is farm
land with a few scattered farms and gravel or chalk-
pits. The woodland does not form any great con-
tinuous extent, the woods consisting for the most part
of narrow belts and small plantations. An extent of
the manor of Essendon made in 1332 states that
there were 8 acres of wood, worth is. an acre, which
might be felled every eighth year for faggots,1* but in
1439 there was no fuel that year from the king's
woods at Essendon.' One of the privileges of the
rectors of Essendon, granted or confirmed by
Edward III, was the right to have a log from
the wood at Essendon for their hearth every year at
Christmas.3
The village stands on a hill overlooking the valley
of the River Lea. The church, rectory and part of
the village lie west of the Hertford road near the
point at which it is joined by a road leading from
Hatfield. The church is situated on the east side of
a triangular green. Essendon Bury, the old manor-
house, now a farm, lies about half a mile to the north
of the church. East of the Hertford road are the
school and a reading room and working men's club
which was opened in 1896. A water-mill stands by
the river, due north of the village. The present
building comprises a 17th-century house now encased
with brick but originally of timber and plaster. It
stands probably on the site of the king's mill which
was granted with the manor of Essendon, and to which
reference is made in the extent of 1332 and in other
mediaeval records.' In 1279, when a jury presented
that men of Essendon were accustomed to fish in the
waters of Essendon ' with boterell and other small
engines' until William de Valence prevented them, a
verdict was given against the lord of the manor.5
Essendon Place, a little to the south of the village,
was until lately the seat of the Barons Dimsdale.
Thomas, first Baron Dimsdale, was the son of John
Dimsdale of Theydon Garnon, co. Essex, and came
of a family of medical men. In 1766 he published a
tract on the treatment of small-pox by inoculation, and
in 1768 he was invited to Russia to inoculate the
Empress Catherine. For his services there he was
made a baron of the Russian Empire.11 After his
return to England he served as M.P. for Hertford from
1780 to 1790.' He died in 1800 and was succeeded
by his son John, second Baron Dimsdale. Robert,
third Baron Dimsdale, brother and heir of John, was
succeeded by his son Thomas Robert, the fourth
baron, who bought Camfield Place (q.v.). He died
there in 1865. A little later Essendon Place was
acquired by the family, and Charles John, the fifth
baron, died there in 1872. The property is owned
by the present baron, but is now occupied by
Mrs. Edgar Lubbock. The house is a stuccoed build-
ing of the early 19th century.
Near Essendon Place was an old house called Bird's
Place, pulled down in 1833,8 which at the beginning
67 See article on 'Schools,' V.CM.
tins, ii, 99.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190;).
la Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol. 59.
s Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bale. 42,
0. 825. 3 Cat. Rot. Pat. (Rec.Com.), 176.
* Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol. 59;
<i, fol. 171.
458
5 Assize R. 323, m. 46 d.
6 See J'.C.H. Hern. Families 9.
7 Ibid. 293.
s Cussaus, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 159.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
of the 17th century belonged to Henry Darnall, who
died in 1607.9 His wife was Marie daughter of
William Tooke (second son of William Tooke, lord
of the manor of Essendon), one of a Hertfordshire
family of whom several members are buried in
Essendon Church. Early in the 19th century Bird's
Place was the seat of the Clitherow family. Chris-
topher Clitherow died in 1 807,10 and Bird's Place
came soon after to Robert Parnther, who lived there
and who died in 1822. His daughter Isabella
married John Currie of Bedwell Park."
In the south-west of the parish is Camfield Place,
which took its name from a family of Camvile or
Canvile, who were holding lands in Essendon from
the 13 th to the 15 th century (see below under Bed-
well Lowthes).13 In 1601 the estate was sold by Sir
Edward Denny to William Brockett,13a who in 161 1
died seised of a messuage, mansion-house and farm
called Camfield which he held by knight service of the
king in chief ' by gift and grant of Edward now Lord
Denny and Lady Mary his wife."3 In 1618 William
Brockett, his son, sold Camfield to William Priestley,
who died seised of it in 1622," and whose son William
acquired the manor of Bedwell Lowthes in 1 627.
Camfield Place was then held with Bedwell Lowthes,
and was the seat of the Browne family, and was bought
in 1832 by Thomas Robert fourth Baron Dimsdale
(see above). It is at present the property and residence
of Mr. F. V. McConnell.
The house called Wild Hill is just within the
parish of Hatfield, but the estate is generally spoken of
as lying within the parish of Essendon. In the 1 5th
century the ' hamlet of Wyldehelle ' in the parish of
Essendon is mentioned,15 and the names ' Wyldegrene'
and ' Wildefeld ' also occur, both lying in Essendon.16
The Priestleys, lords of the manor of Bedwell Lowthes,
lived here in the 17th and 18th centuries.17 There
is a homestead moat near Coldharbour Farm.
Amongst the place-names which occur in the parish
are the following : Panther's Wood, Hoppett's Wood,
Poundfield Wood, Gobonescroft and Frydayfelde.
There is no railway station in the parish ; the
nearest stations are Cole Green, 2 miles to the
north on the Hertford and Hatfield branch line,
and Hatfield, lying 4 miles west on the main line
of the Great Northern railway.
Wulsin, ' a great and wealthy man,'
MANORS is said to have given ESSENDON to the
monks of St. Albans,18 probably during
the 10th century, but there is no evidence of the
date. There is, however, no further trace of the
monastery holding land there. No mention is made
of Essendon in the Domesday Survey, but from its
subsequent history it was probably then included in
the royal manor of Bayford. It was probably in-
cluded with the manor of Bayford in the grant to
ESSENDON
Peter de Valognes," as the Empress Maud confirmed
it to Roger son of Peter.30 It appears, however, to
have reverted to the Crown (see Bayford). In
12 14, 1 21 8, and succeeding years Essendon was
tallaged as part of the king's demesnes,31 and in 1228
the men of Essendon and Bayford successfully asserted
their claim to pay no share of a fine which had been
assessed on the county as a whole.38 The manor
appears to have been, as a general rule, held at farm
by the warden of the castle of Hertford. For these
grants at farm see Bayford, with whose history that
of Essendon is identical for about the next three
centuries.
In 1489 Henry VII leased the site of the manor,
with the fishery and water-mill, to Sir William Say
for ten years.33 Henry VIII granted Essendon in
1545 to Giles Bridges, citizen and wool merchant
of London, and Thomas Harris in fee simple, with
all the manorial rights,31 but it again reverted to
the Crown, for in the same year the king granted it
to Sir Robert Southwell, Master of the Rolls, and
his wife Margaret." In the same year Sir Robert
and Margaret Southwell exchanged it with the Crown
for other manors.36 In 1547 Edward VI granted
Essendon with its appurtenances to Sir William
Paulet Lord St. John to hold in chief for one-
tenth of a knight's fee,37 and a few months later
Sir William Paulet received
licence to alienate it to William
Tooke, Auditor of the Court
of Wards, and his heirs.23
William Tooke died in 1588,
having settled the manor of
Essendon on his son William
in consideration of the mar-
riage of the latter with Mary
Tichborne.39 Until the middle
of the 17th century the manor
remained with the descendants
of William Tooke.30 It was
probably sold by Ralph Tooke
to John Middleton, serjeant-
at-arms, who in 1666 peti-
tioned for the restoration of his ' setting dog taken
from him with affronting language ' by Viscount
Cranborne, and who is described in the petition as
being seised of the manor of Essendon.31 He was
probably the ' John Middleton of Essendon, esq.,'
who in 1665 was presented with others at quarter
sessions for ' riotous assembly and entry into the close
of Richard Pooley at Essendon and stealing firewood
the property of Lancelot Stavesley, esq.'33 In 1682
the manor was acquired from the Middleton family
by T. Lechmere and J. Stanley, who the next year
conveyed it to the Earl of Salisbury.3,J It remained
in the hands of the Cecil family," and the Marquess
Tooke. Party chcve-
ronivise sable and argent
three griffons1 heads razed
and countercoloured.
9 M. I. in church ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), ccccx, 42.
10 M. I. in church.
i' Ibid.
» Anct. D.(P.R.O.), A 52+8 ; B3738;
A 1031;, 5408.
>*■ Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 43 E.iz.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxvi, 29.
" Close, 16 Jas. I, pt. xviii, no. 38 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxv, 34.
Is Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 1445 ; sec
also for an earlier occurrence of the name
ibid. B 1448.
16 Ibid. A 11514 ; B 144-.
17 M. I. in church.
18 Cott. MS. Nero, D 7, fol. 90.
19 Cart. Antiq. K. 10, no. 22.
30 Ibid. no. 24.
31 Pipe R. 16 John, m. I d. ; 2
Hen. Ill, m. ? ; repeated 3 & 4
Hen. III.
32 Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 29. .
23 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxi,
fol. 171.
st Ibid, xxii, fol. 198.
» Close, 36 Hen. VIII, pt. v, no. 26.
26 Feet ofF. Herts. East. 36 Hen. VIII;
I. and P. Hen. VIII, xx (1), g. 282 (20).
459
" Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. ii, m. 36.
33 Ibid. pt. i, m. 42.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 124;
•c Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 36 & 37
liz.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 124;
:clxix, 149 ; cccc, 65 ; ccccxcviii, 10.
31 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1666-7, P- >7l-
35 Sets. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 173.
32a Information from Mr. R. T. Gun-
33 Rccov. R. Hil. 7 Anne, rot. 11;;
ast. 9 Geo. II, rot. 194 ; Mich. 1
ieo. IV, rot. 223.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
of Salisbury is lord of the manor at the present
day.
A court leet was held at Essendon once a year on
the Thursday in Easter week " by the lord of the
manor, who also had the right to view of frank-
pledge, free warren and the goods and chattels of
felons, fugitives and outlaws. In the reign of
Edward IV suit of court was paid to the manor of
Essendon for the manors of Bedwell and Bedwell
Lowthes,35 but in 1652 it was asserted that the
tenants of Bedwell were in the jurisdiction of the
sheriff's tourn and of no other court leet.J6 As early
as 1332 the demesne lands appear to have been
granted out, the tenants paying rent and claiming
to be bound to no other service except suit of court
every third week.37
BEDWELL is not mentioned in Domesday Book,
and the fact that in the reign of Edward IV it was
held of Essendon 3S suggests that at the time of the
Survey it was included, with Essendon, in Bayford.
It does not appear to be described as a manor until
I 388, when it was released, with lands and tenements
in Essendon and Little Berkhampstead, to John
Norbury and others by Peter Wisebech and William
Hedyndon,39 who were probably feoffee; of Norbury.
The latter in 1406 received a licence to inclose 800
acres of land and wood 'of his own soil' adjoining
his manors of Bedwell and Little Berkhampstead, to
make a park which was to be held to him and his
heirs for ever." This John Norbury married Elizabeth
daughter of Sir Thomas Boteler of Sudeley, the
widow and second wife of Sir William Heron, and
he is known to have died before 1433." Elizabeth
de Say, Baroness Say in her own right, who had
married Sir William Heron as her second husband,
being his first wife, had died without issue in I 399, and
after her death Sir William Heron continued to be
summoned to Parliament till his death." He died in
1404, having married secondly Elizabeth Boteler
aforesaid." After his death Elizabeth his widow
married, as above mentioned, John Norbury, but she
retained the title of Lady Say till her death in 1464"
She was married again to Sir John Montgomery at
some date unknown before 1433," and after 141 2,
when she is named as the wife of John (not Henry)
Norbury" and widow of Sir William Heron.47
Her heir was her grandson John Norbury, who in
1465 received licence to enter into all possessions that
came into the hands of Henry VI or Edward IV
by the death of John Norbury the elder, or of
Elizabeth Lady Say his wife." In Hilary Term
1465-6 John Norbury the younger conveyed
the manor to Sir John Say," who died in 1478
seised of the manors of Bedwell and Little
Berkhampstead, and was succeeded by his son
William Say.50 During the ownership of the latter
in 1522 Mary Tudor appears to have stayed at
Bedwell.51
Sir William Say had two daughters, Elizabeth,
who married William Blount Lord Mountjoy," and
Mary, who married Henry Bourchier second Earl of
Essex. On the death of Sir William Say in 1529 the
manor of Bedwell, in accordance with a settlement
made in 1506, passed to Lord Mountjoy, who was
to hold it for life and to be succeeded by his daughter
Gertrude wife of Henry Courtenay Marquess of
Exeter. On the attainder of Gertrude Marchioness
of Exeter in 1539 the manor came into the hands of
the Crown." In the same year the stewardship of
the manor, the keepership of Bedwell Park, of the
hunt of deer and of the ' King's mansion of Bedwell
with a little garden thereto annexed or adjoining'
were granted to Sir Anthony Denny, ' a gentleman
of the King's Privy Chamber,' M to whom in I 547
Edward VI granted the manor itself ' in support of
his dignity ' as Chief Groom of the Chamber.55 Sir
Anthony died in 1549, having settled the manor on
his third son Charles.56 On the latter's death without
issue it passed to his elder brother Henry, who died
in 1574, leaving a son Robert.57 Robert Denny
died in 1576 and was succeeded by his younger
brother Sir Edward Denny,58 who, being in debt to
the queen,55 sold the manor of Bedwell, with Bed-
well Lowthes, in Hilary Term 1 600- 1, to William
Potter,6" to whose family it seems to have been
already leased.61 Bedwell Park and part of the
demesnes were sold by William Potter to Sir Henry
Atkins,6' after whose death in 163863 they passed to
his wife and then to one of his younger sons, Thomas
Atkins, who was the owner of Bedwell in 1700."
On the death of Thomas Atkins in I 70 165 Bedwell
Park was sold to Richard Wynne,66 who was M.P.
for Boston in 1698 and 1705 and who died in
1719.67 From the descendants of Richard Wynne
Bedwell passed by sale to Samuel Whitbread, who
sold it in 1807 to Sir Culling Smith, bart.,68 to
whose son, Sir Culling Smith, and grandson, Sir
Culling Eardley Smith, the estate passed in succes-
sion. The latter assumed the name of Eardley.
On his death in 1863 Bedwell was left to his eldest
31 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 59.
3' Duchy of Lane. Mins. Acts,
belle. 862, no. 20.
s6 Exch. Dep. East. 1652, no. 4.
57 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol. 59.
38 Duchy of Lane, Mins. Accts.
bdle. 862, no. 20.
39 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), D 4+8 ; see also
B408.
<° Chart. R. 6 & 7 Hen. IV, no. 5.
u When his widow was the wife of
Sir John Montgomery (see note +e).
42 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vii, 63.
48 She is said to have been widow of
Sir Henry Norbury (ibid.).
" Ibid.
46 Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 296.
46 Ibid. 1408 1 3, p. 404.
47 Close, 12 Hen. IV.
43 Cat. Pat. 146 1 -7, p. 459,
" Com. Pleas De Banco R. Hil.
5 Edw. IV, rot. 278 a. The order for
the distraint in 1474 of John Noiburv
for entrance into Bedwell after the death
of Lady Say (Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 32)
is evidently only a repetition of an ord?r
at an earlier date.
50 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 43.
See Rentals and Surv. Herts. R. 269.
'•' L. and P. Hen. fill, iii (2), 3375
(p. 1409).
ra Elizabeth Lady Mountjov was buried
in Essendon Church (see will of Lord
Mountjoy quoted by Cuss;ins, op. cit.
Hertford Hund. 157)!
53 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxvii, 82;
L. and P. Hen. fill, xiv (2), g. 7S0 (27).
For a fuller account of the Norburys and
Says see 'Hist, of Little Berkhamstead,'
by C. E. Johnston, in Home Cos. Mag. x\,
275 et seq.
« L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), g. 7S0
(27).
55 Pat. 1 Edw. VI, pt. ix, m. 30. See
Johnston, op. cit. Home Cos. Mag. xiii,
64.
56 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xc, 115.
57 Ibid, clxix, 85.
58 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, vi, I OO.
59 Cecil MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), ix.
63.
60 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 43 Eliz.
61 M. I. cited bv Chauncy, Hist. Antia.
of Herts. 2-9.
6a Chauncv, op. cit. 277.
63 M. I. iii church.
61 Chauncv, loc. cit.
05 M. I. in church.
60 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hand. 157.
0 M. I. in church.
63 Cussans, loc. cit.
460
HERTFORD HUNDRED
daughter, Frances Selena Eardley, who in 1865
married Mr. Robert Hanbury, M.P. for Middlesex,
the latter adding the name of Culling to his
surname.69 Mrs. Culling-Hanbury is the present
owner of Bedwell Park, which is now occupied by
Mr. Charles George Arbuthnot.
In 1543 the king's park at Waltham was supplied
with deer from Bedwell Park,70 and amongst the
privileges granted with the manor of Bedwell were
the herbage and pannage of the park and free warren,
both within the park and without, in the parishes of
Essendon and Little Berkhampstead." Within the
park were inclosed lands called Ponsbourne Mead,
which belonged to the manor of Ponsbourne in Hat-
field, and were bought from Lord Wenlock (grantee of
Sir John Fortescue's forfeited lands) by Sir John Say.71j
BED IV ELL LOWTHES appears to have been
originally a separate manor from Bedwell." Roger
de Louth or Luda (who founded the chantry in
the church at Bishop's Hatfield) held four mes-
suages and 3 carucates of land in Essendon and
Bishop's Hatfield in 1 333." In 1351 William
de Louth and Agnes his wife held lands in
Essendon which formerly belonged to John de
Walden." John son and heir of Roger son of
Roger de Louth (who held Hornbeamgate
in Hatfield) also held lands in Essendon,75 and
these descended with that manor to Robert de
Louth, who in 1409 granted a field of land
called ' le Wildefeld,' with the moor belonging
to it, to Peter Cheyne and Alice his wife.'6
Alice was the daughter of John Camville, who
also held lands in Essendon.77 Her sister Joan
married William Basset, who seems to have
acquired most of the lands formerly belonging
to John Camville,78 as well as the land owned
by Peter Cheyne.79 In 1466 Sir John Say
acquired the manors of Hornbeamgate and
Blounts (see Bishop's Hatfield) and lands in
Essendon and Hatfield from Robert Louth,79'
and in 1474 William Basset released lands in
Essendon to Sir John Say.60 In the same year
the latter was fined for suit of court at Essendon
for ' lands and tenements called Lowthes.' 81
The estate followed the descent of Bedwell,6'
from which it is not generally separately men-
tioned, until 1627, when William Potter sold
Bedwell Lowthes to William Priestley,83 who
already held the house known as Camfield
Place,64 and whose son Thomas Priestley held it in
1668.85 From the latter it appears to have passed
to his son William Priestley,66 who died without
issue in 1744.67 In 1759 l^e irianor was held by
Thomas Methwold,98 nephew of William Priestley,89
ESSENDON
and was sold by him in I 760 to Thomas Browne,9"
whose son91 William Browne held it in 1815.92 On
the death of the latter's widow in 1832 9:i the manor
was sold to Thomas Robert fourth Baron Dims-
dale.91 In 1866 the executors of the fourth Baron
Dimsdale sold the manor, with Camfield Place, to
Edmund Potter, eldest son of the late James Potter
of Manchester.95
In 1 6 14 Robert Earl of Salisbury died seised in
fee simple of lands in the parish of Hatfield which
are described as being ' once parcel of the manor of
Bedwell Lowthes' and which he purchased in 1 610
from William Potter and Dorothy his wife.96 These
lands, which descended with the manor of Essendon,
are also called Bedwell Lowthes in later deeds.
The church of ST. MARY, standing
CHURCH in the middle of the village, consists of
chancel 25 ft. by 19 ft., north chapel,
south organ chamber and vestry, nave 50 ft. by 2 1 ft.
Essendon Church s West Tower
6 in., north and south aisles, and west tower 14 ft. by
1 2 ft., all internal dimensions. The walls are built
of flint with stone dressings.
The church appears to have been largely rebuilt in
the 17th or 1 8th century, and in 1883 the whole of
69 Cussans, loc. cit.
70 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xviii (i), +36.
" Ibid, xiv (2), g. 780 (27).
71a Herts. Gen. ii, 1+7 ; C. E. Johnston,
Collector's Acct. for 14.75 fir Bedwell,
&c. ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B412.
r' Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 7. It was
held of the manors of Essendon and Hat-
field (see C. E. Johnston, Collator's
Acct., Scc.'i.
73 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Edw. Ill, no. 137.
u Add. Chart. 1988 ; see also 5291.
75 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B4213, 4:1c.
76 Ibid. A 11514; B1451 ; D675.
77 Ibid. A 5408, 1035.
"> Ibid. A 1131.
79 Ibid. A 5421.
79» Feet of F. Herts. 6 Edw. IV, no. 14 ;
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 1443.
* Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1190.
81 Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 32. The
Bedwell Lowthes estate seems to have
included under this name the manors of
Hornbeamgate and Blounts in Hatfield
and Essendon, which are not separately
mentioned after the I 51I1 century. There
is a Hornbeam Lane in Essendon leading
from Camfield towards Newgate Street.
ba See Ct. R. portf. 177, no. 7 ; Feet
of F. Herts. Hil. 43 Eliz.
ffl Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 Chas. I.
s< See above.
46I
85 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 19 & 20
Chas. II.
8» Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 6 Will, and
Mary.
87 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 129.
68 Feet of F. (K..S.B.) Herts. East. 33
Geo. II.
89 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
90 Ibid. 9I Ibid.
95 Recov. R. East. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 44.
93 M. I. in church.
9< Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 1 54.
M Ibid.
9S Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), cccxlii,
123 ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 8 Jas. 1,
m. 46. See alio note 8i.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
the church with the exception of the west tower was
again rebuilt.
The west tower is of 15th-century date with work
of the 17th century and renewed stonework of 1883;
it is of two stages with an embattled parapet and a
small leaded spire. The tower arch has been much
restored ; in the west doorway are two of the original
moulded jamb stones.
The font, made by Wedgwood in 1780, is interest-
ing and somewhat uncommon. It consists of a circular
bowl of basalt ware — a kind of black porcelain —
about 2 1 in. in diameter, the exterior ornamented
with festoons of drapery. The base is moulded ; it
stands on a square wooden pedestal which tapers
downwards. The sides are fluted and the upper
part is decorated with painted masks and festoons in
the Adam style. A small round cylinder of porcelain,
about 8 in. high, with moulded capital and base,
stands inside the bowl to support a smaller basin for
the water.
On the south aisle wall is a large monument to
William Priestley, 1664, with twisted pilasters sup-
porting the cornice, on which are his arms. There
are also several 17th-century floor slabs. On the
south aisle wall is a brass to William Tooke, 1588,
and his wife Ales. The figures are kneeling at a
table. Behind the man are figures of nine sons, and
behind the woman three daughters. Above are three
shields of arms ; in the middle (1) the arms of Tooke
with their crest, a griffon's head party cheveronwise
razed and holding in its beak a sword erect ; (2)
Tooke impaling Barlee ; (3) Barlee quartering Bibbes-
worth. On a floor slab with shield of arms, with the
crest and arms of Tooke with quarterings, the inscrip-
tion is missing. On the south wall are three brasses
of shields, all similar ; quarterly: (1) France quarter-
ing England, all within a border quarterly of Eng-
land and France ; (2) Courtenay ; (3) Say ; (4)
Redvers. According to a modern inscription under-
neath these brasses were taken from a gravestone below
in 1778. The arms are perhaps intended to represent
those of Henry Courtenay Marquess of Exeter, be-
headed in 1539.
There are six bells : the treble by Thomas Pack,
1769; the second and fourth (1685) and sixth
(1 681) by Richard Chandler ; the third (1894) and
the fifth (1903) by Mears & Stainbank.
The communion plate consists of cup and cover
paten, 1569; large paten, 1692; silver flagon, 1769;
baptismal dish, 1778; modern silver paten and glass
flagon.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms, burials and marriages from 1653 to I 731 ; (ii)
baptisms and burials from 1 729 to 1 761, marriages
1729 to I 75 I ; (iii) baptisms and burials from 1762
to 181 2 ; (iv) marriages from 1754 to 1789 ; (v)
marriages from 1789 to 1 795 ; (vi) marriages from
1795 to 1 8 1 2.
The advowson of the rectory has
ADFOlfrSON always followed the descent of the
manor.97 In 1650 Essendon was
described as a sequestered living worth £90 with the
living of Bayford.9" In I 725 the lord of the manor,
James Cecil Earl of Salisbury, presented.99 The
advowson remained with his descendants, and the
rectory of Essendon is in the gift of the Marquess of
Salisbury at the present day.
There is evidence of Nonconformity in Essendon
during the 17th century. In 1646 George Stally-
brasse, who was rector of Essendon, signed the Hert-
fordshire ministers' petition to Parliament in favour
of the Covenant. In I 674 the churchwardens were
summoned before the archdeacon for neglect of duty,
and in 1682 it was reported that at Essendon they
lacked both surplice and prayer book.100 In 18 17 the
chapel of James Pond was certified as a place of
worship for Protestant Dissenters, and a Baptist chapel
was built in 1885.
In 1 76 1 Meliora Priestley, by a
CHARITIES codicil to her will proved in the
P.C.C. 27 June, left .£100, now
£133 6s. 8 d. consols, with the official trustees, the
annual dividends, amounting to £3 6s. 8a'., to be
distributed to the poor in bread each month.
In 1795 Simuel Whitbread, by a codicil to his
will, bequeathed £533 6s. %d. 3 per cent, reduced
annuities, now represented by a like amount of consols,
with the official trustees, producing £\\ \os. \od. a
year, of which £$ a year is payable to the rector for
administering the sacrament at least eight times
during the year, and the residue in the distribution
of bread. A sum of £200 consols has been set aside
as the ecclesiastical charity and ,£"333 6s. Sd. consols
as the eleemosynary charity.
HERTINGFORDBURY
Herefordingberie (xi cent.) ; Hertlbrdburia, Hert-
fordingebyre, Hertfordiggebiry (xiii cent.).
The parish of Hertingfordbury has an area of
2,644 acre3> °f which 1,223 acres are arable land
and 750^ acres are permanent grass.1 The greater
part of the parish lies at an altitude of over 200 ft.
above the ordnance datum, reaching 264 ft. in the
west, but in the east of the parish and along the
northern border, in the valleys of the Lea and Mim-
ram, the ground is below 200 ft. The road from
Hatfield to Hertford runs through the parish in an
easterly direction until it reaches St. Mary's Church,
where it turns off at right angles, and is joined
by the road running due north from Bayford. The
village is situated at this corner and along the Hatfield
road to the north. The last house in the parish is
Epcombs, the residence of Mr. Charles Leslie, which
is just on the boundary between Hertingfordbury and
St. Andrew, Hertford, but a few houses on the other
side of the boundary seem to belong to Hertingford-
bury. The mill stands a little south of it on the
same side of the road. The rectory is situated to the
east of the village and north of the church. The
old parsonage, which stands in the middle of the village,
is an early 17th-century building of brick, most of it
plastered externally ; it is L-shaped on plan, and has
87 See Pat. 6 Hen. Ill, m. 3 ; Cal.
Chan. R, 1226-57, p. 351 ; Duchy of
Lane. Miac. Bks. xxii, fol. 198.
ss Chan. Surv. of Church Li-
5-
w Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
462
luu Urwick, NonconJ.
Htm. 516,
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
HERTFORD HUNDRED
tiled roofs. On the side facing the street is an old
chimney, the lower intakes of which are concealed by
stepping the brickwork in front of the sloping portion
— a common mode of construction in Hertfordshire.
The infants' school to the north of the church is a
brick two-storied building of the same date, with a
good central chimney stack surmounted by four octa-
gonal shafts.
The southern half of Panshanger Park is included
in this parish, the River Mimram, which runs
through the centre of the park, forming part of the
boundary. At the south-western corner of Panshanger
Park, on the Hertford road, is the hamlet of Cole
Green. Birch Green and Staines Green are farther
along the road towards Hertingfordbury. From Cole
Green a road goes south to Letty Green and
Woolmers Park, the latter the residence of Mr. Charles
Edward Wodehouse, M.A., J. P. In Woolmers Park,
to the east of the house, is a spring known as Arkley
or Acherley Hole. The water surface is about 70 ft.
long and 4.0 ft. wide, and the depth is said never to
have been found. It rises
directly through the chalk,
and in wet weather adds a
large volume to the River
Lea, whilst in dry weather it
ceases to flow. Eastend Green
and Roxford, now a farm at
which is a homestead moat,
lie about a mile to the west.
Birchall, where there is also a
homestead moat, is situated in
the west of the parish, beyond
Cole Green, and Hertingford-
bury Park, the residence of
Mr. Robert William Partridge,
is in the extreme east.
There are two railway
stations on the Hertford branch
of the Great Northern rail-
way, one at Cole Green and
the other a short distance
south-east of the village of
Hertingfordbury.
The subsoil of the parish is
chalk superimposed on the
south side by traces of the
Woolwich and Reading Beds, LonJon Clay and brick
earth, and there are many disused chalk-pits and
gravel-pits to the west of Panshanger Park. At
Birchall occurs an extensive outlier of the Woolwich
and Reading Beds.
The inclosure award was made in 1S13, the
authorizing Act being passed in I 801.' Both are in
the custody of the clerk of the peace. Lampits Field
was inclosed in 1841.
Place-names which occur in the parish are :
HERTINGFORDBURY
Talbottesland, Bauleys, Leverounhull, Stockenhull,
Knyhteslond, Halpanyhache, Sampsoneshache (xiv
cent.) ; John Amores,3 Gorberyshot, Chilwelfeld,
Flamstead, Beryfeld and Chapmans (xvi cent.) ;
Copthall, Slabridge, Foxwell, Aldermaster, The
Thorpe, Hanging Grove and Wjtchfield (xvii cent.).
The manor of HERTINGFORD-
MJNORS BURT was held before the Conquest
by Alwin, a thegn of Earl Harold, and
was given by William the Conqueror to Ralph Baynard
or Bangiard before 1086, when it was assessed at
5 hides.4 Juga Baynard was probably Ralph's widow
and Geoffrey Baynard her son and heir.5 A William
Baynard succeeded, who forfeited under Henry I,
when his barony was granted to Robert son of
Richard son of Gilbert de Clare, ancestor of the Fitz
Walters.6 Hertingfordbury does not seem, however,
to have been included in this grant, and was possibly
given to Peter de Valognes, for it was in the possession
of Agnes de Valognes, widow of Peter's son and heir
Roger/ in 11 85." At the death of Robert son of
ld Parsonage, Hertingfordbury
Roger about I 1 94 Hertingfordbury came to his
daughter and heir Gunnora de Valognes,9 who
married Robert Fitz Walter.10 Their daughter
Christine," wife of William de Mandeville, died
without issue, and the Valognes estates were divided
between her three heirs, Lora de Baliol, Isabel
Comyn and Christine de Maune, daughters of Philip
de Valognes, cousin of Gunnora." Hertingfordbury
came eventually to Christine, the wife of Peter de
Maune or Maule," and passed before 1294 to Henry
' Blue Bk. Incl. Awards, 64.
3 The house standing in the fork of the
road to Cole Green and that towards Bay-
ford is called Amores, and probably dates
bick to the 14th century (information
from Mr. Andrews). The name John
Lety (cf. Letty Green) occurs in 1341
{In'q. Non. [Rec. Com.], 431).
« V.C.H. Herts, i, 326a.
5 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 147. The
editor of the Monasticon calls Juga sister
uf Ralph, but apparently without any
foundation. See also Dugdale, Baronage,
s.v. Baynard ; Morant, Hist, of Essex, ii,
427 ; Gent. Mag. 1826, pt. i, 418. Juga
was ladv of Little Dunmow (co. Essex),
the chief holding of the Baynardi, at the
beginning of the 12th century.
6 Dugdale, Mon. loc. cit. ; Baronage,
loc. cit.
7 Dugdale, Mon. iii, 346.
8 S. Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus, 36.
9 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 3. See
Bennington.
10 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 269/. ;
Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 424.
11 See Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
281 ; Cott. MS. Claud, dxiii, fol. 137,
183.
» See Bennington ; Feet of F. Div. Co.
25 Hen. Ill, no. 48.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. I, no. 42 ;
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 281 b. She
is said to be holding it jointly with John
Comyn as late as 12S7 (see Plac. de Quo
IVarr. [Rec. Com.], 290 ; Assize R.325).
463
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
de Maule, probably her son, who enfeoffed Agnes de
Valence," daughter of William de Valence. The
king acknowledged the conveyance, which had been
made without royal licence, in 1294,'5 but the trans-
action was not completed until 1297.16 Agnes
continued to hold the manor until her death in
1309-10," when it passed to her brother Aymer
de Valence Earl of Pembroke, who died in 1323
without issue.18 His heirs were his nephew John
de Hastings, son of his sister Isabel, Elizabeth
Comyn, and Joan wife of David de Strathbolgi,
daughters of his second sister Joan." Elizabeth
Comyn, to whom Hertingfordbury was assigned,2"
married Richard Talbot,21 who in 1332 g'ranted the
manor to Roger de Chauntecler of London as security
for a debt." In 1345 Richard and Elizabeth surren-
dered the manor to the king in exchange for various
lands in Herefordshire,23 and it was granted in the
following year to Queen Isabella, the king's mother,
for her life.24 Isabella died in 1358, and William de
Louthe was appointed steward in 1359.25
In 1376 the king granted this manor with others
in tail-male to his son John of Gaunt.'6 John of
Gaunt died in February 1398-9, and Hertingford-
bury again fell to the Crown with the duchy of
Lancaster upon the accession of his son Henry in
1399 as Henry IV.'7 In 1422 Henry VI granted
Hertingfordbury in dower to his mother Queen
Katharine 2S and afterwards to his own queen, Mar-
garet of Anjou.29 Edward IV also granted it for
life to his queen Elizabeth Woodville.30 After this
it seems to have remained in the possession of the
Crown until Edward VI granted it in 1553 to his
sister Princess Mary.31 It remained in the hands of
Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth,32 and in 161 9
was granted by James I to Sir Henry Hobart and
other feoffees for ninety-nine years to the use of
Charles Prince of Wales.31 In 1627 the feoffees
transferred the remainder of the term to Christopher
Vernon for a rent of ^26 os. $d., the grant being
confirmed by the king in the same year, whilst the
reversion of the manor in fee simple was granted to
William Downhall and John Darnell.3' The latter
grant was probably in trust for Christopher Vernon
and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Darnell.35
Christopher died in 1652 and was succeeded by his
son Francis,36 and Hertingfordbury remained in the
Vernon family37 (descendants of the Vernons of
Haddon Hall) until 1690, when it was sold to
Vernon of Herting-
fordbury. Argent fretty
sable a quarter gules with
a motet or therein.
James Selby.39 James Selby was holding it in I 700"
and his widow in 1728,"' after whose death it de-
scended to their son Thomas
James Selby." In 1785 Ellen
Wells and Henrietta the wife
of Dixie Gregory, the heirs
apparently of Thomas James
Selby,'1' joined with Sir Row-
land Alston, bart., in convey-
ing the manor to Joseph Hill,"
probably in trust for George
Earl Cowper, whom Clutter-
buck gives as the purchaser.
Hertingfordbury has since de-
scended with the earldom,"
and is now held by Countess
Cowper, widow of the seventh
earl.
The park of Hertingfordbury is first mentioned in
1285. ,5 In 1359-60 William de Louthe the keeper
accounted for three men who were employed for five
days at 3d. a day in inclosing and cutting wood in
the park.'6 It was granted together with the manor
to Princess Mary by Edward VI in 1553." In
1604, when Sir Michael Stanhope was keeper of the
park for James I, he was commanded to forbear
killing any deer there for three years. ,s Later in
the same year a special commission was appointed
which certified that the extent of the park was 205
acres of very hard soil ' after the nature of Hertford-
shire,' which would keep I 50 deer and no more, and
that 160 out of 200 deer kept there had died in one
year." In 1623 a buck from it was given by the
king to Sir Henry Marten, judge of the Admiralty
Court. 5l1 The park continued with the manor51
until 1626, when Prince Charles's feoffees granted the
remainder of their ninety-nine years' lease to John
Purefey and John Graunt.52 In the following year
the king granted the reversion to Anthony Lowe,
Christopher Vernon, Arthur Lowe and John Coxe.
The park then contained 237 acres besides a meadow
of 3 acres called ' le deere meadowe,' and 1 acre of
osier woods. Free chase and free warren in it were
granted at the same time.53 In 1628 John Walter,
Sir Henry Hobart and the others granted /"20 rent
from the park, which they had reserved from their
earlier grant, to Richard Brownelowe, and this was
confirmed in the same year to his son John Browne-
lowe by the king.5'
14 Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 352.
15 Ibid.
16 Feet of F. Div. Co. 25 Edvv. I,
no. 28.
17 Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
3 Edw. II, no. 37.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75.
19 Ibid.
20 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i,
287.
al Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, no. n.
M Cal. Pat. 1 3 30-+, p. 305; Assize
R. 337, m. 4d. ; Feet of F. Herts. 6
Edw. Ill, no. 107. The Fine and Patent
R. say that the grant to Roger was for life,
but according to the Assize R. it reverted
to Talbot after seven years.
23 Feet of F. Div. Co. 20 Edw. Ill,
no. 89 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill,
no. 66.
*W Pat. 1345-8, p. 123; Mins.
Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 86;, no. 17.
B Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
255 ; Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 865,
no. 18 ; Enr. Accts. F. 35 Edw. III.no. 8.
!6 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 25 ; Abbrev.
Rot. OriK. (Rec. Com.), ii, 346.
'7 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
!8 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xviii (2),
fcl. 49.
L"J Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 1093,
no. 14.
30 Feet of F. Div. Co. bdle. 294, file 76,
no. 102.
31 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii,
fol. 86.
32 Duchy of Lane. Ct. R. bdle. 73, no.
906 ; Cal.S.P. Dom. 1547-S0, p. 398.
33 Pat. 17 Jas. I, pt. i.
34 Ibid. 3 Chas. I, pt. xviii, no. 4.
35 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 100.
36 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
ii, 205, quoting monumental inscription ;
Com. Pleas Recov. R. ilil. 4 Chas. I,
m. 11.
37 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 25 Chas. II.
3S Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 272.
39 Ibid.
40 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 52. She is
said by Cussans {Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hund. 103) to have been the daughter of
Sir Rowland Alston, bart.
41 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 199.
" See Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
43 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 25 Gen. III.
44 Recov. R. Hil. 42 Geo. Ill, rot.
146.
4d Coram Rege R. 92, m. 2.
« Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 865,
no. 18.
47 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii,
fol. 86,
48 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 141.
49 Duchy of Lane. Spec. Com. no. 674.
60 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1623-5, p. 46.
51 Pat. 3 Chas. I, pt. xviii, no. 4.
52 Ibid. pt. i, no. 2.
63 Ibid. pt. xxxv.
54 Ibid. pt. i, no. 2.
464
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Before 1643 Hertingfordbury Park was purchased
by Thomas Kcightley,50 who seems to have built a
house there, where he received a visit from his
cousin John Evelyn the diarist in March 1643.56
He was succeeded by his son William Keightley,57
whose widow Amy married secondly John Belson and
continued to live at the house during her lifetime.58
After her death the park descended to her son
Thomas Keightley, who sold the estate in 168 1 to
John Cullinge.SD John Cullinge, son of the latter,
was holding it in 1 700,60 but died childless shortly after,
his lands passing to his sister Elizabeth, whose heirs
sold Hertingfordbury Park to Spencer Cowper before
1727." The latter died in 1 727s2 and was succeeded
by his son William, and his grandson of the same
name in 1740." The latter died in 1769, and his
widow Maria Frances Cecilia joined with William son
of William Cowper in conveying the park to Richard
Baker in 1 773-6* Richard Baker, who died in 1 780,
bequeathed it to his brother William Baker of Bayford-
bury. The latter gave it to his younger brother
Samuel, who lived there until his death in 1804, and
later it was occupied by William's eldest son William,
who died in 1863." His son was the heir of William
B.iker ot Bayfordbury, and also held the manor of
Roxford, with which Hertingfordbury Park subse-
quently descended. The old house at Hertingford-
bury Park was pulled down in 1816, with the
exception of part of the kitchens and cellars, which
were left until the present house was built by
Mr. R. W. Partridge, who resides there.
Christine de Valognes claimed in Hertingfordbury
sac and soc, thol, theam and infangentheof, by
charter of Henry I, and also view of frankpledge,
amendment of the assize of bread and ale, and
tumbrel 'of ancient custom.' Christine de Maule
claimed also free warren, and made a claim to have
gallows, which was not allowed.66 Agnes de Valence
obtained a fresh grant of free warren in I 309. 67 In
1446-8 John Treoylian was farmer of the 'warren
of conies ' for Queen Margaret at 70s. yearly,68 and in
I 5 I 7 Sir Edward Benstede was granted an annuity
of £3 from it.69
Hertingfordbury possessed two mills in 1086,'0
but only one is mentioned later. In 1 247 Peter de
Maule and Christine de Valognes his wife granted
their mill to Henry de Neketon, saving to themselves
free multure for the use of their household in their
manor of Hertingfordbury, also the meadows adjoining
the mill and the fishery in the mill-pool." They
seem to have paid zos. rent from the mill to the
Master of the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene at
HERTINGFORDBURY
Hertford, for Christine bought back this rent in
1279." Possibly a grant of the mill had been made
to the hospital at the time of its endowment, and the
lords of the manor had subsequently rented the mill
lrom the hospital. In 1354-5 a rent %vas st'M Pa'd
to the same hospital.'3 The farm of the mill and
fishery adjoining amounted to 43/. \d. in 1383-4."
In 1 49 1 the king leased it to Edward Benstede for
seven years,75 and again for a term not stated in
1 50 1-2. 76 In 161 9, when the manor was granted
by James I to his son Prince Charles, the mill was
reserved,77 and seems to have been let to Thomas
Docwra.78 In 1633 the king granted it, at the
request of Sir John Heydon, to William Scriven and
Philip Eden and their heirs, at which date it was
worth £4 yearly.79 The mill is situated on the River
Mimram at the northern end of the village. There
is a tradition that a second mill stood on the Lea
300 yds. north-east of Water Hall Farm, where
there was a house within living memory and where
there is still a floodgate.
Before the Conquest ROXFORD (Rochesforde,
xi cent. ; Rokesforth, Rokkysford, Roxeforth, xvi
cent.) was held by Goduin, a thegn of King Edward ;
in 1086 it formed part of the lands of Geoffrey de
Bech, of whom it was held by Guy the Priest, and
was assessed at half a hide.80 With other lands of
Geoffrey de Bech this fee came to the Wake family,81
and the overlordship descended withStapleford'2 (q.v.).
In the 13th century lands in Roxford were held
by the families of Moyne and Valognes,8'1 but the
manor of Roxford seems to be the eighth of a fee
held in 1303 of Lady Wake by Nicholas de Paris.81
In I 304 he conveyed his lands there with the advow-
son of the chapel of Roxford to Herman de Bricken-
don,So who in 1330 settled them on his son and
daughter-in-law, Philip and Hawise.86 The immediate
successors of Philip de Brickendon are not known,86*1
but in the following century the estate seems to have
come into the possession of the Louth family. A
Robert de Louth, who was M.P. for Herts, in 1382,
was holding land in Hertingfordbury in 1406,87 and
is again mentioned in connexion with the parish
in 1434. m It is probable that this Robert held
Roxford, as another Robert de Louth died seised of it
in 1484. He left three sisters and co-heirs, Gille
the wife of John Gryme, Christine, aged thirty-four
and unmarried, and Alice the wife of John Wigge.89
The manor seems to have been divided between these
three, but apparently Christine sold her share to
Alice and John Wigge, for Thomas Wigge, son of
Alice and John, sold two-thirds of the manor in
55 Diet. Nat. Biog.
56 Diary of J. E-velyi (ed. Will. Bray),
i. 39-
57 Diet. Nat. Biog.
58 Close, 33 Chas. II, pt. vi, no. 34.
59 Ibid.
60 Chauncy, Hist, of Herts. 272.
61 Salmon, loc. cit.
62 M. I. in church.
63 Berry, Herts. Gin. 16S, 170. See
Thele.
61 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 14 Geo. III.
65 See article on Bayfordbury by J. J.
Baker in East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans.
iii, 264..
66 Plac. de Quo rVarr. (Rec. Com.),
281, 290 ; Assize R. 325.
67 Chart. R. z Edw. II, m. 8, no. 23.
68 Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 1093,
no. 14.
69 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxii, fol.
4.d.
70 V.C.H. Herts, i, 326a.
71 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Hen. Ill, no.
332-
''J Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. I, no. 42.
73 Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 865,
no. 17.
n Ibid. bdle. 1272, no. 7.
75 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxi, fol.
171 d.
70 Ibid. fol. 174.
"Pat. 17 Jas. I, pt. i.
78 Ibid. 9 Chas. I, pt. viii.
79 Ibid.
80 r.C.H. Hera, i, 335a.
465
81 Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
4. Hen. V, no. 51.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 71.
88 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5257, 5259,
5256, 5260, 103 1 ; Assize R. 325, m. 5.
M Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
85 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Edw. I, no. 380.
86 Ibid. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 52.
863 Possibly the female heirs who seem
to have inherited Panshanger (in St.
Andrew Rural) in succession to the
Brickendon family may have held Hert-
ingfordbury, for Matthew Lety, the hus-
band of Margaret, is called 'of Herting-
fordbury.'
67 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B4024.
88 Cat. Pat. 1429-36, p. 318.
89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ii, 20.
59
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
1 542 to Hugh Mynors.90 In 1 550 Mynors conveyed
them to William Southwood.91 In the following year
William Southwood sold the property to William
Caldew-ell,92 who before 1557 conveyed it to William
Coventry.53 The last William left directions in his
will that the two thirds of the manor should be sold
after his death, and they were accordingly sold to
John and Anne Myston, in spite of the protests of
William's daughter Joan.91 The Mystons, however,
did not keep the estate for long, as in 1569 they sold
it to William Kympton.95 The two thirds then or
subsequently seem to have been divided between
John Baylie and William Kympton, William keeping
one third, including the manor-house, for life, with
remainder to John Baylie,96 the other third being
delivered to John by George Kympton in 160 5."
John Baylie the elder died in 1 61 1 and was succeeded
by his son John, then a minor.98 John was holding
the two thirds in 1622," but before 165 1 there
must have been a sale to Thomas Fanshawe, since the
latter had united these two thirds with the other
third and was holding the whole manor in that
year.100
Of the third of Roxford apportioned to Gille and
John Gryme nothing is known for a hundred years
following. In 1586 John Knighton died seised of it,
having settled it upon his son George,1 after which it
descended in his family in the same manner as
Bayford 2 (q.v.) and came before 165 1 to Thomas
Fanshawe.3 The Fanshawes appear to have sold the
manor soon after to John Cox,* who presumably
conveyed it to George Chalncombe.s In 1700
Frances Chalncombe, widow of George, joined with
her daughter Frances, wife of Patrick Crawford, in
conveying Roxford to John Brassey.6 Nathaniel
Brassey, successor of John, was succeeded in I 765 by
his son Nathaniel,7 who died in 1798.8 Richard
John Brassey, son of the latter, sold the manor in
1 801 to William Baker9 of Bayfordbury (q.v.), in
whose family it has since descended.
irOOLMERS PARK evidently took its name from
the family of Wolmer. John Wolmer is mentioned
in Hertingfordbury between 1285 and 1289 10 and
Thomas Wolmer in I 3 5 8.11 In I 5 1 8 Woolmers was
said to be held of the king as of his duchy of Lan-
caster,12 so that it had probably always been held of
the manor of Hertingfordbury. Sir Edward Benstede,
who died in 15 18, held a 'tenement or farm called
Wolmers,' which he left to Joyce his wife for her life
with remainder to his niece Alice Ferrers, daughter
of his sister Katherine.13 Joyce married secondly
William Purdy, and was still living in 1531." If
Alice Ferrers died without issue the property was to
pass to her elder brother John Ferrers, who was
Sir Edward Benstede's nearest male heir, but there is
no evidence to show whether it did so. Woolmers is
not heard of again until the beginning of the 19th
century, when it was in the possession of Francis
Duke of Bridgewater. He died in 1 805, leaving it
to his nephew George Granville Earl Gower and
Duke of Sutherland,15 who died in 1 83 3.16 It is said
to have been afterwards sold to Sir John St. Aubyn,
bart., and to have been subsequently possessed by
Sir Gore Ouseley, bart., and Rear-Admiral the Hon.
George Frederick Hotham." In 1842 it was bought
by Mr. William Herbert Wodehouse,18 who in 1903
was succeeded by his son Mr. Charles Edward
Wodehouse, the present possessor.19
The manor of B1RCHHOLT now BIRCHJLL
was composed of lands granted at various dates to the
Prior and convent of the Holy Trinity, London,211
including the service owed by Roger de Essendon for
land in Birchholt granted by John de Rocheford
between 1316 and 1325." These continued in the
hands of the convent of the Holy Trinity until its
surrender in 1 5 3 1 ,2!! after which Birchholt was
granted in 1534 to Sir Thomas Audley 23 of Walden,
Lord Chancellor. About 1539 the latter conveyed
it to William Cavendish and Margaret his wife.24
It seems to have been re-conveyed to the Crown, for
in 1 ^99 Queen Elizabeth granted it to Henry Best
and Robert Holland." They sold it shortly after-
wards to Sir Robert Wroth,26 from whom it descended
to John Wroth and Maud his wife 27 in the same
manner as Tewin (q.v.). The latter sold it in 1 62 I
to Sir Thomas Trevor,28 afterwards chief baron of
the Exchequer. He died in 1656/9 leaving a son
Thomas Trevor, baronet and knight of the Bath,
who died childless in 1676,30 after which the history
of the estate is lost.
The estate called EPCOMBS (Epecaumpe, Epe-
combes) is thought to be the half hide in ' Thepe-
campe ' 31 held both before and after the Conquest by
a priest, in alms, of the king. An estate of 100 acres
in Epcombs is said to have been held in the reign of
Richard I by one Lyving, and to have descended to
Luke son of William of Hertingfordbury, who claimed
it in I 28 1.32 Early in the 1 6th century it w as in the
possession of the Lawrence family, and in I 5 29 was
held by Richard Lawrence and Agnes his wife and
William Lawrence.33 The latter, who was the son of
John Lawrence, had a son William,34 who died leaving
90 Plac. de Banco, Mich. 34 Hen. VIII,
m. 4 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 34
Hen. VIII.
91 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 4 Edw. VI,
m. 1.
92 Ibid. Mich. 5 Edw. VI, m. 1 1 d.
93 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 122,
no. 18. w Ibid.
95 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 1 1 Eliz.
96 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
97 Ibid. Trin. 3 Jas. I.
98 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxix,
196 ; Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
99 Recov. R. Mich. 20 Jas. I, rot. 75.
100 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 165 1.
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxi, 191.
8 Ibid. (Ser. 2), cccxliii, 143 ; cccclxxvi,
129 ; ccccxciv, 59.
8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 160.
' Close, 42 Geo. Ill, pt. xxxv, no. 1.
5 See Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 201, who
appears to have mixed up the two parts of
the manor.
6 Feet of F. Herts. East. 12 Will. III.
7 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 208,
quoting monumental inscription.
3 Ibid. ; Recov. R. Mich. 14 Geo. Ill,
rot. 351-2.
9 Close, 42 Geo. Ill, pt. xxxv, no. 1.
10 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5247.
11 Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. (P.R.O.),
L 258.
13 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiv, 3;.
13 Ibid. ; P.C.C. 25 Ayloffe.
« L. and P. Hen. VUI, v, g. 166 (57).
15 P.C.C. 226 Marriott.
16 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
17 Cussans, op. cit. 106. Sir Gore
Ouseley is buried in the church.
18 Ibid.
19 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906).
20 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5256, 5260,
«°3i. 5257, 5^59) 5^21, 525°> 5*49.
5:41, 1121 ; B 4024.
51 Ibid. A 1029, 5245.
22 Dugdnle, Mon. vi, I 50.
» L. and P. Hen. Fill, vii,g. 1601 (35).
21 Ibid, xiv (2), g. 619 (4).
85 Pat. 41 Eliz. pt. xix, m. I.
26 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cexciv, 87.
27 Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 19 Jas. I.
*s Ibid.
29 Burke, Extinct Baronetcies.
30 Ibid. 31 V.C.H. Herts, i, 343.
32 Assize R. 323, m. 12. One of the
jurors for the 'inquisitio nonarum ' for
Hertingfordbury in 1 341 was Robert
Epcompe [Inq. Aon. [Rec. Com.], 431).
33 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 21 Hen. VIII.
31 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 72.
466
HERTFORD HUNDRED
ragged i
four daughters — Susannah wife of John Darnell, Anne
wife of John Jeve, Elizabeth wife of Rowland Hail,
and Alice — between whom the
property was divided.35 Alice,
who was a lunatic, and her
three sisters were all living in
1606,36 but it is not known to
whom Epcombs afterwards
descended. Susan Darnell had
four daughters, of whom the
eldest, Elizabeth, married
Christopher Vernon,37 lord of
the manor of Hertingfordbury,
and it is therefore possible
that Epcombs thus became
united with the main manor.
In 1877 it was the residence of Mrs. Fenwick,35 and
is now occupied by Mr. Charles F. H. Leslie.
In 1086 there was a mill at ' Thepecampe.' 39
The RECTOR}' MANOR has always been held
by the rectors of the parish.'10 As a rule the records
of only one court a year survive, held at various
times ; where the records of two survive they
took place in May and October. In the reign
of Edward III as many as four are recorded in
a year, but this is exceptional. In 1638 the
rents from the manor amounted to qs. annually,
besides six capons and various customary works.4'
The church of ST. MART,
CHURCH which stands at the south-east end
of the village, consists of chancel
38 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft., north chapel 22 ft. by 13 ft.,
south vestry and organ chamber, nave 50 ft. 6 in.
by 23 ft., north aisle 50 ft. 6 in. by 1 1 ft. 6 in.,
south porch and west tower. These measure-
ments are all internal. The church is built of flint
rubble with stone dressings. The roofs are tiled.
The church was extensively restored and
altered in 1845, and in 1890 it was practically
rebuilt. The chancel and possibly the nave
walls were built in the 13th century, the north
aisle and west tower being added in the 15th
century.
The three 13th-century grouped windows in
the east wall of the chancel consist each of a
single lancet having moulded arches and shafted
jambs with moulded capitals and bases. The
moulded labels have head stops. The external
stonework is modern. In the chancel is a double
piscina, part of the eastern jamb of which is
original; it is of 13th-century date and has
moulded and shafted iambs enriched with the
dog-tooth ornament. The head and jamb stones
of two windows in the north aisle, which are each
of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil open-
ing in the head, are of I 5th-century date, as are
parts of another window in the same wall, of two
lights under a square head ; a similar window in
the south wall opposite is probably a little later."
Two jamb stones of the south doorway and the lofty
four-centred and moulded tower arch are also of 1 5th-
century date. The buttressed tower is of three stages
HERTINGFORDBURY
with embattled parapet and leaded spire. Some parts
oi the belfry windows may be original. All the other
detail in the church is modern.
On the north side of the tower is an altar tomb to
Anne wife of George Calvert, 1622. On the tomb
is an alabaster efflgy of a lady, with mural cornice
above supporting three shields of arms. On the
south side of the tower is an altar tomb to William
Harrington and his wife ; it is of early 17th-century
work. On a black marble slab are two recumbent
shrouded effigies of alabaster ; an arched cornice
above, supported on pilasters, bears the arms of
Harrington, eighteen quarterings in all. In front is
the kneeling figure of a child. Over the pulpit is a
mural tablet to Christopher Vernon, 1 65 2, with his
arms above. In the north aisle is a mural slab to
Thomas Keightley, 1662, and his wife, 1682 ; and
in the chancel are floor slabs to Robert Mynne, 1 65 6,
and Helen Mynne, 1659. On the north wall of the
tower is a brass with inscription and shieid of arms to
Thomas Ellis, 1608, and his wife, 161 2.
,*V<~.>^
Hertingfordbury Church : Wlst Tower
There are five bells : the first by John Waylett,
1706 ; the second by T. Lester, 1750 ; the third by
John Briant, 1823 ; the fourth and fifth by John
Hodson dated 1656.
35 Vint. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 72 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. ;), clxxxvii, 77.
36 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
87 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 72.
38 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund.
IOT.
33 V.C.ll. Herts, i, 3+3.
40 Ct. R. Edw. I-Edw. VI, in the pos-
session of Mr. F. Seebohm, Hitchin.
41 Herts. Gen. and Antiq. iii, 178-9.
^ Sir Ed-.vard Benstede desired in his
will, proved in 1519, that his executors
should make a window in the wall on the
south side of the church and glaze it with
images of St. Alban and St. ' Amphiabell,'
setting two escutcheons therein with the
arms of himself and his wife Joyce. He
also left monev f"r tapers before the image
of our Lady of Aeon, and directed that his
body should be buried before that image
(P.C.C. 25 Ayloffe).
467
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The plate includes a cup with cover, a standing
paten, and a flagon of 1675.
The registers before I 8 I 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms, burials and marriages from 1679 to 1744- ; (ii)
baptisms and burials from 1 745 to 1 767, marriages
from 1745 to 1762 ; (iii) baptisms from 1767 to
1 8 1 2 ; (iv) burials from 1768 to 1812 ; (v) mar-
riages from 1763 to 1 812.
The advowson of the church
ADVOWSON belonged to the lords of the manor 4i
until Richard and Elizabeth Talbot
surrendered the manor to the king in 1346, when
they reserved the advowson." Probably, however,
they sold it to the king soon after, for they did not
die seised of it, and it appears to have been granted
to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, and so passed
to the Crown in the person of his son Henry IV.
The presentation has ever since been made by the
king in his capacity of Duke of Lancaster."
In 1638 there was a 'parsonage house built of
timber covered with Tile two storyes high, the lower
storyes disposed into these roomes, a parlour, a hall,
a kitchin, a milkhouse, a brewhouse, a mealehouse, a
buttrye, and all these roomes are chambred over and
boarded except the brewhouse and the mealehouse.' ie
The glebe lands amounted to 54^ acres.
A chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Roxford is
mentioned in 130447 and in I330.4S The advowson
belonged to the lord of the manor.
The chapel of ease of ST. JOHN BAPTIST at
Letty Green, built in 1849-50 and enlarged in
1890, is served from the parish church.
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in the
parish were certified in 1788 and 181 l.49
In 161 3 Grace Ellis, by her will
CHARITIES proved in 'the P.C.C. 20 March, gave
40/. yearly for the poor, charged
upon property in Norton Folgate, London. The
annuity was redeemed in 1863 by the transfer to
the official trustees of £66 1 3/. 4V. consols, now
producing £1 13/. \d. yearly, which is distributed
in bread biennially to the value of zs. to each
recipient.
In 1708 Walter Wallinger by his will directed
that £400 should be laid out in the purchase of a
rent-charge to be applied in apprenticing sons and
daughters of poor housekeepers not in receipt of
parochial relief. The legacy, with interest, was laid
out in the purchase of a fee-farm rent of £6 issuing
out of Middle Mills, Colchester, a fee-farm rent of
£5 out of Foxearth Hall Farm, Long Melford,
Suffolk, and a fee-farm rent of £10 from East-
hampstead Park, Berkshire. The last-mentioned
was redeemed in 1904 by the transfer of £400
consols to the official trustees. The income has been
found more than sufficient for the objects of the
charity, and the surplus has from time to time been
accumulated and invested in consols. The stock
now amounts to £4,152 6s. 6d. consols with the
official trustees and £115 19/. 6d. consols in the
names of C. E. Wodehouse and two others, the
annual dividends amountivg together to £106 3s. id.
The premiums usually amount to £12 10s.
In 1870 Thomas Newman, by his will proved
1 1 March, left a legacy, now represented by
£582 \s. zd. consols with the official trustees, the
annual dividends, amounting to £14 [1;., to be
applied in aid of the schools.
ST. ANDREW RURAL
The civil parish of St. Andrew Rural is one of the
outlying parts of the borough of Hertford and was
separated from the urban parish of St. Andrew by the
Local Government Act of 1 894. It comprises an
area of 1,040 acres, of which 1,022 acres are land
and 1 8 water. The district is entirely rural, the
western part being occupied by Panshanger Park,
which covers an area of 900 acres and extends into
the parish of Hertingfordbury. The southern
boundary is formed by the River Mimram, which
divides St. Andrew Rural from Hertingfordbury.
The road from Bayford to Hertingfordbury, on which
the village of Hertingfordbury is situated, is continued
through this parish as Thieves Lane, and a little
further north adjoins the main road from Hertford to
Welwyn.
Sele Grange, now the residence of Miss E. Robert-
son, is situated on the extreme east of the parish,
where it adjoins St. Andrew Urban. There is a wood
called Selebroom at some distance to the north-west.
The manor oi~ BLAKEMERE (Blache-
MANORS mene, xi cent. ; Blackmere, xv cent.)
was held in chief in 1086 by Geoffrey
de Bech.1 It probably came with Eastwick (q.v.)
(also held by Geoffrey de Bech in 1086) into the
possession of the Clares, and through Emma daughter
of Baldwin de Clare to the Wake family, for in
1282 Baldwin de Wake was found to have been
overlord of the quarter of a knight's fee in Blake-
mere.2 The descent of the overlordship then follows
that of Gobions in Stapleford 3 (q.v.).
In the time of Edward the Confessor Blakemere
constituted the holdings of two thegns who had the
right to sell. It was held in 1 086 under Geoffrey
de Bech by a single mesne tenant Geoffrey Runevile,
and was assessed at 1 hide. It was said to contain
land for two ploughs ; there was one upon the
demesne and there could be another. There was
sufficient meadow for two plough teams. The
unfree tenants were one villein and two bordars.
The pasture sufficed for the live stock and the wood-
land for the feeding of forty swine.1
The tenant of Blakemere in I 281-2 was Robert
(?) de Blakemere5 and in 1303 John de Blakemere.6
Before 1326 Blakemere had come into the same
hands as Panshanger, which was evidently the more
« Chan. Inq.
Cat. Close, 1 323-
" Feet of F.
no. 89.
4j Cat Pat. 1
Bks. (P.R.O.) ;
« Herts. Gen.
p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75 ;
"7> P- 275.
Div. Co. 20 Edw. Ill,
436-41, p. 351 ; Inst.
Bacon, Liber Regis, 5 1 8.
and Antif. iii, 177-9.
47 Feet of F. Herts. 32 Edw. I,
no. 380.
48 Ibid. 4 Edw. Ill, no. 52.
49 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 551.
1 y.C.H. Herts, i, 335a.
2 Cat. Inq. p.m. I— 19 Ediv. I, 262.
8 Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
23 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 75 ; 26 Edw. Ill,
no. 54 ; 20 Ric. II, no. 57 j 20 Ric. II,
no. 30 ; 4 Hen. IV, no. 5 I ; 7 Hen. VI,
no. 57; (Ser. 2), xxviii, 71.
4 r.C.H. Herts, i, 335*.
6 Cal. Inn. p.m. 1-19 Edv>. I, 262.
6 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
468
HERTFORD HUNDRED
important holding of the two. In that year William
de Lodewyk received a grant of the manor of
Panshanger and of 80 acres of arable land, 7 of
meadow and 4 of wood in Blakemere/ Later con-
veyances of Panshanger mention these lands in
Blakemere," and the inquisition on Walter Chival
(see Panshanger) gives the manor of Blakemere as
well as that of Panshanger.9 In 1474 the manor of
Blakemere was conveyed with Panshanger,'" but in
1492 lands only are mentioned," and after this date
it apparently became amalgamated with Panshanger.
The manor of PJNSHANGER (Penneshanger,
Paneshanger, Pensangre, xiii cent. ; Peneshangre,
xiv cent. ; Pansangre, xiv and xv cent.; Passanger,
Passhanger, Pansanger, xvi, xvii, and xviii cent.) is
described in 1247 as I carucate of land.1"' In 1289
suit for it uas owed every three weeks at the court of
Robert de Hoo of Knebworth.13 Robert de Hoo's
rights in Blakemere descended with the manor of
Knebworth, and had passed by 1428 to John
Hotoft.14 The latter's daughter and heir Idonea
married Sir John Barre, kt., of Knebworth, of whom
Panshanger was held in 1446, '5 and who died in 1483.
His property descended to his daughter Isabel,16 widow
of Humphrey Stafford Earl of Devon, who was
beheaded in 1469, and wife of Thomas Bourchier, kt.,
younger son of the Earl of Essex. She died childless
in 1489,17 and there is no later trace of rights in
Panshanger which she had inherited.
Panshanger was held immediately in the first half
of the I 3th century by Walter de Gynney or Gisney,
whose wife was Elizabeth. He made a feoffment
thereof to his daughter Joan and her husband Philip
de Mardley, who accordingly held in 1247-8 after
his death. Walter had three other daughters, Eleanor,
Nichola, and Philippa who married Robert Fitz
William ; and in 1247—8 John the son of Eleanor
together with Philippa and her husband unsuccess-
fully claimed as their inheritance a moiety of
I carucate of land in Panshanger.'" Philip de
Mardley was dead in 1274. ^n tnat )'ear Joan ms
widow received from Philip his son a life grant
of I carucate of arable land, 30 acres of meadow,
15 acres of wood and 32^. of rent in Panshanger."
In 1 2 89 the younger Philip conveyed the manor of
Panshanger to William de Barneton to be held for the
rent of one clove gillyflower rendered to himself and
his heirs and for all services due to the chief lords
except suit at the court of Robert de Hoo at Kneb-
worth which the grantor was to do during William's
life.80 William de Burneton in 1293 alienated the
property, described at this date as a messuage, 300
acres of land and appurtenances in Panshanger, to
William de Melksop and Maud his wife,'"1 and this
William in 1302 received a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands of Panshanger.12 He was suc-
ST. ANDREW RURAL
ceeded by his son William about 1 3 17. The
latter was lord of the manor of Digswell in Broad-
water Hundred, and it therefore seems probable
that Stephen de Waltham, parson of the church of
Digswell, and Ralph de St. Denis were acting for him
when in 1326 they conveyed the manor of Pans-
hanger to William de Lodewyk.23 This William
was succeeded by John de Lodewyk (see Ludwick
Manor in Hatfield, Broadwater Hundred), who is
given as the tenant of Blakemere in 1349" and
1352.26 Later the manor appears to have passed to
Felicia de Brickendon.26 Felicia's husband was
Herman de Brickendon, and he had a son Philip
(see Roxford), but whether Panshanger was held by
Philip is not certain. It passed ultimately to female
heirs, for in 1369 a fine was levied between Matthew
Lety of Hertingfordbury and his wife Margaret,
and William de Tyringham and his wife Joan, by
which it was settled on Nicholas son of Joan and
Alice daughter of Margaret and the heirs of their
bodies, a life interest being reserved to Matthew and
Margaret Lety.27 In 1370 Matthew and Margaret
received a quitclaim of a moiety of the manor from
Simon Clerk and his wife Agnes, who probably had a
right of dower.28 In 1397-8 Margaret, who was
then the wife of William Kilmyngton, granted her
life interest in the manor of Panshanger and lands
in Blakemere to Nicholas Chival, citizen and vestment
maker of London, and his heirs,29 who may have
been the Nicholas son of Joan Tyringham mentioned
above. The heir of Nicholas was his son Walter,
who died in 1434. His heirs were his sisters Joan
and Alice, the wives in 1446 of Edmund Wykcs
and of Thomas Walssh, then ho'ders in their right.30
Thomas Walssh made a feoffment of the manors of
Panshanger and Blakemere to William Walssh, Roger
Bere and William Canwyk of Stevenage, and in 1474
the latter conveyed them to Thomas Birch and Ellen
his wife.31 In 1492 Thomas and Ellen conveyed
Panshanger Manor and lands in Blakemere to Simon
Paxman and Nicholas Larwood, with warranty against
themselves and the heirs of Ellen.33 This was pro-
bably in trust for Sir William Say ; for Gertrude
granddaughter and heir of Sir William Say of Brox-
bourne, daughter of William Blount Lord Mountjoy
by Elizabeth Say, and widow of Henry Courtenay
Marquess of Exeter, who was beheaded in 15 39,"
was found at her attainder in the same year to have
forfeited to the Crown her reversionary right after
the death of William Bruer34 to the manor of Pan-
shanger, by which name the early holdings in
Panshanger and Blakemere were at this date both
known.
In 1546 the manor was granted by the king to
the famous Nicholas Throckmorton, then sewer to
Queen Katherine.3i He in 1555 conveyed it as the
7 Feet of F. Heits.2oEdw. II, no. 443.
8 Ibid. 43 Edw. Ill, no. 600 ; 44
Edw. Ill, no. 614 ; 21 Ric. II, no. 183.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Hen. VI, no. 24.
10 Close, 14 Edw. IV, m. 28.
11 Feet of F. Herts. 8 Hen. VII, no. 41.
12 Assize R. 318, m. 5.
13 Feet of F. Herts. 17 Edw. I, no. 243.
M Feud. Aids, ii, 450. According to
these returns John Hotoft's fee was that
formerly held by Ralph Boteler, but ap-
parently Panshanger has been confused
here with Sele.
15 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Hen. VI, no. 24.
16 See account of Knebworth.
17 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iii, 105.
18 Assize R. 318, m. 5, 17.
19 Feet of F. Herts. 2 Edw. I, no. 30.
20 Ibid. 17 Edw. I, no. 243.
21 Ibid. 21 Edw. I, no. 294.
22 Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, m. 4, no. 17.
88 Feet of F. Herts. 20 Edw. 1 1,
o. 443.
2J Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill, pt. i,
o. 7c.
23 Ibid. 26 Edw. Ill, no. 54.
ZG Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 30. Se<
ford in Hertingfordbury.
-7 Feet of F. Herts. 43 Edw
no. 600.
38 Ibid. 44 Edw. Ill, no. 614.
29 Ibid. 21 Ric. II,no. 183.
30 Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Hen. VI, 1
81 Close, 14 Edw. IV, m. 28.
82 Feet of F. Herts. 8 Hen. VII, .
33 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iii, I
31 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxii
85 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xxi (1), g
(42).
Ill,
469
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
manor, messuage or farm called Panshanger with its
appurtenances to John Forster,36 at whose death in
1558 it passed to his son Humphrey, a minor.37 He
alienated the manor in 1567 to Edward Skeggs,38
who conveyed it in 1 5 7S to John Matthew.39 The
latter in 1585 made conveyance of it to certain
feoffees,4" who granted it in 1587 to James Smyth."
He in 1588 conveyed to Humphrey Weld the manor
and its appurtenances and five messuages, one dove-
cote, five gardens, 300 acres of arable land, 60 acres
of meadow, 1 00 acres of pasture, 40 acres of wood
and as much of furze and heath and of moor, in
Panshanger, Swinhoe, Hertford St. Andrew and
Hertingfordbury.43 Humphrey was probably iden-
tical with the alderman of London of that name w ho
was knighted in 1603 43 and who married Mary the
daughter of Sir Stephen Slaney, Lord Mayor of
London in 1596.44 He died as holder of Panshanger
in 1 6 1 o and had for heir a son John,45 who was
knighted, and who, at his death in 1623, was
succeeded by his son Humphrey, a minor.46 The
latter was holder in 1 642," but probably alienated
the manor in that year or subsequently. A con-
veyance of it took place in 1693 from George Hitch-
cock and his wife Elizabeth to Sir Gervase Elwes,
bart., and Sir John Elwes, kt., with warranty against
the heirs of Elizabeth.48 This was probably in trust
for Sir John,49 who may be identified with Sir John
Elwes, younger brother of the baronet, who was
knighted in 1665 and who was of Grove House,
Fulham, where he died in 1702. His wife was
Elizabeth daughter and co-heir of Sir Walter Raleigh
of West Horsley.50 In I 719 there was a conveyance
of Panshanger from John Elwes to Thomas Wood-
ford/' afterwards executor to the first Earl Cowper/3
which was probably in trust for the earl or his son
and heir.
The Lord Cowper in question was the distin-
guished Lord Chancellor who held office from 1707
to 1 7 10 and from 1 7 14 to I 718, and who since
1 706 53 or an earlier date had lived, when in the
country, in the house which he had built at Cole
Green in Hertingfordbury. This was for the remainder
of the 1 8th century the mansion-house of Panshanger.
It was sometimes the residence, while her husband was
in London, of Mary Lady Cowper, second wife of
the chancellor, Lady of the Bedchamber to the
Princess of Wales, and author of a well-known diary.54
Campbell states that the chancellor personally took no
part in country affairs, yet there are extant certain of
his instructions to his gardeners : ' The weeds in the
orchard to be mowed. The little kitchen garden in
the corner to be cleaned. The gooseberry and currant
bushes trimmed. The fig-trees, mulberry-trees and
such as seem decaying, but not desperate, watered.
Stir and clean the borders. Remove trees which are
to be removed.' M After his final retirement from
office Lord Cowper spent much time at Cole Green
and in this period acquired Panshanger. It seems
that he did not find his rural leisure an unmixed
blessing. ' It is cruelty in you to tantalize a poor
countryman with the life of state and pleasure you
describe,' he wrote in June 1720 to his wife, then in
attendance on the Princess ; ' I could be content as I
am if I did not hear of such fine doings.' M And in a
letter to her in April 1722 he says, 'The country is
Cowpkr, Earl Cowper. Argent three martlet!
gules and a chief engrailed gules -with three rings
or therein. The crest is a lion's paiv or razed
and holding a branch of a cherry tree in iti proper
colours, the supporters are t%uo dun horses.
excessively pleasant, but I am sensible while it pleases
it dulls me, and in these few days I have contracted a
great degree of indolence and an aversion to all cares
but the little ones of this place.' " He died at Cole
Green in 1723.58 His son William, the second earl,
was a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1733 to 1747,
became lord lieutenant and cmtos rotulorum for Hert-
fordshire in 1 744, and was a Fellow of the Royal
Society. He died at Cole Green in 1764 s9 and was
succeeded by his son George Nassau,60 who had been
member for Hertford from 1759 to 1761. He spent
much of his time in Florence, and through the
influence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany was created
36 Pat. 1 & 2 Phil, and Mary, pt. i ;
Feet of F. Herts. East. I & 2 Phil, and
Mary ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 1 & 2
Phil, and Mary.
37 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxviii, 64 ;
Recov. R. Trin. I 56+, rot. 51;.
38 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 9 & 10
Eliz. ; Recov. R. Mich. 1567, rot. 1247 ;
see Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 8 & 9
Eliz.
39 Pat. 3o Eliz. pt. xii.
40 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 27 Eliz.
41 Pat. 30 Eliz. pt. xii.
** Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 30 & 3 1 Eliz.;
Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. vi.
43 Shaw, Knigh,s s/Engl. ii, 128.
44 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford Hand.
71. Hence presumably the error by which
Chauncy and Clutterbuck state that
Stephen Slaney held the manor.
45 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxii, 173.
46 Ibid, ccccii, 132; Ct. of Wards,
Feod. Surv. no. 17.
47 Recov. R. Trin. 1 e Chas. I, rot. 60 j
East. 18 Chas. I, m. 18.
4' Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 5 Will, and
Mary.
49 Chauncy, op. cit. 266, calls him
John Elwes, merchant of London, and
says he was holding in 1700.
50 Le Neve, Fed. of the Knights (Harl.
Soc), 199 ; Wotton, Baronetage of Engl.
470
ii, 23 ; Faulkner, Hist. Acct. of Fulham,
443-
sl Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Geo. I.
511 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 138.
53 Campbell, Lives of the Lord Chan-
cellors, iv, 308.
•"'4 Diary of Mary Countess Cozvper (ed.
the Hon. Spencer Cowper).
35 Campbell, op. cit. iv, 406 and note.
40 Ibid. 410. i7 Ibid. 411.
53 Ibid. 412.
59 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 1 3 9.
60 Recov. R. Mich. 2 Geo. Ill, rot.
284; Trin. 12 Geo. Ill, rot. 15 ; East.
18 Geo. HI, rot. 423 ; Mich. 19 Geo. Ill,
rot. 47.
*&6A
HERTFORD HUNDRED
a prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Joseph II,
a title which George III empowered him to accept
in 1785.61 In his obituary notice in the Gentleman's
Magazine it is stated, however, that the dignity was
necessarily territorial, and that Lord Cowper was
therefore correctly only prince of the Milanese in the
empire.63 He died in 1789 and was succeeded by his
son George Augustus, who came of age in 1 797.
That event was celebrated in the traditional manner
by the roasting of an ox whole at Cole Green : — ■
The beast was put down in a pit, fastened by an iron chain
to a wooden axletree between two cart-wheels, before a large
wood tire, at two in the morning, and after being turned by two
men suitably habited and decorated with ribbons, who were the
same that assisted at this ceremony on that day 21 years,
being his lordship's birthday, was cut up and distributed, with a
proportionable quantity of strong beer, to an innumerable crowd
of spectators, at two in the afternoon ; at which time his lord-
ship, who had previously received the compliments of the
neighbouring nobility and gentry at his steward's house on the
edge of the green, was mounted on one of the beer buts, and
received the homage of the multitude in nine successive cheers.
. . . The whole festivity concluded with a display of fireworks
from the front of the steward's house. 6:f
In the following spring Lord Cowper, said to have
been a young man of great promise, had a fall from
his horse from which he never completely recovered.
He caught cold while serving with the Hertfordshire
militia, in which he was a captain, and died at Cole
Green in 1 799." His heir was his brother Peter
Leopold,66 a student of the Middle Temple in 1 794. 66
Of him Lord Campbell said : ' He had too much
delicacy of sentiment to take a leading part in public
life, but to the most exquisitely pleasing manner he
joined a manly understanding and a playful wit.
From him I received kind and encouraging notice
when I was poor and obscure, and his benevolent and
exhilarating smile is one of the most delightful images
in my memory of pleasures to return no more.' 67
This Lord Cowper in 1801 pulled down the
house at Cole Green, and built that which is now at
Panshanger,63 and which had in 1808 recently under-
gone improvement and alteration.69 He died in
1837, and had for heir a son George Augustus
Frederick. In 1855 the house was considerably
damaged by fire, and narrowly escaped destruction.'0
In the next year George Lord Cowper was succeeded
by his son Francis Thomas de Grey, who in 1865
was envoy-extraordinary for the investiture of King
Christian IX of Denmark with the order of the
Garter, and from 1880 until 1882 Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland. He died in 1 90 5 at Panshanger, and
left no children. The house is now the seat of his
widow Katrine Cecilia Countess Cowper, who has in
it a life interest.'1 It stands in a picturesque and well-
wooded park, about 2^ miles due west of Hertford
and ii miles to the north-east of Cole Green. It is
a long stone and stucco building of two stories and
attics, designed with battlements and angle turrets in
the Gothic taste of the early years of the 1 9th century ;
a central tower of three stories projects slightly from
the garden front. From the top of a slope it over-
looks the park and the little River Mimram, at this
point artificially enlarged into a small lake, and faces
nearly south-west.
The main entrance is by a spacious porch, pro-
61 V.C.H. Hem. Families, 140.
62 Gent, Mag. lix, 1213.
"6« Ibid, lxvii, 706.
» Ibid, lxix, 174.
ST. ANDREW RURAL
jecting from the north front and opening into a
well-proportioned hall hung with some valuable
ancient tapestries and several examples of the art of
Burne-Jones. Here is a fine Italian mantelpiece of
carved stone, and opposite to the entrance is the
well-known bust of Clyde, by G. F. Watts. On the
south-east of the entrance hall is the inner hall,
whence rises the grand staircase ; opening out of it
is a lobby leading to the picture gallery, which
occupies the south-east end of the house, and the
north library. The picture gallery is a stately room,
wherein are many treasures of furniture and china,
together with the more important of the pictures
collected by George Nassau, third Earl Cowper,
during his long residence in Italy.
Next to the picture gallery, and entered from the
lobby between it and the inner hall, is the library,
lighted by windows on its south side, and giving
beautiful views across the park. The most notable
picture in this room is a grand portrait group, painted
by Vandyck in 1634., of John Count of Nassau and
his family ; it formerly hung in the old house at
Cole Green. West of this room and opening out
of it is the ante-library, where are three fine Knellers,
a portrait of Admiral van Tromp by Lely, and one
of William Prince of Or.inge by Wissing. Beyond
the ante-library is the drawing room, a pleasant
room lighted by a great south bay window, and
containing many choice examples of English, foreign
and oriental porcelain. The pictures are mainly
by English portraitists ; among them three by
Reynolds and a portrait of William Cowper the poet
by Jackson are specially noteworthy.
Across a long corridor on the north side of the
drawing room is the great dining room, which lies to
the west of the entrance hall. This lofty room,
lighted by windows in its north wall, is panelled in
walnut, and has a great marble mantelpiece at either
end. Here hang three portraits by Lely, two perfect
Reynoldses of the Viscountess Melbourne with her
son, and the children of the first Viscount Melbourne,
and other notable pictures.
In the corridor stand several fine cabinets of
European and oriental workmanship, and on the
walls are portraits of Auverquerque and Nassau,
ancestors of Henrietta Countess Cowper.
Beyond the drawing room on the south side of the
house, and entered at the western end of the corridor,
is the small dining room, which has on its south side
a bay window similar to that in the drawing room.
Its walls and ceiling are of good moulded plaster
work. On the walls hang a few admirable Dutch
paintings.
In the corridor leading westward from this part of
the house to the late earl's study and the offices are
many fine pieces of oriental china and Delft. The
china cupboard near the garden entrance contains a
valuable collection of dessert and dinner services,
and other pieces of French, English and oriental
porcelain.
The north-east corner of the house is occupied by
the north library, a long room entered from the
inner hall and hung with family portraits of Lambs,
Cowpers and Auverquerques. An interesting portrait
69 Brayley, Beauties of Engl, and Wales,
vii, 269.
70 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hutd. 72 n.
71 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 142-4.
65 Recov. R. Hil. 42 Geo. Ill, rot. 146.
c6 V.C.H. Herts. Families, 141.
67 Campbell, op. cit. iv, 420.
68 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 72.
471
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
bv Zoffani of the third Earl Cowper is to be seen
outside the door in the inner hall.
On the grand staircase are a fine Tintoretto and
a portrait of Queen Mary by an unknown hand.
The Queen's Room, entered from the landing at the
head of the stairs, with its dressing room next door,
is furnished with a remarkable suite of rosewood
inlaid with ivory. Next to it is the Japanese room,
with wonderful hangings of embroidered silk, and
westward of this is the Indian room, with blue silk
hangings and furniture of ebony and ivory.
Hard by the house is the famous Panshanger
oak, a tree of noble growth, though now somewhat
past its prime. Many other oaks of grand pro-
portions are standing at the Cole Green end of the
park.
The manor of SELE (Sela, xi cent. ; Sella, xiii
cent.) was held in 1086, like Blakemere, of Geoffrey
de Bech, and the overlordship passed with that of Blake-
mere. 71a The mesne tenant in the reign of Edward
the Confessor and in 1086 was a certain Godwin, and
he held half a hide. It contained land for one plough,
which was there, and meadow enough for one plough
team. There were two serfs, wood sufficient for
the fences, and pasture for the live stock. The
annual value in 1086 and before the Conquest was 10/.
The tenant was able to sell. One-eighth of a fee was
held in 12S2 of Baldwin Wake by a certain tenant
of the name of Sele, probably Hugh de la Sele, who in
1287 acknowledged that he had stopped up the way
leading to Hertford, to the annoyance of the free
tenants and of Peter, parson of St. Andrew's Church."
Rather later Sele seems to have come to the Peletots,
for Eudo de Peletot was holding part of a fee in
Blakemere of Joan Wake in 1303,'"3 and in 1347 his
son Philip Peletot (see Watton W00dh.1i;) conveyed
the manor to Ralph Boteler and his wife Katherine,
Philip's daughter, with remainder to William and
Thomas, the sons of Philip.74 It descended in the
line of the Botelers of Watton Woodhall," and passed
with that manor until it was bought in 1 79 1, on
the death of Sir Thomas Rumbold, by the second
Marquess of Downshire. He in 1 801 sold it to
Peter Leopold Earl Cowper.76
There was in 1086 a mill in Sele, presumably a
water-mill on the River Beane, which was of the
annual value of 2/.77 In the time of Henry VIII
there was a paper-mill at Hertford, which be-
longed to John Tate, whose father was mayor of
London. This is said to have been the first paper-
mill in England, and to have been situated on Sele
Manor. As late as 1785 a meadow in Sele and
beside the Beane was known as Paper Mill Mead.
A mill was erected on it in 1700, and was noted as
the first in which the fine flour called Hertfordshire
White was made.78
The church of St. Andrew is aeait with under the
borough of Hertford.
STANSTEAD ST. MARGARET'S
The earliest name of this parish seems to be Thele
(Thele, xii cent. ; Theele, xiii cent. ; Le Ele, xiv cent. ;
Thcyle, the Yle, xvi cent.). At the end of the 13th
century it took an alternative name from the bridge
over the Lea and was called Pons de Thele, Punt de
Tyull, Pons Tegule or Pons Tegleri l (Pontherigg,
xiv cent.). In the 1 6th century it begins to be called
St. Margaret's Theale (Margarthele, 1535) and Stan-
stead Thele, the first from its church and the second
from the fact that the village of St. Margaret's adjoins
the village of Stanstead Abbots, from which it is divided
by the bridge over the Lea. Stanstead St. Margaret's
is a modern form of the name. The parish has also
been known by the name of Lea Vale and Old
Stanstead.8
Stanstead St. Margaret's is a small parish, contain-
ing only 407 acres. About one-half of it consists of
arable land and one-third of permanent grass, while
there are about 60 acres of woodland.3 This lies
chiefly in the extreme west of the parish where
Golding's Wood is situated. The soil is mixed on
a subsoil of chalk and gravel. The River Lea forms
the eastern boundary of the parish. In 1858 a
bronze spear-head was found in the river here.'
In this part of the parish tie land is about 100 ft.
above the ordnance datum and rises towards the
south-west to about 300 ft. The Great Eastern
railway has a station called St. Margaret's, lying
north of the village in the parish of Great Amwell.
Stanstead St. Margaret's seems to have been origi-
nally a part of the parish of Great Amwell, in the
middle of which it lies. There is no mention of it
in the Domesday Survey, but it had acquired a
separate parochial existence by the middle of the
13th century.
The bridge called in early records the Punt de
Tyall or Pons Tegule, from which the parish possibly
took one of its names, carries the main road to
Hertford over the Lea. There was a bridge here
early in the 12th century, when the manor of Stan-
stead Abbots (on the other side of the bridge) appears
under the name of ' manerium de Stanstede et Pontis
"» V.C.H. Hens, i, 335a; Cat. Inq.
p.m. 1-19 Edtv. I, 262.
™Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 213.
73 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
74 Feet of F. Herts. 21 Edw. Ill,
no. 331.
75 Ibid. Div. Co. 10 Hen. IV, no. 49 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. V, no. 78 ;
6 Hen. VI, no. 30 (calendar) ; P.C.C.
Will, 8 Holder; Feet of F Div. Co.
Mich. II Jas. I ; Mich. 18 Jas. I;
Recov. R. Hil. 21 Jas. I. rot. 19 ; Com.
Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 3 Anne, m. 33 ;
Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 Anne ; Recov.
R. Mich. 3 Anne, rot. 254; Hil. 15
Geo. Ill, rot. 3S7 ; Mich. 20 Geo. Ill,
rot. 487.
76 Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 196.
77 V.C.H. Herts, i, 33'ca.
78 Ames, Typog. Antiq. i, 197-201.
See article on Paper Making in V.C.H.
Herts, iv.
1 The origin of this name is uncertain.
There is no evidence that there was ever
a brick bridge (Pons Tegule) here, although
it is possible, but not probable, that there
was one at the date at which the name
first occurs. It is unlikely that there was
a Roman bridge here, as it is not on the
line of any known Roman road, and, so
472
tar as we know, there is no site near from
which Roman bricks can have been
obtained. It may have been so called
from tile works in the neighbourhood, or
the name may be a corruption of a word
unconnected with * tegula.' The earliest
form of reference to the bridge is * Pons
de Thele* (Cartae Antiq. M22). Pos-
sibly the later iorm Pons Tegule is a
wrong interpretation of Thele (taking it
as tile).
2 Nordcn, Descr. of Herts. 24.
3 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (190s).
4 Proc. Sec. Antiq. iv, 279 5 Evans,
And. Bi onze Implements ofGt. Britain, 315.
Stanstead St. Margaret's Church from the South-west
HERTFORD HUNDRED
de Thele.' 5 In 1247-8 it was deposed that the men
of London had built a granary at Thele {ad Pontem
Tegule) in which they placed corn which they carried
to London in their own ships instead of in the king's
ships.6 At the end of the 13th century the dues
from the bridge of Thele were taken by the warden
of Hertford Castle, and in 1299, in a suit brought
by the monastery of St. Albans against the warden
of that castle concerning tolls which he had taken in
St. Albans and Barnet, it was stated as an analogous
case that Henry III and his predecessors and William
de Valence Earl of Pembroke, whom Henry had ap-
pointed governor of the castle (q.v.) in 1250, had
always taken tolls at the bridge of Thele.7 In 1331
Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke, governor of
the castle, died seised of the tolls of the bridge of
Thele,8 and the bridge remained attached to the
castle until the death of Queen Isabella, when the
castle (q.v.) reverted to the Crown, and the king
in 1359-60 granted the bridge of Thele with the
bridge of Ware to John Lucas of Ware.9 It was
afterwards acquired by John of Gaunt, to whom the
castle of Hertford (q.v.) was granted in 1360, and
descended with the castle, except for occasional
leases.10 When in 1630 the castle and manor of
Hertford were finally alienated from the Crown, the
bridge of Thele passed with them to William Cecil
Earl of Salisbury." The bridge was a wooden one
until 1873, when an iron bridge was built.12
The village of St. Margaret's is a continuation of
Stanstead Abbots, on the west side of the Lea, along
the road to Hertford. From this a road runs south
to meet the main road from London to Ware, which
passes through the parish on the west, and along this
road are situated the church and manor-house, with
St. Margaretsbury (so named only about twenty years
ago), now the residence of Mr. Septimus Croft, lying
to the west. At the junction of the two roads is a
pair of framed timber cottages with thatched roofs,
probably not earlier than the first half of the 19th
century.
No record of THELE occurs in the
MANOR Domesday Survey, and it was probably
included at that date in the manor of
Hailey in Great Amwell. The woodland mentioned
in the extent of that manor in 1086 13 may be the
woods in St. Margaret's, for Hailey itself is very bare.
Hailey in 1086 was held by Geoffrey de Bech." In
the early part of the 12th century it had come to
Ralph Pincerna, of whom it was held by the Buruns,10
and that the Buruns held land in Thele is evident,
STANSTEAD
ST. MARGARET'S
for Roger de Burun granted a tenement on the banks
of Thele to the abbey of St. Albans.16 In the reign
of Henry I Aubrey de Vere appears as mesne lord in
Hailey between Ralph Pincerna and the Buruns,"
which also tends to show that Thele was originally
included in Hailey, for Aubrey de Vere's descendants,
the Earls of Oxford,18 appear as overlords of the manor
of THELE alias GOLDINGTONS'* (Thele, xiii
cent. ; Goldingtons Thele alias St. Margaret's Thele
alias Stanstead Thele, xvi cent.). By the end of the
13th century, apparently, the manor and advowson
had become divided among the following co-heirs
of a tenant under the Earls of Oxford : Lucy wife
of Henry Chacepork,20 Alice wife of William le
Marchand,21 Mabel wife of Nicholas le Mareschal,
and possibly Margaret wife of John de Lovetot.
Between 1 2 74 and 1276 John de Lovetot and
Margaret his wife22 seem to have acquired the
interests of the other co-heirs23 and in 1277 obtained
a grant of free warren in their demesne lands here
and elsewhere.24 They also received a quitclaim
from Mabel de Waunford in 1 287, who held in
dower.24a In 1 281 John de Lovetot received a grant
of a weekly market at Thele on Thursday and an
annual fair there on the vigil, the feast and the
morrow of the Nativity of St. John Baptist and the
six days following.20 Joan wife of Humphrey de
Bohun (lord of Ware) quitclaimed to John in 1 28 1
all right to hold view of frankpledge,26 and later he
claimed assize of bread and ale and gallows.27
In 1303 William de Goldington was holding a fee
of the Earl of Oxford,28 half of which was in Bengeo,2'
and the other half probably in Thele. William de
Goldington was holding the manor in 131330 and
died seised before 3 February 1318-19.31 He was
succeeded by his son John,32 who received a grant of
free warren in his demesne lands of Thele in I 328 33 and
settled the manor on himself and his wife Katherine
in tail in the following year.31 He died about 1338,
when the manor remained with Katherine for life.30
She married as her second husband John Fermer, who
died holding the manor in her right in 1354.'6
Accounts for the manor while it was in his hands
include the farm of the fishery, valued at 5/. 6d.z?
Katherine died in 1358 and was succeeded by her
son John de Goldington, aged twenty-six.'6 He had
a son John Goldington, and the latter a son, also
John Goldington,39 who died seised of the manor in
1419.*° His son Thomas, then aged fifteen,41 sur-
vived him only a short time and Thele passed to his
cousin and heir John Hinxworth of Ashwell, who was
0 Cartae Antiq. M 22, 23 ; RR 7.
6 Assize R. no. 313, m. 6d.
' Walsingham, Gesta Abbatum Man.
S. Albani (Rolls Ser.), ii, 43.
8 Cal. Inq. p.m. I 0-20 Edw. II, 5 18.
9 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com".), ii,
256.
"> See p. 502.
" Ibid.
12 Ibid. 134 n.
13 V.C.H. Herts, i, 334.
» Ibid.
15 Harl. Chart. 46, I, 30.
16 Cott. MS. Nero, D vii, fol. 92*.
17 Harl. Chart. 46, I, 30.
18 For descent see G.E.C. Complete
Peerage, s.v. Oxford.
19 Feet of F. Herts. 2 Edw. I, no. 33 ;
Cal. Inq. p.m. 10-20 Edw. II, 113;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw, III (1st nos.),
no. 38 ; 34 Edw. Ill, no. 84 ; 45
Edw. Ill, no. 45 ; 1 Hen. IV, no. 52;
7 Hen. V, no. 7; (Ser. 2), civ, 156;
cccclxxiii, 1 5.
20 Feet of F. Herts. 55 Hen. Ill,
no. 637.
31 Ibid. 2 Edw. I, no. 33.
22 Add. R. 26828.
23 Feet of F. Div. Co. 4 Edw. I, no.
41 ; 5 & 6 Edw. I, no. 66 ; 15 Edw. I,
no. 212.
24 Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, p. 203.
2t> Feet of F. Herts. 15 Edw. I,
no. 212.
'* Cal. dart. R. 1 257-1 300, p. 252.
26 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Edw. I, no. 126.
27 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 291.
28 Feud. Aids, ii, 433.
29 Ibid.
80 See Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 56.
473
31 Cal. Inq. p.m. 10-20 Edw. II,
112.
82 Ibid.
38 Chart. R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. I, no. 5 ;
see Feet of F. Div. Co. 3 Edw. Ill,
no. 41.
34 Feet of F. Div. Co. 3 Edw. Ill,
no. 41.
35 See Chan. In;, p.m. 12 Edw. Ill
(1st nos.), no. 38 ; Cal. Close, 1337-9,
p. 507.
36 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, no. 29 ;
see Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 38.
37 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 1 1 8, no. 11.
38 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. Ill (1st
nos.), no. 38.
39 Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments,
550.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. V, no. 7.
41 Ibid,
60
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
holding it in 1423." John Hinxworth released all
right in the manor in 1436 to John Fray and
others,43 who appear to have been trustees for Sir
Andrew Ogard, kt., who died holding it jointly with
his wife Alice in 1454, leaving as his heir his son
Henry, aged four." Henry Ogard was knighted,
and by his will proved in 1 5 1 1 he left the manor of
Thele to his son Andrew,45 who held it until his
death in March 1525-6, when it passed to his son
George.48 In 1553 George Ogard leased the manor
of Thele to Thomas Fleminge of Stanstead for ninety-
nine years. He died shortly afterwards, bequeathing
the remainder of the lease to Agnes his wife, who
married John Thorowgood.47
In 1560 George Ogard sold the manor to William
Frankland, clothworker of London,48 who died in
I 576, leaving Goldingtons to his son William for life
with reversion to his nephew Hugh for life.49 Hugh
died in January 1607,50 and in 1623 William Frank-
land his nephew with Lucy his wife conveyed the
manor to Simon Adams, citizen and draper of
London.51 Simon Adams in 1637 settled the manor
for the purpose of the payment of an annuity to
Sarah his wife,5'' and in 165 1 his son Simon Adams
of Aston upon the Wall (co. Northants), clerk, sold
it together with the messuage lately built upon a
parcel of land called Quitchells alias Cutchills and
the right of feeding one cow on Amwell Marsh to
Henry Lawrence of St. Ives (co. Hunts.) for £1 ,09c).53
This Henry Lawrence was a relative of Oliver Crom-
well and a member of the Commonwealth Council
of State ; his learning received the praise of Milton.
On the death of the Protector he declared Richard
Cromwell his successor, but on the return of Charles II
he retired to Thele, where he died in 1664.54
The manor was soon afterwards sold to Thomas
Westrow," and after his death in 1675 56 it was
held by his widow Elizabeth.57
In 1689 it was purchased of
her by Francis Roston, who
was holding it in ^oo.58 It
passed to Richard Kynnesman
of Broughton (co. Northants),59
who sold it in I 7 1 4 to Spencer
Cowper of Hertford Castle
(co. Herts.).00 On the death
of Spencer Cowper in I 727 cl
the manor descended to his
son William Cowper, from
whom it passed to a son of
the same name, and from him
to his son, also William Cow-
per.68 The latter died with-
out issue in 1798, and the manor of Thele was in-
Cowper. Argent
three martlets gules and a
chief engrailed gules with
three rings or therein*
herited by his brother Charles,63 on whose death it
passed to his sister Frances Cecilia.64 She married
the Rev. Joseph Stephen Pratt,05 and died in 1849,
when the manor descended to her son the Rev.
Charles Pratt, rector of St. Margaret's.66 He held it
until his death, and in 1889 it was bought of his
executors by Mr. Septimus Croft,67 who is the present
lord of the manor and resides at St. Margaretsbury.
The site of the manor and the demesne lands of
the manor were sold separately from the manor by
George Ogard in 1 559 to John Thorowgood and
Agnes his wife, who were then holding a lease of the
manor68 (q.v.). John Thorowgood died in February
1568-9, and his lands descended to his son and heir
Thomas.69 At the end of the 17th century the
capital messuage appears to have been divided
between co-heirs, for in 1685 Thomas Wale, citizen
and goldsmith of London, sold one-quarter and one-
third of a quarter of it to Robert Peter the elder,
citizen and girdler of London.70 In 1782 the site of
the manor was held by Anna Maria Lake, spinster.71
The manor-house on the west bank of the New
River, opposite to and a little south of the church,
has been much restored, but appears to date from
the 17th century. It is a timber-framed building
with a tiled roof. There are 18th-century iron gates
at the principal entrance. These are surmounted by
a shield charged with the arms of Lake with the coat
of augmentation, beneath which is the motto ' Un
Dieu un Roy un coeur.'
The church of ST. MARGARET
CHURCH consists of chancel measuring internally
35 ft. by 19 ft., nave, which has no
structural division from the chancel, 32 ft. by 19 ft.,
and two modern north vestries, the westernmost con-
taining a stair to the modern west gallery. The
walls are of flint rubble coated with cement and have
stone dressings. The roof is tiled. The church was
made collegiate about 1316."*
The nave was built in the early part of the 12th
century and the chancel about the middle of the
14th century ; a north chapel and aisle were also
erected at this period, but these were subsequently
pulled down. The church is now a rectangular build-
ing with the two modern vestries on the north side.
In the east wall of the chancel is a 14th-century
window of four trefoilcd lights with geometrical
tracery in the head ; it has been much restored.
On each side of the window is a tall shallow
niche with cinquefoiled arch and crocketed canopy ;
the sills are supported on grotesque heads. In the
north wall is a small and plain stone bracket, perhaps
for a light. In the sill of the easternmost window
in the south wall is a plain bowl of a piscina. On
42 Close, 2 Hen. VI, m. 15.
43 Feet of F. Herts. 15 Hen. VI,
no. 85.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 25.
45 P.C.C. 38 Bennett.
46 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, 104.
47 Ibid. 156.
48 Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Eliz. ;
East. 3 Eliz.
40 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxviii, 15.
•™ Ibid, ccxcviii, 36.
51 Feet of F. Herts. East. 21 Jas. I ;
Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 136.
52 Deeds in possession of Mr. Septimus
Croft.
58 Ibid. ; Close, 1651, pt. xxi, .ig. 28.
54 Diet. Nat. Biog.
hb Chauncv, op. cit. 284 ; see Recov.
R. Trin. 36 Chas. II, rot. 79.
56 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund.
■ 38.
°7 Chauncy, loc. cit. ; see Feet of F,
Herts. Trin. 3 Jas. II.
58 Chauncy, loc. cit.
59 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 210.
60 Close, 1 Geo. I, pt. v, no. 3.
61 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. 109.
68 See Clutterbuck, loc.'cit. ; Recov. R.
East. 19 Geo. Ill, rot. 365-6; East.
23 Geo. Ill, rot. 282 ; Com. Pleas D.
Enr. East. 23 Geo. Ill, m. 95.
03 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
47+
64 Cussans, loc. cit.
65 Ibid. ; see Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
1 & 2 Geo. IV ; Mich. 2 & 3 Geo. IV.
66 Cussans, loc. cit.
67 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii, 24.
63 See Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), civ,
156.
69 Ibid.
70 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 1 Jas. IF,
m. 15. Peter died in I 701 (see M. I. in
church).
71 Recov. R. Mich. 23 Geo. IU,
rot. 205.
71s Rev. R. S. Mylne, F.S.A., suggests
that the present church formed the
chancel only of the collegiate church.
Stanstead St. Margaret's Chi-rch : The Chancel
HERTFORD HUNDRED
the north side of the chancel are two bays of
arcading, now buried in the wall ; part of one of
these columns was recently exposed during a restora-
tion, but was covered up again. The columns were of
four engaged shafts separated by a roll moulding, the
capitals were moulded ; the windows inserted in these
bays are modern. In the south wall of the chancel
are two 14th-century windows, each of two lights
with cusped opening in the head ; between them is
a blocked 14th-century doorway ; a slight break in
the wall to the west marks the junction of the 14th-
century wo."k with the original 12th-century wall.
There is no chancel arch.
On the north side of the nave two bays of the
arcade are buried in the wall ; the apex of a third,
the westernmost arch, is exposed. It is of two wave-
moulded orders, and forms the head of the doorway
to the gallery ; in the built-up arches are inserted a
modern window and doorway. In the east end of
the south wall is a 14th-century window of two
lights with a cusped opening in the head, much re-
stored ; a little to the west of it, on the outside, are
the jamb stones and round arch of a narrow light,
now blocked, of the original 12th-century nave ; the
arch is cut from a single stone.
The south doorway is of 14th-
century date with arch of two
moulded orders and jambs with
hollow moulding between ogees
and fillets ; parts of the stonework
have been renewed. The west
window is modern. The nave
roof retains three late 1 5th-century
trusses with king-posts and cam-
bered tie-beams. Over the west
end is a small modern bellcote.
All the fittings are modern.
Beside the stair to the gallery is
a slab with indents of a foliated
cross, shields and remains of an
illegible inscription ; in the chan-
cel is a slab with indents of a half-
figure of a priest of 15th-century
date. There are several inscribed floor slabs to
members of the Lawrence and Cresset families of
1 "th-c ltury date.
The s;ngle bell is by John Briant. The date on it
is ' mvcccxx.'
The communion plate consists of two cups, I 808, a
paten, 1 7 1 3 , also plate, stand and paten of Sheffield plate.
The egisters before I 8 I 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms from 1697 to 1784, burials 1706 to 1784,
marriages 1703 to 1784; (ii) burials from 1772
to 1800, marriages 1774 to 1800.
The earliest record of the church
ADVOH'SON occurs in the year 1271 when it was
divided between the four heiresses as
already mentioned." About 1 3 16 Sir William de
Goldington, then lord of the manor, founded a
college of a warden and four chaplains who were
STANSTEAD
ST. MARGARET'S
to celebrate mass at the altar of St. Mary in the
church of St. Margaret for the souls of Sir William
and of Margaret his wife, their heirs and ancestors, and
also for the soul of Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford,
his heirs and ancestors. Sir William endowed the
college with various lands in Thele, Amwell and
Bures GifFard and the advowsons of the churches of
Thele and Aldham. Licence to appropriate the
church, the revenues of which were said to be
insufficient for the support of a rector, was shortly
afterwards granted to the college." The college
remained on this basis throughout the 14th century,
receiving a few other grants of land,74 but by the
beginning of the 15th century it had become ex-
ceedingly poor, many of its lands had been alienated,
and it consisted of only one priest.75 Accordingly in
143 I licence was granted for its lands to be alienated
to the hospital of St. Mary 'Elsyngspittel ' in London,
the prior of which was to supply two regular canons
for the college of Thele.76 On the dissolution of the
hospital in 153077 the rectory of Thele came to the
Crown, and from this time it has been a lay donative.
In 1536 Henry VIII granted it to Roger Poten, the
late prior of the hospital,78 and in 1539 he granted
Hll*Ccnr.
CUModern
milium
O 10 20 30 40 ^
Scale of Teef
Plan of Stanstead St. Margaret's Church
the reversion of the rectory with the lands pertaining
to Richard Higham." The following year Richard
Higham received licence to alienate it to Philip
Parys.80 Philip was knighted at the coronation of
Queen Mary in 155 3,81 and died in 1558, when his
heir was his kinsman Robert Parys, aged five.83 In
I 56 1 the advowson was held by Ferdinand Parys of
Linton, co. Cambridge, who sold it in that year to
Nicholas Baesh."3 In I 563 Nicholas settled the rectory
and mansion-house on his wife Dorothy and their heirs
male.84 Nicholas Baesh died in February I 590—1 and
was succeeded by his son Edward,85 who shortly after-
wards sold the rectory to his mother, Dorothy, and
her second husband86 Robert Booth.87 After Dorothy's
death Robert mortgaged the rectory to Sir Reginald
Argall, kt., of Higham Hill, co. Essex, into whose
hands it finally passed.8'
"Feet of F. Herts. 55 Hen. Ill,
no. 637 ; 2 Edw. I, no. 33 ; Div. Co.
4 Edw. I, no. 41.
73 Lond. Epis. Reg. Braybroke, fol. 199-
200; In<j. a.q.d. file 118, no. 1; Cal.
Par. 1313-17, p. 434.
71 See Cal. Pal. 1348-50, p. 100;
1350-4, p. 433.
ri Newcourt, Re^erroriuml i, 891-2.
76 Cal. Par. 1429-36, p. 146. See
r.C.H. Lend, i, 536-7. R
"' Dugdale, Man. vi, 704.
76 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (1), p.
574-
'» Ibid, xiv (1), g. 403 (70).
80 Ibid, xv, g. 831 (35).
6> Shaw, Knight: of Engl, ii, 67.
» Chan. In,, p.m. (Ser. 2), cxvi, 7. 3
475
83 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3 & 4 Eliz. ;
;cov. R. Trin. I 56 1, rot. 405.
M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcix,
04 ; cf. Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. xii, no. 16.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcix, 104
8S Vhir. of Hem. (Harl.Soc. xxii), 126.
87 Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. xii, no. 16.
88 Ibid. ; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle.
no. 19.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The history of St. Margaret's rectory after this
date becomes very obscure. In 1626 it was held
by Dorothy Lacy, widow of Matthew Lacy of
Melton Mowbray, co. Leicester, and on her death
in that year it passed to her six daughters and
co-heirs.83 They must have sold it, for in 1650 it
was held by Sir Thomas Stanley, kt.,90 but some time
afterwards it passed to the lord of the manor of
Goldingtons, and in 1684 was held together with
that manor by Thomas Westrow.9' From this date
it has descended with the manor92 (q.v.). In 1899
by an Act of Parliament abolishing all donatives it
became presentative.93
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters in the
parish was certified in 1700."
An unknown donor— as stated in
CHARITIES the Parliamentary Returns of 1 786—
gave land for teaching one child.
The land, known as Red Marsh, was sold in 1 861
and the proceeds invested in £lOc] ' 3s- ' '^ consols,
with the official trustees, subsequently augmented by
accumulations to £153 1 5 s. 6d. consols, producing
£■$ 16s. Sd. yearly, which is applied in paying the
apprenticeship premium for a poor boy, when there
is sufficient money for the purpose.
In 1908 a premium of £25 was paid.
STAPLEFORD
Stapelford (xii cent.) ; Staptlford-by-Watton (xiii
cent.).
Stapleford is a small parish containing about 1,354
acres. Arable land occupies more than half of it,
while about one third consists of permanent grass.'
There is very little woodland, and what there is lies
chiefly in the higher ground in the west, where the
ground rises to an altitude of from 250 ft. to 300 ft.
The River Beane waters the east of the parish ; the
land here on the west bank is low and liable to
floods. The soil is gravel, clay and chalk, on a
subsoil of clay and chalk. The church, rectory,
schools (built in I 872) and a few cottages stand on the
north-east border of the parish on the east side of the
River Beane on a by-road to Bengeo, but the principal
part of the village lies scattered along the main road
from Hertford to Stevenage a little to the west of
the church. The road from the village to the church
now crosses the River Beane by a bridge, probably on
the site of the ford from which the parish takes its
name Stapleford has always been but a small
village. In 1334 it is described only as a hamlet,2
and in 1428 it is said to have contained only nine
inhabitants.3
Wheat, barley, beans and oats form the principal
crops. The nearest railway station is at Hertford,
3i miles to the south.
Stapleford appears to have been in-
MJNORS eluded in the Domesday Survey in the
large area comprised at that date by
Bengeo, which encircles it on the east and south.
Several of the holdings given under the name of
Bengeo cannot be traced there after 1086. One of
these was that of Geoffrey de Mandeville. This
holding in 1086 was rated at 3 hides and I virgate
and included a mill,' and may apparently be iden-
tified with the manor of STAPLEFORD, which
has always formed part of the honour of Mandeville,6
and with that honour the overlordship passed on the
death of William de Mandeville Earl of Essex with-
out heirs male in 1227 to his sister Maud, widow
of Humphrey dc Bohun.6 It descended with the
Bohuns 7 until 1373, when on the death of Humphrey
de Bohun it passed to his daughter Eleanor wife of
Thomas Duke of Gloucester.8 Edmund Earl of
Stafford,9 husband of her daughter Anne, died seised
of it in 1403,'° and after his death there is no fur-
ther record of the overlordship.
In I 192 John le Moyne, apparently tenant in fee
of Stapleford Manor, was holding a knight's fee in
Stapleford which he had inherited from his mother."
Stapleford remained with this
family,18 whose descent is diffi-
cult to trace, until the end of
the following century, when
John le Moyne granted it to
Robert Aguillon. This was
before 1278, in which year
Robert claimed view of frank-
pledge in his manor of Staple-
ford, which he held by the
gift of John le Moyne.'3 In
1286 Robert Aguillon died
seised of 7 J acres of meadow
in Stapleford, 1 is. 6d. rent of
assize, together with other rents and a water-mill,
which he held of John le Moyne by the service of a
clove gillyflower." Probably before this date a sub-
feoffment had been made of the greater part of the
manor, this part becoming the manor of Waterford
Hall (see below). Isabel, the wife of Hugh Bardolf,
was Robert Aguillon's heir,15 and in 1303 Hugh
Bardolf was holding a knight's fee in Stapleford with
Anselm Gobion.16 Bardolf was lord of the neigh-
bouring manor of Watton Woodhall, and after this
date the lands in Stapleford were attached as a
89 M. I. in church.
90 Recov. R. Mich. 1650, rot. 36.
91 Ibid. Trin. 36 Chas. II, rot. 79.
"- See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 3 Jas. II ;
Close, 1 Geo. I, pt. v, no. 3 ; Recov. R.
East. 19 Geo. Ill, rot. 365-6 ; East. 23
Geo. Ill, rot. 282 ; Com. Pleas D. Enr.
East. 23 Geo. Ill, m. 95 ; Feet of F.
Herts. Mich. I & 2 Geo'. IV ; Mich.
2 & 3 Geo. IV.
93 East Hens. Arch. Soc. Tram, ii, 24.
91 Urwick, Nonconf. in Her,,. 552.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
2 Cal. Close, 1330-^, p. 8.
3 Feud. Aid;, ii, 456.
4 V.C.H. Hem. i, 331*.
b Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
279.
11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Essex.
7 Cal. Ino. p.m. 10-20 Edtv. II, 272 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 46
nq. p.m. 21
IV, no. 50.
II.
476
9 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41.
11 Pipe R. 4 Ric. I, m. 1 d.
12 Robert le Moyne is entered in the
Testa de Neiiill as holding a knight's fee
of Geoffrey de Mandeville (p. 264), which
mav be Staplelurd.
13 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
279.
" Cal. It,], p.n
15 Ibid.
»« Feud. Aids, i
1-19 Edii
434-
/, 361.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
tenement to the manor of Watton " and eventually
became merged in it.18
The manor of WATERFORD HALL was held of
the lords of the manor of Stapleford in socage,19 and
was evidently formed from that manor as mentioned
above. At the beginning of the 14th century
Waterford was held by Geoffrey de la Lee, who is
found holding property in Stapleford in I 305, when
his houses and goods there were burnt.20 In I 3 10
he received a grant of free warren in all his demesne
lands of Stapleford and elsewhere," a grant which
was confirmed to him and his heirs in 1320.88 By
a fine of I 3 16 he charged the manor of Waterford
with a rent of 10 marks to Robert Baard for the term
of his life.21 He appears to have been succeeded by
his son Thomas Lee (de la Lee), whose bailiff and
receiver in Stapleford was committed to the Fleet
Prison in 1 3 4. 1.24 Thomas was succeeded by his
brother Sir John Lee, kt., who died in 1 370, when his
lands in Stapleford passed to his son Walter." In
1379 Perceval Symeon, whose interest in the manor
was through his wife Joan, probably the widow of
Sir John Lee, quitclaimed all right in it to Walter Lee
and his son Thomas."" Thomas died before his father,
and on the latter's death in 1395 his three sisters
became his co-heirs." The manor of Waterford fell to
Newport. Argen
fat bettveen three cr,
cents sable.
Parker, Lord Mor-
ley. Argentalionpassant
gules between tzvo bars
sable charged 'with three
bezants and in the chief
three harts' heads ca-
boshed sable.
the share of Margery, who married Robert Newport.'8
From her it descended to William Newport, who
died seised of the manor in 1434." His heir was
his son George,30 who died in 1474.31 Waterford
STAPLEFORD
Hall afterwards came into the possession of Robert
Newport, who died seised of it in 151 8, when his
lands were inherited by his son John.3' John New-
port died in 1524. His only child Grace, the wife
of Henry Parker, son and heir of Henry Lord Morley,
was his heir.33
Henry Parker died in I 55 I, and his son and heir
Henry Parker succeeded his grandfather as Lord
Morley in 1555. 34 In 1564 Lord Morley conveyed
the manor of Waterford Hall to Sir John Boteler
of Watton Woodhall,30 who sold it the same year
to George Grave, yeoman, who already held it
on lease.36 The sale included all courts, view of
frankpledge and free fishery.37 George Grave held
the manor38 until his death in 1597,39 when it
passed to his son Edward, who died in 1603. ,u
His lands were inherited by his son Edward, aged
seven years,41 who in 1619 sold the manor of Water-
ford Hall to William Reeve, haberdasher.'8 On the
death of William Reeve in 1625 it passed to his
daughter and heir Margaret, who married George
Bromley.43 George Bromley died at the beginning
of the Civil War,44 and was succeeded by his son
George,45 who had to compound for his estates in
1644,46 and receiving, as is said, no recompense from
Charles II was finally compelled in 1696 to sell
Waterford Hall to Thomas Feltham of Ware West-
mill, co. Herts.4'
Thomas Feltham was succeeded by his son John,
who was lord of the manor in I 700.48 From John
Feltham the manor passed to Charles Feltham, brewer,
of London, whose son Ralph sold the manor in 1 743
to Peter Walley and Thomas Sheppard 49 in trust for
Thomas Hall.50 On the death of Thomas the manor
descended to his son Humphreyof Manaton,co. Devon,
who sold it with the capital messuage and the lands be-
longing and the fields called Fillies alias Phillhouse or
Phillhorse Close, the Warren called the Great Warren
and the Little Warren, in 1775 to John Kenrick of
Berners Street, co. Middlesex."1 He in 1778 sold
it to William Hewlett of the Strand, ironmonger,58
apparently in trust for Richard Emmott.53 In 181 1
Emmott sold it to Samuel Smith of Watton Woodhall54
(q.v.). It descended in this family to Mr. Abel
Henry Smith, who is the present lord of the manor.
The house called Waterford Hall lies east of the
main road from Hertford to Stevenage, at the point
where it enters the parish of Stapleford, and is partly
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill, no. 66 ;
Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-9 Ed-w. HI, 175 ; Ab-
brev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 44, 3:6 ;
Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 1 1, &c.
In 1378 William Bardolf's lands are
called * the manor of Watton and Staple-
ford ' (Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 207).
,a In the later inquisitions relating to
Watton only the advowson of Stapleford
p.m. 44 Edw. Ill (1st
is mentioned.
ls Chan. In
nos.), no. 37.
20 Cal. Pat. 1 301-7, pp. 349, 354.
21 Chart. R. 4 Edw. II, m. 22, no. 65.
"Ibid. 13 Edw. II, m. 5, no. 11.
23 Feet of F. Herts. 9 Edw. II,
no. 232.
24 Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 287.
20 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Edw. Ill (1st
nos), no. 37. See manor of Albury,
Edwinstree Hundred.
25 Close, 2 Ric. II, m. 7 d. ; Feet of F.
Herts. 2 Ric. II, no. 15.
-' Berry, Herts. Gen. 74 ; Morant,
Hist, of Essex, i, 393. Morant quotes an
inquisition of 18 Ric. II which is now
apparently lost . For the Lees see Albury.
28 Ibid. See Feet of F. Herts. 8
Hen. IV, no. 42, 59 ; 9 Hen. IV, no.
60; II Hen. IV, no. 82.
-, Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Hen. VI, no. 36.
30 Ibid.
31 Weever, Anct. Funerall Monuments,
548.
32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiv, 96.
33 Ibid, xlii, 96.
34 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Morley.
35 Recov. R. Trin. 1564, rot. 419.
96 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 6 & 7
Eliz. m. 9 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich.
6 & 7 Eliz.
37 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 6 & 7
Eliz. m. 9.
38 See Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 3; & 36
Eliz.
3y Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid.
477
42 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 Jas. I ;
see Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 323,
no. 22.
43 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxlviii,
115; Visit, of Herts. (Harl. Soc. jueii),
34-
44 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Huitd.
27-
43 See Recov. R. Mich. 26 Chas. II,
rot. 291 ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 29
Chas. II ; Hil. 30 & 31 Chas. II ; Trin.
2 Will, and Mary.
46 See Cal. Com. for Comp. ii, 847.
47 Chauncy, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts.
270.
45 Ibid.
49 Close, 17 Geo. II, pt. xiv, no. i7.
50 See Corn. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 15
Geo. Ill, m. 159.
« Ibid.
52 Ibid. Trin. 19 Geo. Ill, m. 147.
53 See Clutterbuck, Hist. 0 Herts, ii,
21 ;;.
>< Ibid.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
in Stapleford and partly in Bengeo. It is a small brick
house of c. 1600, two stories in height with a floor
in the roof. On plan the house consists of a large
entrance hall, out of which a passage has been taken
in modern times, with a central newel stair, contained
within a projection at its north-west corner. There
is a single room on the west side of the hall, and on
the east a low two-storied office wing. The beams
supportingthe first floor have interesting leaf chamfer-
stops of renaissance character, and the central newel
of the stairs terminates above with a well-carved
baluster finial. The original door-frames survive
in many cases and their chamfers have leaf-stops of
similar character to those of the beams. Externally
the western end-gable has moulded brick kneeler?.
The original window openings have for the most part
been enlarged and sash frames inserted. Those in
the west wall have been blocked. Sufficient traces
survive to show that they were low and mullioned
and had moulded labels. On the north side of the
house is a fine chimney stack surmounted by a pair
of diagonal shafts with capitals and bases of moulded
brick.
The manor of GOBIONS (Gybeouns, Gobyons,
xiv cent.) like the manor of Stapleford (q.v.) must
have originally been part of Bengeo. It is probable
that it was derived from one of the numerous holdings
of Geoffrey de Bech in that place in 1086." With
Eastwick it came into the possession of the Clares,
and by the marriage of Emma daughter of Baldwin
de Clare with Hugh Wake the overlordship passed to
the Wakes. M It descended with the Wakes and
Holands until 1408," when Edmund de Holand Earl
of Kent died without issue. It was inherited by his
sister and co-heir Eleanor Countess of Salisbury.''9
Her daughter Alice carried it in marriage to Richard
Nevill, afterwards Earl of Salisbury, and it descended
to their granddaughter Isabel, who married George
Duke of Clarence.69 In 1499 his son Edward Earl
of Warwick and of Salisbury was executed for high
treason,60 and the overlordship escheated to the
Crown.
The earliest known tenant in fee of the manor of
Gobions is William Loreng, who was holding half a
hide of land in Stapleford of Baldwin Wake in
1282.6' A John Loreng was holding land in Staple-
ford in 1295,62 but the manor appears shortly
afterwards to have been acquired by Henry Gobion,
who was holding half a knight's fee in Stapleford in
I303.6:i There was also an Anselm Gobion holding
part of a fee there at the same date.64 This family
held the manor for over a century and gave it its
name, but very few records of them exist. The
manor appears to have come to William Gobion,
whose son William was holding it in 1389.65 He was
then in financial difficulties and had to raise money
on his manor of Stapleford.66 In 1390 he conveyed
the manor to Simon de Burgh and William Ashwell.67
It was sold by trustees in 1412 to John Perient,68
whose son John was assessed for William Gobion's fee
in Stapleford in 1428.69 By 1444™ Gobions had
descended to Edmund Perient, who died seised of it
in 1 474.71 His son Thomas succeeded him,72 and
held the manor till his death in 1539, when it
passed to his son Thomas,7' on whom he had settled
it in tail-male.7' Thomas Perient died in I 546, and,
as he had four daughters but no son, Gobions passed
by terms of the settlement to his brother's family,7j
and in 1597 was held by his nephew76 George
Perient, who in that year conveyed it to Richard and
Nicholas Boteler and others,77 evidently in trust for
Sir Philip Boteler,78 lord of the manor of Woodhall
in Watton. From this time Gobions has descended
with that manor (q.v.), the present owner being
Mr. Abel Henry Smith. The farm-house called
Gobions lies in the north-west part of the parish,
about a mile west of Stapleford village.
The earliest record of the manor of PATCH EN DE N
(Pachyndon, xv cent.) occurs in I 376, when it was
held by Sir Walter Lee, kt., lord of the manor of
Waterford Hall.78 It descended with that manor (q.v.)
until 1564, when Sir John Boteler, kt., sold the
manor of Waterford Hall, but retained Patchenden
in his own hands. Sir John was lord also of the
manor of Woodhall in Watton, and from this time
Patchenden has descended with that manor (q.v.).
The present owner is Mr. Abel Henry Smith. The
site of the manor-house of Patchenden, and a farm-
house which bears this name, lie north of the church
and west of the main road from Hertford to Steven-
age shortly before it enters the parish of Watton at
Stone.
Clutterbuck has identified lands at ' Waterford '
and ' Beorouleam,' given to St. Albans Abbey by
Edwin de Cadingdon,80 with Waterford in Stapleford,
but there is little doubt that the former of these
places is Watford on the western side of the county,
and the latter refers to other lands in Cashio
Hundred. A later grant to St. Albans, however, by
Agnes Fay and Ralph her son of the old mill of
Stapleford with the adjacent pond, the marsh on each
side of the river, and 60 acres of land which was
confirmed to the monks by Henry II and Edward IV 61
possibly refers to a property called BULLS MILL
alias BERWICK HALLF In 1532 the manor of
Benwick Hall was held of the abbey by Charles Bull,
and there was a water-mill attached to it.83 Charles
Bull died seised of the manor, and it descended to his
son Richard Bull, who held it until his death in 1585,
at which time the water-mill was called Bull's Mill.
61 V.C.H. Hertz, i, 334.
16 Red Bt. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
505.
s7 Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-19 Edw. I, 262 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 23
Edw. Ill, no. 75 ; 26 Edw. Ill, no. 54';
2 Ric. II, no. 57 ; 20 Ric. II, no. 30;
G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Wake.
58 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. VI, no. 57.
"Ibid.; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2),
xxviii, 71 ; G.E.C. op. cit. s.v. Salisbury.
60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii,
71 ; G.E.C. loc. cit.
" Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-19 Ediv. 1, 262.
''- Cal. Close, 1288-06, p. 44S.
63 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
73 Ibid, lxiii, 61.
'•' Ibid.
u Ibid, lxxiii, 89. " Ibid.
'"' Close, 12 Ric. II, m. 22 d., 20 d.
76 Sec Visit, of Herts. ic6.
'•' Ibid.
77 Rccov. R. East. 1597, rot. 31.
67 Feet of F. Herts. East. 1 3 Ric. II,
78 See Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 1 7.
no. 113; see Close, 13 Ric. II, pt. ii,
« Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 9, 12,
m. 22, 24 d., 22 d.
13-
68 Close, 14 Hen. IV, m. 8, 11, 13 ;
80 Clutterbuck, op. cit. i, App. 5 ;
1 Hen. V, m. 19, 1 8 d.
Dugdale, Mon. ii, 219.
6S Feud. Aids, ii, 450 ; see Digswell in
81 Ibid.
Broadwater Hundred.
82 Benwick or Benwith is an alterna-
70 See Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 23
tive name for the River Bc.ine ; cf. Ct. of
Hen. VI, no. 12c.
Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17; Sess. R.
71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), iv, 367.
(Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 175.
" Ibid.
88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxi, 78.
473
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Richard Bull left Benwick Hall to his wife Alice for
life with remainder to his son Henry Bull.83" Towards
the end of the I 7th century George Goldesborough
held Benwick Hall,81 and in 1698 it was in the
possession of Edward Goldesborough, who conveyed
it to Elisha Burgess and Richard Edwards.85 After
this date its descent is lost for a time, but in 1779 it
was the property of Elizabeth Willson, widow.'6 In
1784 William Willson and his wife Mary conveyed
it to Richard Emmott,87 lord of the manor of Water-
ford Hall. This sale included free fishing in the
water of Stapleford. In 1803 Richard Emmott
pulled down the house called Benwick Hall to erect a
dog kennel.88 It was then described as being ' a com-
plete handsome strong brick house.'89
Its exact site is difficult to deter-
mine, but it probably stood near
Bull's Mill. Some old apple trees here
suggest the site of the orchard of the
hall.90 Besides the general right of
commons Benwick Hall had attached
to it 2 several acres in Netherfield
Common and a strip of 2 acres in
Brocket's Bush.9' Between I 795 and
1803 Thomas Blore, the well-known
topographer, resided at Benwick Hall
for several years. He collected a vast
mass of material referring to the topo-
graphy and antiquities of this county,
which was afterwards used by Clutter-
buck in his history.92
A manor to which one or two
references occur, which lay partly in
Stapleford and partly in Bengeo and
Hertford, is the manor of RUSSELLS.
This in 1750 was in the possession of
William Willson and his wife Eliza-
beth, who were holding in the right
of Elizabeth.93 Elizabeth Willson,
widow, and William Willson, junior,
suffered a recovery of this manor with
that of Stapleford in 1779," and
William Willson conveyed it to Richard
Emmott in 17 84."
The church of ST.
CHURCH MART THE VIRGIN
stands a little to the east
of the village. It consists of chancel
19 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in., large south vestry
1 9 ft. 6 in. by 1 6 ft., nave 5 2 ft. by
1 9 ft., north transept 1 5 ft. by 1 2 ft.
6 in., and north porch, over which is
a tower ; all the dimensions are in-
ternal. The walls are of flint rubble
covered with cement with stone dressings ; the roofs
are tiled.
The eastern part of the nave was built in the
1 2th century, and perhaps the chancel also. In the
early part of the 16th century the chancel arch was
rebuilt, the church re-roofed and new windows
inserted. In 1874 about 20 ft. was added to the
west end of the nave, a north transept and south
STAPLEFORD
vestry built, and a nortfi porch with tower and
timber spire above erected. The window of three
cinquefoiled lights in the east wall of the chancel
is modern. In the north wall is a modern blocked
doorway, and a blocked window of 18th-century
character outside, but within are the jambs and
arch of an earlier window, possibly of the 13th
century. In the south wall is a modern door to
the vestry. The two-centred chancel arch is of two
chamfered orders with jambs of the same section ;
the capitals are moulded ; it is of early 16th-century
date.
In the north wall of the nave is a modern arch to
the transept, and in the modern extension of the
Stapleford Church : North Doorway
nave is a single-light window. The north doorway
is of mid- 12th-century date, and has a semicircular
arch of two orders, the outer having a vertical
cheveron moulding, the inner a horizontal cheveron ;
the jambs have circular engaged shafts and capitals
carved with leaf ornaments ; the bases are moulded ;
the doorway is in a good state of preservation. The
east end of the south wall has a thickness of about
*>* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), coci, 18S.
8-1 East Herts. Arch. Sec. Trans, iv, 100.
« Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 9 Will. Ill ;
Sea. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 8.
86 Recov. R. East. 19 Geo. Ill, rot.
297.
87 Feet of F. Herts. East. 24 Geo. III.
68 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, loc. cit.
69 Ibid.
90 Ibid.
91 Ibid.
'" Diet. Nat. Biog.
479
93 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 24 & 2;
Geo. II. The manor is mentioned much
earlier (see Chan. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2], ccxi,
1 88), but the owner is not mentioned.
■* Recov.R. East. 19 Geo. Ill, rot. 297.
»■• Feet of F. Herts. East. 24 Geo. III.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
4 ft., which probably marks the position of the former
rood-stair. To the west of this is a window of two
cinquefoiled lights with tracery under a four-centred
head; it is of mid-l ,th-century date and has been
much repaired. In the upper part are some fragments
of old glass of the same period. The other windows
in the south wall are modern. The roof of the
eastern part of the nave retains the 16th-century king-
post trusses and timbers ; the rafters are plastered
underneath.
There are two bells in the modern open timber
belfry, but they bear no mark or date.
The communion plateconsistsofcupandcover paten,
1 7 1 2 (the paten had a new rim put on in 1824),
another paten, 1822, and a modern plated flagon.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms, burials and marriages from 1578 to 1670 ;
(ii) baptisms and burials from 1 67 1 to 1746,
marriages 1671 to 1747; (iii) baptisms from 1747
to 18 I 2, burials 1748 to I 81 2 ; (iv) marriages from
1755 to 1812.
The earliest record of a church
dDFOU'SON in Stapleford occurs in 1285,96 when
the patronage was in the hands of
the lord of the manor, Robert Aguillon.87 Through
his daughter and heir Isabel it came to the Bardolfs
and descended with the manor of Watton until the
middle of the 1 6th century.98 In 1550 John Brown
died seised of Watton Manor and the advowson of
Stapleford,99 but soon afterwards they appear to have
become separated. Edmund Hynde was holding the
advowson in 1 573-100 In 1625 Sir William Sherard
of Stapleford presented, in 1634 Oliver Harvey, in
1664 Arthur Spark of Hertford, and in 1677 Martha
Williams, widow.1 The advowson then came to
Thomas Winford of Lincoln's Inn,3 who was created
a baronet in 1 702 with special remainder — failing
his own issue — to that of his brother Henry Winford.3
He died the same year and was succeeded by his
nephew Thomas Cookes Winford, who presented
in 1717, 1723 and 1 7 3 1 .* He died childless in
January 1 743.' His widow survived him and left
the advowson of Stapleford by her will of 1 75 I in
trust for her niece Elizabeth Milward.6 In 1755
Elizabeth M.Kvard sold it to Anne Deane, widow,
of Witchampton, co. Dorset,7 who presented in 1 756.*
She left it by will to her nephew Robert Pargetcr,9
from whom it descended to his son Robert Thomas
Deane Pargeter,10 who sold it in 1 794 to the
Rev. Archibald Stevenson, rector of Littleham, co.
Devon." The following year the Rev. Archibald
Stevenson sold the advowson to Robert Hamilton of
Leman Street, Goodman's Fields. '2 In 1798 it was
purchased by Paul Bendfield of Watton WooJhall,13
who was declared bankrupt the same year,'4 and in
1 804 Benjamin Brooks, who had apparently bought
the advowson from him, presented.15 In 1 8 16
George Vansittart of BLham Abbey, co. Berks.,
acquired the advowson,16 which he sold in 18 19 to
Samuel Smith,1' who held the manor of Waterford
Hall (q.v.), and from this time the advowson has
descended with the manor.
In 1674 Philip Boteler by hi;
CHARITIES will gave 40J. yearly to the poor,
issuing out of a field called Church
Field ; 20/. thereof to be distributed on St. Thomas's
Day and zos. on Good Friday. There are usuallv
six recipients at each distribution.
TEWIN
Tewinge (xi cent.) ; Thewinge, Tywyng (xiii
cent.) ; Tewinge, Tuyng (xvi cent.).
The parish of Tewin has an area of 2,694 acres,
of which 1,305 acres are arable land and 537 acres
permanent grass.1 The valley of the Maran or
Mimram crosses the centre of the parish from west
to east. The ground there is about 170 ft. above the
ordnance datum, and rises to the south to 266 ft.
and towards the north to 400 ft. The main road
from Hitchin to Hertford runs parallel to the river,
and to the north of this on the high ground the
village is situated, connected with it by a branch
road. The village of Tewin is in two parts, the
most southerly portion, known as Lower Green, being
grouped round a triangular green where three roads
meet. On the west side of the green is the parish
room, and on the south are the post office and the
school. The cottages surrounding the green are of
the I 8th and 19th centuries. The Rose and Crown
Inn is a small brick building of mid-l 8th-century
date retaining internally some plain panelling. The
rectory and church are situated still further south
towards the river. The rectory is a brick house of
18th-century date. On the east side is part of a
former house which dates from the I 7th century ; it
is timber-framed and covered with plaster ; part of
the chimney stack is original ; the roofs are tiled.
There is some 17th-century panelling in one of the
upper rooms, and in the kitchen is a wide fireplace
with a recess on one side. Adjoining the house is
a 17th-century barn, timber-framed and weather-
boarded, the roof of which is thatched. The stable,
which is built of timber and brick, appears to date
from the same period. The other portion of the
village, known as Upper Green, lies a short distance
north of the main part, where the road forks to
06 Clutterbuck (Hist, of Herts, ii, 217)
says that the Prior and convent of
St. Catherine, Lincoln, presented in
1229, but this must have been to the
church of Stapleford in Lincolnshire.
97 Cat. Inq. p.m. 1-19 Edtv. /, 360.
9S See references under the manors of
Stapleford and Watton.
M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), jtciii, 80.
By this date the manor of Stapleford
(q.v.) was included in the manor of
Watton.
luu Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 15 Eliz.
1 Cluttcrbuck, loc. cit. ; Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.).
-' Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
3 G.E.C. Complete Baronetagey iv, 187.
4 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
5 G.E.C. loc. cit.
0 Ibid. ; see Com. Pleas D. Enr. East.
29 Geo. II, m. 24.
7 Ibid.
8 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
9 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 36
Geo. Ill, m. 76 ; Inst. Bks. 1780, 1784,
1790.
48O
10 Com. Pleas D.
Enr.
Mich.
36
Geo. Ill, 111. 76.
'• Ibid. Trin. 34 G:
0. Ill,
m. 2 ; I
nst.
Bks. 1794.
« Com. Pleas D.
Enr.
Mich.
36
-eo. Ill, m. 76 ; Inst. Eks. 1797.
13 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
14 Cussans, op. cit. Broadwater Hund.
70. 15 Inst. Bks. P.R.O.
16 Clutterbuck, loc. cit.
17 Com. Pleas D. Enr. 59 Geo. Ill,
,. 87.
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
HERTFORD HUNDRED
right and left. That to the left leads to Burnham
Green (in Datchworth), while the right-hand road
leads past Tewin Hill to Queenhoo Hall, the residence
of Sir Clement Lloyd Hill, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., M.P ,
in the north-east of the parish.
To the south of the village at Archer's Green the
river is fordable. Further east a new bridge has
lately replaced the old wooden one which carried
the path leading to Marden Hill, now the residence
of Sir Henry J. Lowndes Graham, M.A., K.C.B.,
and Lady Margaret Graham.
A road also turns south from the main road to
Attimore Hall, in the south-west of the parish.
Tewinbury, a farm-house rebuilt of brick in the first
half of the 19th century, lies a short distance south
of the church. Tewin Water, lying further to the
west and surrounded by a park, is the residence of
Mr. Otto Beit.
The subsoil of the parish is chiefly chalk, with a
little London Clay and Woolwich and Reading Beds
in the north. There are many disused chalk-pits in
the parish and an old sand-pit not far fiom the
rectory.
The nearest railway station is Welwyn, 2 miles
north-west, on the Great Northern main line.
Place-names which occur in Tewin are Muspratts,
Westlie Wood, Post Lane, Gore Croft, Wadling,
Swannell Grove, Punchehed Coppyes, Phipkins Mare,
Bushylees, Rayfield and the Bratches.
In the time of King Edward the
MJNORS Confessor TEIVIN was held by Aldene,
a thegn of the king. After the Conquest,
according to the statement of Aldene himself, King
William regranted the manor to him and his mother
' for the soul of his son Richard.' 2 This was William's
second son, 'who was cut off in the New Forest by
a sudden and mysterious stroke while the wearied
stag was fleeing for its life before him.'3 Peter de
Valognes the sheriff, however, maintained in 1086
that he held the manor of the gift of the king, and
Aldene is recorded as holding it of him. It was then
assessed at 5 \ hides.'
The overlordship of Tewin descended in the
Valognes family, and, being apportioned about I 240
to the youngest of the co-heirs Isabel Comyn, followed
the descent of the manor of Sacombe in Broadwater
Hundred5 (q.v.).
By 1 166 the lands of Aldene had become divided
into two half-fees held respectively by Godfrey and
Brian de Tewin.6 Godfrey de Tewin's half-fee,
which seems to be the manor of Tewin, descended
to his son Richard before 121 1,7 and to Godfrey de
Tewin, son of Richard,8 by 1246.9 This Godfrey de
Tewin granted his lands or a part of them to Alexan-
der de Swereford, baron of the Exchequer and treasurer
of St. Paul's, apparently that he might grant them to
TEWIN
the Prior and convent of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield.
Godfrey confirmed them to the prior upon the death
of Alexander,10 and died leaving two sons, John, who
was mesne lord of the manor in I 279 "and left a widow
Amabel, and Guy, to whom the lands held by Amabel
in dower reverted at her death.'2 This mesne over-
lordship seems to have died out on the death of Guy,
for in 1 303 the half-fee was held immediately of
John Comyn by John Godefrei, Prior of St. Bartho-
lomew, Roger de Louth, John de la Penne, and John
the chaplain {Capcllanus)}* In 1347 the portion of
Roger de Louth was conveyed to the prior by Richard
de Burton and Roger de Creton." In 1428 the
half-fee was held by the prior and his coparceners.15
The manor of Tewin was entered among the posses-
sions of the monastery in 1 540, the farm of it
amounting to ^20.16 Upon the dissolution of the
priory in that year the manor was granted for life to
Robert Fuller, the late prior,1' who evidently did not
long survive, for in 1544 it was granted in fee to
John Cock of Broxbourne.18 John, however, in the
same year conveyed Tewin to
his brother-in-law Thomas
Wrothe and Mary his wife.19
Sir Thomas Wrothe died in
I 572-3, leaving the manor to
his widow Mary for life, with
successive remainders to his son
Robert and his younger sons.
Robert died in 1606, having
settled Tewin upon his son
Robert upon his marriage with
Mary daughter of Robert Lord
Sydney of Penshurst.20 Robert
the younger was succeeded
before I 61 7 by John Wrothe,21
who sold the manor in 1620 to Beckingham Butler.22
The latter mortgaged the capital messuage in 1622
to John Manyngham, who died in the same year,
leaving a son Richard.23 The Butlers are said to
have conveyed the manor soon after to Richard Hale,
who sold it to William second Earl of Salisbury.2'
From the latter it descended to his younger son
William, who was hold'ng it with his son Robert in
1687.'5 Robert's son William26 sold Tewin to
James Fleet, who was in possession in 172827 and
died in 173 3-ss He left the manor and capital
messuage of Tewin Water, which he had ' repaired
and beautyfyed ' (after the death of his wife), to his
great-nephew John Bull, with remainder to his
brothers." In 1 746 the manor was held by Edmund
Bull,30 presumably one of these brothers. Later the
reversion of the manor was sold to George third Earl
Cowper,31 in whose family it has since remained,33
Katrine Cecilia Countess Cowper, widow of the seventh
earl, being the present lady of the manor.
Wrothe. Argent a
bend table -with three
lion: heads razed argent
having golden crowns.
» V.C.H. Herts, i, 338.
8 Ibid. 298. * Ibid. 338.
5 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 361 ;
Feud. Aids, ii, 434 ; Inq. a.q.d. file 28},
no. 4.
6 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 361.
7 Abbre-v.Plac. (Rec. Com.), 81.
» Chart. R. 6 Ric. II, no. 7.
9 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Hen. Ill,
no. 329 ; Testa de NctjUI (Rec. Com.),
27 1 A.
lu Feet of F. Herts. 31 Hen. Ill,
no. 329 ; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec.
Com.), 2-9 ; Assi7e R. 325.
11 Feet of F. Herts. 7 Edw. I, no. 74.
» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 1065.
13 Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
14 Inq. a.q.d. file 283, no. 4.
15 Feud. Aids, ii, 450.
16 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 297.
17 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xvi, 715.
18 Ibid, xix (I), g. 80 (48).
19 Ibid. 507, g. 812 (114).
90 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxciv,
87.
21 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 15 Jas. I.
92 Recov. R. Mich. 18 Jas. I, rot. oq ;
Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 18 Jas. I.
48I
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (S;r. 2), cccxcix,
2< Cluttcrbuck, Hist, of Herts, ii, 221.
25 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 3 Jas. II.
96 Ibid. Herts. Hil. 9 Anne.
97 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 49.
25 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 230, quoting
monumental inscription.
29 P.C.C. 149 Price.
30 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 19 & 20
Geo. II.
31 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 221.
39 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Huna.
.6.
6l
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1278 the Prior of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield,
chimed in Tewin, as in his other lands, sac and soc,
thol and theam, flemenesfrith, frithsoken, mundbriche,
miskennig, utlop (utlagh ?), wesgeldethef and ham-
soken in breach of the peace, arson and bloodshed.
He also claimed to be quit of tolls, sheriff's aid
and shire and hundred courts, and to have view of
frankpledge." In 1287 he claimed and was allowed
utfangentheof, infangentheof, flemenesfrith, gallows,
amendment of the assize of bread and ale, and view
of frankpledge.34 Court leet and view of frankpledge
were included in the grant to John Cock in I 54.4."
In 1086 there was one mill in Tewin,36 which was
later given with the manor to St. Bartholomew,
Smithfield." In 1368 two are mentioned, perhaps
both under the same roof, for they were called ' la
Solo.' 38 They were granted with the manor to John
Cock in 1544.39 The mill, which was on the River
Mimram, was pulled down in 191 I.
The half-fee held of Robert de Valognes in 1166
by Brian de Tewin 40 presumably descended to his
son Ralph before 121 I.41 Later it seems to have
been held by Eudo de Hameley." If this is the half-
fee in Tewin which afterwards appears among the
possessions of Aymer de Valence," it must have been
assigned by Henry de Maule, co-heir of the Valognes
barony, to Agnes de Valence with the manor of
Hertingfordbury. After the death of Aymer de
Valence this half-fee was assigned in 1326 to David
de Strabolgi and his wife Joan," niece and co-heir of
Aymer de Valence. David de Strabolgi, grandson of
the above, died seised of it in 1375, leaving no male
heirs.45 Some time before 1323 this estate had been
given to the priory of St. Mary at Little Wymondley,46
who held it of Aymer de Valence and the Strabolgis.
It remained in the possession of Wymondley until the
middle of the 16th century, and in 1520 was leased
by them for fifty years to Roger Wrenne, a weaver of
Tewin, and Christine his wife.47 At the dissolution
of the priory the reversion of this lease was granted
to James Needham,'8 together with the site of the
priory. In 1537-8 the value of the property was
A quarter-fee in Tewin, which again may repre-
sent the holding of Brian de Tewin, was held in
I 303 by Robert de Kersebroc.5" It had perhaps been
previously possessed by John de Kersebroc, who is
mentioned in Tewin at the beginning of the 13th
century." Robert de Kersebroc had a son Henry
who was living in 1331," but nothing more is known
of his family.
In the 14th century another manor of Tewin
appears which was held of the lords of Walkern
(Broadwater Hundred). This in 1365 was divided
between Elizabeth the wife of William Chelmers-
ford°3 and Joan the wife of John Cook,64 and by them
was granted to John Spendlove and Joan his wife for
the term of Joan's life." In 1377 the reversion of
the manor after the death of Joan was conveyed by
trustees to the Prior and convent of St. Bartholomew,
Smithfield,56 and appears in their possession as a
quarter-fee in 1428. 5' It presumably became united
with the main manor of Tewin already in their
hands.
The manor of MJRDEN (Muridene, Meryden,
Merden) was probably identical with the land at
' Cyrictiwa ' or Tewin which was held about 1050
by Tova, widow of Wihtric. Tova at that time
made an agreement with Leofstan, Abbot of St.
Albans, by which she and her son Godwin were to
hold the land for their lives, paying yearly to the
abbot at the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula (1 August)
one sextar, 32 ounces of honey, and that after the
death of both the monastery of St. Albans was to
take possession 'without contradiction.'5' It remained
with St. Albans69 until 1529, when it came to the
Crown by the conviction of Thomas Wolsey Cardinal
of York, then Abbot of St. Albans, under the Statute
of Praemunire.00 He was, however, pardoned in
1530 and his possessions restored.6' The abbey was
surrendered in 1539, and in 1540 the manor of
Marden was granted to William Cavendish and
Margaret his wife.62 Later it came into the posses-
sion of Edward North, whose son Edward succeeded
his father in 1606.63 Edward the younger died in
1 65 3-64 His son Hugh, who built a house at Marden
Hill,65 left two daughters — Mary, who married Arthur
Sparke, and Sarah, who married Marmaduke Rawdon.66
These sisters, who were holding the manor in 1672,"
are said to have sold it to Edmund Field, after which
it was acquired by Edward Warren, who was holding
it in 1700,68 and whose son Richard succeeded before
1728.69 The latter died in 1768 and was succeeded
by his son Arthur,'0 who is said to have sold Marden
in 1785 to Robert Macky," who was holding it with
his wife Elizabeth in 1 8 10." He sold it soon after
to Richard Flower,73 from whom it was acquired in
1817 by Claude George Thornton.74 The latter
died in 1866 and his son George Smith Thornton
in 1867, when Marden came to Godfrey Henry
Thornton, son of the last-named, who was holding it
in 1 877." It has since been acquired by the Earls
Cowper, the Countess Cowper being the present
owner.
The reputed manor of QUEENHOO HALL
(Queenhawe, Quenehagh) lay partly in the parish of
r.(Re
a.), 279.
Inq.
4S
p.m.
«
47
(>3>
Viae, de Quo War
Assize R. 325.
Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. x, m. 18.
V.C.H. Hern, i, 338.
Feet of F. Herts. 7 Edw. I, no. 79.
Campb. MSS. viii, 16.
Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. x, m. 18.
Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 361.
Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 81.
Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 271*.
Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75.
Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 447; Chan.
p.m. 1 Edw. Ill, no. 85.
G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq.
14 Ric. II, no. 139^.
Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75.
L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (l), g. 887
48 Ibid, ; see Little Wymondley.
« Dugdale, Man. vi, 555.
s° Feud. Aids, ii, 434.
51 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5873.
»3 Wrottesley, Ped. from Plea R. 13.
63 Feet of F. Herts. 39 Edw. Ill,
o. 548.
M Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, no. 662.
» Ibid. 47 Edw. Ill, no. 651.
■'6 Inq. a.q.d. file 390, no. 16.
h7 Feud. Aids, ii, 450.
53 Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.),
i, 29.
59 Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 252.
«» Misc. Bks. (Aug. Off.), eclxxiv.
61 Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 207.
es L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv,g. 282 (108).
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcviii, 80.
482
64 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 228, quoting
monumental inscription.
65 Chauncv, Hist, of Herts. 276.
6G Ibid.
07 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 24 Chas. II.
68 Chauncy, op. cit
69 Salmon, op. cit. 49.
70 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 229, quoting
monumental inscription ; Recov. R. Hil.
9 Geo. Ill, rot. 30 ; Feet of F. Herts.
East. 16 Geo. III.
71 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 224.
72 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 50 Geo. III.
73 Clutterbuck, Ioc. cit. The date of
conveyance here given is 1809, but this
must be at least a year too early.
7< Ibid.
75 Cussans, op. cit, Hertford Hund. I 1.
Tewin : Queenhoo Hall from the South-west
Tewin : Queenhoo Hall from the North-west
HERTFORD HUNDRED
Bramfield in Cashio Hundred and perhaps originally
formed part of the manor of Bramfield. There is no
mention of the tenure until 1609, when it was said
to be held of the king as of his castle of Hertford by
fealty in socage.76
The first mention of Queenhoo occurs in 1223-4,
when William Kilvington of Stebenhithe surrendered
to Richard Hamme of Havering all right in the lord-
ship called ' Queenhawe.' " Before I 28 1 it had come
into the possession of Ralph de Ardern and Catherine
his wife, for in that year they granted 9 marks rent
in Queenhoo 'of their own fee' to Westminster
Abbey.'3 This rent, held of the abbey, came soon
after into the hands of the Goldingtons and descended
with the manor of Thele.79 Lands in Queenhoo
were held at the beginning of the 13th century by
Geoffrey de la Lee, who received a grant of free
warren there in 1 3 io,80 and in 1 376 Walter de la Lee
granted ' land called Quynehawes ' to Richard Raven-
sere and others.81 These lands were, perhaps, only
appurtenances of the neighbouring manor of Water-
ford held by this family.
In 1502 the manor of Queenhoo was conveyed by
Henry Hammys and Elizabeth his wife to Sir Reginald
Bray and others.82 Sir Reginald died before I 5 10,
and his lands descended to his niece Margery wife of
Sir William Sandys, afterwards Lord Sandys.83 In
that year Margery and her husband were holding
Queenhoo together with Reginald's widow.8* In
1536, however, Margery and Lord Sandys conveyed
it to John Malt,"J merchant tailor of London, who
died before 1552, leaving two daughters and co-heirs.
One of these, Bridget, the wife of John Scutte, sold
her moiety in that year to John Forster,86 who died
seised of it in 1558.87 His son and heir Humphrey
conveyed it in 1567 to Edward Skegges.88 The other
moiety of Queenhoo came into the possession of Sir
Edward Bray and Mary his wife, who was probably
the other daughter of John Malt. In 1569 they
conveyed it also to Edward Skegges,89 who thus
became possessed of the whole manor. Joan Skegges,
his widow,90 and John Mathew, apparently her son by
another husband,91 sold it in 1 584. to John Smyth.
His son and successor James leased it in 1589 to
Aphabell Partriche, goldsmith of London, for thirty
years at a yearly rent of £zi. Aphabell sold his
interest to Julian Cotton in trust for Henry Butler,
a younger son of Henry Butler of Bramfield, to
whom James Smyth had sold the reversion of the
property.9' Sir Henry Butler died seised of it in
1609 and was succeeded by his son John'3 first Lord
Butler of Brantfield (Bramfield). John Butler's lands
passed to his son William,91 an idiot, whose heirs were
his five sisters, Audrey Lady Dunsmore, Lady Eleanor
Drake, Jane Duchess of Marlborough (afterwards wife
of William Ashburnham), Olive Porter, and Anne
Countess of Newport, and Thomas Howard, his
TEWIN
nephew, son of a sixth sister.95 In 1637 tne manor
was divided among the six claimants u and remained
so at least until 1668,97 but eventually the whole
estate was vested in the descendants of Audrey, the
elder sister, who married Francis Lord Dunsmore, in
1644 created Earl of Chichester.98 Their daughter
married George Villiers Viscount Grandison, who
was holding the whole of Queenhoo in 1684." His
grandson John Earl Grandison was holding it in
1728.100 Later it came with Bramfield (q.v.) to the
Smith family of Watton Woodhall. Mr. Abel Henry
Smith is the present owner.
Queenhoo Hall stands on high ground about a
mile and a half north-east of Tewin Church, com-
manding extensive views over the valley towards the
south. It is a small house of red brick, very little
altered, and there are no indications that it has ever
been larger. It was built probably about 1550 or
a little later, possibly by Edward Skegges. The
principal front faces south-east and is about 57 ft.
in length. At either end is a small rectangular
projecting bay, with gable over, carried up to the
same height as the wide main gables ; the bays
therefore stand well above the eaves of the main
roof. The lower story of the south-western bay acts
as a porch, through which access is gained to the
parlour, now the drawing-room. The main entrance
is a little out of the centre of the south-east front
and has a straight brick lintel resting on a heavy oak
door-frame. Each bay is finished at the top with a
gable, having a moulded saddle-back coping of brick,
with brick finials at the apex and base of the gable.
These finials have circular moulded bases, with a
brick or terra-cotta shaft above, cut with a honey-
comb pattern. All the windows have moulded
mullions covered with cement, those on the two
lower stories having transoms. The roofs are tiled.
There are three chimney-stacks on the back wall, all
being finished with square detached shafts of brick,
set diagonally, without any moulded work, and
apparently dating from the first half of the 17th
century. Between the upper floor windows in the
principal front and in the lower parts of the end
gables is a diamond-pattern ornament formed in blue
bricks, similar to that on the front of Dean Incent's
school at Berkhampstead, a building erected in 1544.
An old brick wall surrounds the small garden in
front of the house.
Hanging on the front and back walls were two
cast-lead sundials, now removed, which were evidently
not in their original positions. The dial at the back
was circular, about I 2 in. in diameter, with the sun's
face surrounded by rays in the centre, a very extended
nose acting as the gnomon, the hours in Roman
numerals round the margin, and at the top the date
1 8 1 2 inscribed under what appears to be ' welcome
sunshine synce 12.' The sundial on the front
76 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccviii, 113.
77 Close, 8 Hen. Ill, m. 34, 3;.
78 Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 446.
79 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Edw. II, no. 52;
32 Edw. Ill, no. 38 ; Mins. Accts.
bdle. 1 118, no. 11.
80 Cal. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 138.
81 Close, 50 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 13.
68 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 17 Hen. VII
83 Ibid. Mich. 2 Hen. VIII.
84 Ibid.
85 Ibid. Mich. 28 Hen. VIII.
S6 Ibid. East. 6 Edw. VI.
87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxviii, 64.
88 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 9 & 10 Eliz.
89 Ibid. Trin. 1 1 Eliz.
30 See V.C.H. Herts, ii, 344.
91 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 234, no. 6.
92 Ibid.
93 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccviii,
13-
94 Visit. Herts. (Harl. Soc. xxii), 112.
95 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
96 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1658 ;
Herts. Mich. 16 Chas. II; Div. Co.
East. 17 Chas. II. Ralph, step-uncle
and male heir of William Butler, is
referred to as 'Ralph Butler of Queenhoo
Hoo' {Cal. S. P. Dom. 1628-9, P- 566)»
but seems to have been merely a resident
there.
97 Feet of F. Herts. East. 20 Chas. II.
98 G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
99 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 35*36
Chas. II.
"» Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 49.
483
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
measured about 1 8 in. by 14 in. ; at the top was a
representation of a coach and horses, below which
was the inscription 'Time is flying, the coach is
going,' and another, now indecipherable.
The main entrance door opens into a passage
leading through the house to the staircase at the
back. To the left of the passage, through a modern
partition, is the old hall, now used as the dining
room, and beyond the hall is the drawing room or
parlour ; both these rooms have the original stone
fireplaces with moulded jambs and four-centred arches.
A modern external doorway with a small porch has
been formed on the north-west side of the hall.
To the right of the central passage is the kitchen,
with a fireplace 8 ft. 6 in. wide. There is an old
external door to the kitchen and a cellar under the
kitchen. The stair occupies a projecting wing at
the back of the building, and is an interesting
Queen Hoo , Tewin.
example of the transition between the old solid
newel stair and the later open well stair. The stair-
case is about I 5 ft. square internally, the stair being
constructed of oak, with winders at the angles.
The central newel is 2 ft. 6 in. square, but instead
of being solid is constructed of timber framing, the
interior being divided vertically into a series of small
cupboards or recesses at different heights of the stair.
The first floor had originally three rooms correspond-
ing to those below, and the fireplaces are over those
on the ground floor ; a modern passage has, however,
been formed out of the room over the hall to connect
the two end rooms, but the built-up fireplace still
remains in the passage. The bedroom over the
kitchen has an old stone fireplace, with a four-centred
moulded arch very similar to many others in the
county, but in this instance all the mouldings follow
the arch, the square above being marked by a slight
sinking, and instead of the usual ornamented stop
there is a single splay. The old fireplaces in the
passage and in the bedroom over the drawing room
are of the more usual type, having the inner and the
outer mouldings and the ornamental stops. They
have, however, the peculiarity that instead of the
arches being formed by four segments of circles the
mouldings are in four straight lines, the usual pro-
portions of a four-centred arch being retained. Over
the last-named fireplace is an interesting distemper
painting very much decayed. The picture is about
5 ft. 6 in. wide by 3 ft. 3 in. high and appears to
represent a scene in some mystery play. On the
right is a large figure of a man clothed in a long
tunic, above which is a shorter garment like an
ephod, and a girdle is tied about his waist. He has
a mitre on his head and in his right hand he holds a
censer. Opposite to him and kneeling with folded
arms is another large figure with flowing beard, wear-
ing a long robe over which is a cape and round his
neck is a lace collar. Behind him are a number of
indistinct figures, some wearing ruffs round their
necks. Between the two principal figures, but further
in the background, is a standing figure apparently
naked except for a cloth round his loins ; his right
hand rests on what looks like a large viola. Behind
him is a smaller figure with arms extended above his
head. There are traces of colour remaining, chiefly
greens and reds.
The capital messuage called TEWIN HOUSE was
bought from the lord of the manor of Tewin by
Thomas Montford, who died possessed of it in 1632,
leaving a son John.' The latter died in 1651,*
leaving a widow Joan and three daughters, Anne
Layfield, Elizabeth Francklyn and Mary Rainsford.'
Tewin House is said to have come to Mary Rains-
ford, who sold it to Sir George Butler.4 At the
death of the latter without issue in 1 65 7 s the pro-
perty passed to his nephew Francis Butler,6 who died
in I 690, leaving two daughters, to the elder of whom,
Isabella wife of Charles Hutchinson, Tewin House
came. Isabella and Charles are said to have sold it
to William Gore, at whose death in 1 709 it passed
to his grandson Henry.7 Henry Gore conveyed it
in 17 1 5 to Gen. the Hon. Joseph Sabine,6 who died
in 1739 and was succeeded by his eldest son John.9
John's son Joseph Sabine is said to have sold Tewin
House to Robert Macky, who sold it to Charles
Schreiber.10 He died possessed of it in 1800, and his
son William sold it in 1 804 to Peter fifth Earl
Cowper." The earl pulled down the house, and the
property became absorbed in the main manor.
Free fishery in the river of Tewin was included
with the property."
Two and a half hides in ' Theunge ' held before
and after the Conquest by the Abbot of Westminster
are entered under Broadwater Hundred in the
Domesday Survey, but seem to have been in this
1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclrviii,
♦»■
2 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford Hund. I 7,
quoting monumental inscription.
sFeet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1651.
1 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford HunJ. 12.
3 Ibid. 18, quoting monumental inscrip-
tion. 6 Close, 2 Geo. I, pt. viii, no. 5.
7 Cussans, loc. cit.
8 Close, 2 Geo. II, pt. viii, no. 5.
9 Cussans, op. cit. Hertford HunJ. 21,
quoting monumental inscription.
484
10 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 224.
11 Ibid.
13 Chan, Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxviii,
41 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 1651 j
Close, 2 Geo. I, pt. viii, no. 5.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
parish. They formed a ' hardwich ' of Stevenage,13
to which manor they remained appurtenant."
The church of ST. PETER stands
CHURCH about a quarter of a mile to the south-
west of the village ; it consists of a
chancel 28 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., north vestry, nave
36 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 6 in., south aisle 38 ft. 6 in.
by 7 ft., south porch 12 ft. by 9 ft., and west tower
I 2 ft. square. These measurements are all internal.
The walls are built of flint rubble covered with cement
and have stone dressings ; the roofs are tiled.
The nave, and probably the chancel, were erected
in the late 11th or early 12th century. Early in the
1 3th century the chancel was altered and possibly
partly rebuilt ; later in the same century or early in
the next the south aisle was added and clearstory
windows inserted above the arcade.15 The west tower
was built about the end of the 15th century and the
south porch added in the 1 6th century. The church
was repaired during the 19th century, and in 1 902
it was carefully restored ; a number of ancient features
were brought to light and a modern vestry was erected
on the north side of the chancel.
In the east wall of the chancel
is a late 15th-century window of
three cinquefoiled lights, most of
which is of modern stonework.
The only opening in the north
wall is the modern doorway to
the vestry. In the south wall
are two early 1 3th-century lancet
windows, with deeply splayed
jambs and chamfered rear-arch.
West of these is a window of two
cinquefoiled lights with a square
head, of late 15th-century date.
At the east end of the wall is a
piscina with splayed edge and
pointed trefoiled head, with a
scroll- moulded label, probably of
late 13th or early 14th-century
date ; the projecting basin has
been cut away. In the same wall
is a blocked modern doorway.
The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders which
die upon splayed jambs.
In the north wall of the nave close to the east end
is the eastern jamb and part of the rear-arch of an
early blocked window ; west of this are two late
15th-century windows, each of two cinquefoiled
lights under a square head ; between them, high
up in the wall, is a narrow round-headed window,
now blocked, of late 11th or early 12th-century date.
The north doorway with single splayed edge is almost
entirely of modern stonework ; above is a small square
window probably inserted to light a gallery erected
in 1 864, now removed. On the south side of the
nave is an arcade of three bays of the I 3th century.
The arches are of two splayed orders ; the piers are
octagonal with moulded capitals and damaged bases ;
the chamfers have been omitted on the south side of
the western bay of the arcade. On the north-west
face of the eastern pier is a small pointed niche with
a hole in the stonework underneath, probably for a
bracket to support a light. Over the piers are two
TEWIN
blocked clearstory windows contemporary with the
arcade; they are circular on the outside and have round-
headed rear arches inside ; they are now covered by
the aisle roof, which is a continuation of that over
the nave. In the south wall of the aisle are two
13th-century lancet windows; in the east wall is a
window of two cinquefoiled lights under a square
head, of late 1 5th-century date. The south doorway
has moulded jambs and arch of mid- 14th-century
date, with label stops outside much defaced. On the
eastern jamb of the doorway outside is an oval recess,
formerly the stoup. The south porch is built of
timber and brick and is of 16th-century date ; a
large 1 8th-century monument to General Joseph
Sabine, Governor of Gibraltar, and one of Marl-
borough's generals, blocks the original entrance, but
a modern doorway has been opened in the west side.
In the west wall of the aisle, high up, is a small
square-headed window of 18th-century date. The
nave roof is of 15th-century date; the rafters are
plastered underneath, but the moulded tie-beams are
Feet r VESTRY
Nave ! Chancel
South Aisle
TTTTTTTraillllllllllUIII
HO
II 1 Century
PD 1 31 Century
I42S Century
ES3 1 5ffi Century
I=i 162! Century
ESS) 18 m Century
□Modern
Plan of Tewin Church
The west tower is of two stages, with diagonal
buttresses on the west ; the centre line of the tower
is about 3 ft. 6 in. north of that of the nave, the two
north walls being nearly in a line. The tower arch
is of two splayed orders which die upon square
jambs. The west doorway is modern. In the north
wall is a blocked 18th-century door. Over the west
doorway is a single pointed light. The belfry stage
has windows of two cinquefoiled lights ; the parapet
is embattled, and above is a low timber spire.
The communion table appears to be cf late 17th-
century date. In the chancel is a slab of Purbeck
marble inscribed ' Orate pro anima Walteri de Louthe.'
He was instituted rector of the church early in the
14th century. There are several 17th-century slabs
in the chancel to members of the Butler family of
Queenhoo Hall. In the south aisle is a small brass,
with figure, inscription and arms, to Thomas Pygott,
1 610.
There are five bells : the treble by John Briant,
I 799 ; the second, third, fourth and fifth by Anthony
13 V. CM. Herts, i, 3 Hi.
14 Ct. R. portf. 178, no. 51-4.
" It may be for this alteration that an
indulgence was granted in I 3 1 5 for the con-
485
struction or repair of the church of Te
(Line. Epis. Reg. Dalderby, fol. 317).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Chandler, 1673, the third being inscribed ' Praise the
Lord. a.c. 1673.'
The communion plate consists of a cup of 1564,
paten, 1662, large paten, 1687, flagon, 1688, and
almsdish, 1702.
The registers before 1 8 I 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms and marriages from 1559 to 1718, burials 1559
to 171 7; (ii) baptisms and burials from 1718 to
1812, marriages from 1719 to 1727 ; (iii) marriages
from 1755 to 1775 ; (iv) marriages from 1776 to 1812.
The advowson belonged to the
ADVOWSQN lord of the manor from an early
date. In 121 1 it was the subject
of a dispute between Richard son of Godfrey de
Tewin and Ralph son of Brian de Tewin, respective
holders of half-fees in Tewin. Richard was successful
in making good his claim.16 Before 1246 the advow-
who presented in 1728,'-'* and in whose possession
it has since remained." In 1638 the glebe lands
amounted to 40 acres."
In 1330 Roger de Louthe alienated in mortmain
various landi in the parish of St. Andrew, Hertford,
to the Prior and convent of St. Mary, Little
Wymondley, to find a chaplain to sing mass daily
in the church of Tewin for the good estate of the
souls of Roger and Joan his wife and their ancestors.*5
Meeting-places for Protestant Dissenters in the
parish were certified in 1706, 1707 and 1772.26
Tewin School " : The property
CHARITIES demised by will of Dr. Yarborough,
I 773, for the benefit of the parishclerk
and a schoolmaster was sold in 1896 in consideration
of a yearly rent-charge of £$ 8/. upon property in
d's Hatfield, which was redeemed in 1904 by
Tewin Church from the South-east
son was given by Alexander de Swereford to the
monastery of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, and was
confirmed to them by Godfrey and his son John."
It remained with St. Bartholomew until its dissolu-
tion, and afterwards continued with the manor of
Tewin ls until it was sold by John Wrothe and others
to Thomas Montford of Tewin House, who died
seised of it in 1632." It then continued in the
possession of the owners of Tewin House and came
to Sir Francis Butler,"' whose daughter Isabella
Hutchinson sold it to Jesus College, Cambridge,81
the transfer to the official trustees of £336 consols,
of which ^252 consols was set aside as the endow-
ment of ' Dr. Yarborough's Educational Foundation,'
producing £6 61. yearly, and £84 consols, producing
£2 zs. for the parish clerk. In 1783 Lady Cathcart
by deed gave £\66 13^. \d. East India 3 per cent,
annuities for providing coals for the school. These
endowments are now attached to the endowed school
founded under the will of Henry Cowper in 1838,
which is endowed with government stocks producing
£62 .1 year or thereabouts.
16 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 81.
17 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Hen. Ill,
no. 329 ; 7 Edw. I, no. 79 ; Chart. R.
6 Ric. II, no. 7.
18 L. and P. Hen. nil, xix (l), g. 812
(114); g. 80 (48); Feet of F. Herts.
Trin. 15 Jas. I.
19 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxviii,
4i-
20 Bacon, Liber Regis, 518 ; Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.).
21 Salmon, op. cit. co.
*> Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
13 Ibid. ; Clergy List.
486
" Herts. Gen. and Antiy. iii, 337-8.
,5 Cat. Pat. 1330-4, p. 17. In the
same vear he founded a chantry in Hat-
field Church.
36 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 556.
a; V.C.H. Herts, ii, 102.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
In 1 6 10, as stated in the Parliamentary returns of
1786, — Piggott by his will gave a stall in the market-
place to the poor. The charity is now represented
by £133 6s. %d. consols with the official trustees, pro-
ducing £3 6s. Sd. yearly, which isdistributed biennially
in money doles to about eighty recipients.
Dr. Layfield's Charity, founded by will of the Rev.
Charles Layfield, D.D., dated 10 February 17 10, for
apprenticing in Tewin and four other parishes, is
endowed as to this parish with a sum of ^273 9/. 3^.
consols with the official trustees, producing £6 16s. %d.
yearly. In 1907-8 a premium of £9 was paid for
apprenticing.
Charity of Sir Francis Butler. — See under Bishop's
Hatfield. This parish is entitled to nominate one
poor widow for the benefit of this charity.
In 1748 Margaret Sabine by deed poll gave
£200, now represented by £191 5/. consols with the
official trustees. The annual dividends, amounting
to £± 15/. 43'., are applicable — subject to keeping
in repair the tomb of donor's husband — in clothing
WORMLEY
poor boys. The income is accumulated and applied
from time to time in supplying boys with suits of
clothes and boots.
Almshouses — as appears from an old parish register,
dated in I 717 — were built out of the poor's money
on the Lower Green, of which £30 was given by
will of William Gore and £20 by Dr. Fulk Tudor,
the rector. The almshouses were converted into the
parish workhouse.
In 1 841 Henry Cowper, by his will proved in the
P.C.C. 4 January, founded a Sunday Savings Bank,
the endowment of which now consists of £1,807 &f. Sd.
consols with the official trustees, producing £5918/. \d.
yearly. The income is applied in augmenting the
savings of poor married persons, poor widows or
widowers. Subscriptions of not less than 6d. and not
more than is. a week to be paid every Sundav, the
bonus being one-fourth of the amount subscribed.
In 1909 there were thirty-six depositors, the
amount deposited was £i%o 10s., and the bonus
paid £45 2/. 6d.
WORMLEY
Wormley (Wurmelea, Wermelai, xi cent. ; Wermele,
xiii and xvi cent.) is a long, narrow parish stretching
east and west and wooded at its western end. On
the east it is bounded by the River Lea. The New
River flows through the eastern end of the parish, and
east of the river and parallel with it is the main road
leading from London to Hoddesdon. The parish is
946 acres in area, and the proportion of arable is
about one-sixth of the total area.1 The soil is loam,
the subsoil sandy loam, and the chief crops are wheat,
oats, barley and roots.
The original settlement lies almost surrounded by
Wormley Bury Park, about half a mile off the high
road from London to Hoddesdon. It now consists of
the church and Wormley Bury, the Manor House, the
seat of Mr. Henry North Grant Bushby, J. P. (built
by Mr. Bushby in 1908), the Bury Farm, Hill House,
occupying the site of an older house called Fernbeds,
the rectory and one or two farms and cottages.
Wormley Bury is a three-storied brick house with an
Ionic portico on the principal or north front, built
by Abraham Hume in 1767. It was decorated by
Adam and Angelica Kauffmann. Probably at an
early date the village migrated to the high road
along which it now lies. On the west side of the
road is a 17th-century house called the Manor Farm
House. It is timber framed, coated with rough-
cast, and is of two stories with attics. The public
elementary school, which was built in 1 864 and
enlarged in 1877 and 1899, stands in the village.
West End, a hamlet consisting of a farm (called
Manor Farm, but modern) and some cottages, lies
about 1 mile to the west of the Manor House. Here
is Westlea, the residence of Lady Georgiana Peel.
An inclosure award was made in 1858 and
amended in 1859.2
WORMLEY was one of the manors
MANOR which were granted by Harold son of
Godwin to the canons of Waltham Holy
Cross.3 At the time of the Domesday Survey, when
it gelded at 5 hides, it was still held by the canons of
Waltham. Two other manors are mentioned in the
Survey ; Wormley, 1 \ hides, which Wimund held of
Earl Alan and which had been previously held by
Alsi, one of Eddeva's men, who could sell it. This
land is described as belonging to Cheshunt. The
remaining manor, z\ hides, was held by Alwin
Dodesone of the king. It had been formerly held by
Ulward, one of Asgar the Staller's men, who could
sell it, and it was sold for 3 marks of gold after King
William came. This manor may have been identical
with the z\ hides in Wormley which were granted
to Westminster Abbey by Edward the Confessor,' and
which are not mentioned amongst the possessions of
the abbey in the Survey. The other estate perhaps
became absorbed in the Waltham manor, or it may
have been attached to the manor of Beaumont Hall
in Cheshunt which had appurtenances in Wormley.
This manor was held by the monastery of Waltham
until the Dissolution. In the reign of Henry II, when
the secular canons were expelled by Pope Alexander III,
the king granted Wormley with the church to the
regulars of the Augustinian order who replaced them,
and the grant was confirmed by Richard I.5 In
1 220 the canons of Waltham constructed a conduit
for carrying water from Wormley to the monastery.6
The Quo Warranto returns of 1278 show that the
abbots of Waltham, under the charters of Henry II,
Richard I and Henry III, claimed the following privi-
leges in Wormley and their other lands in Hertford-
shire : sac, soc, thol, theam, infangentheof, utfangen-
theof, flemenesfrith, grithbriche, forstal, hamsokene,
blodwyte, ordeal and oreste, view of frankpledge and
return of writs, and liberty from shire and hundred
courts and all payments.7 In 1287 the abbots further
claimed in their manor of Wormley gallows and
right of assize of bread and ale.8 For 1 carucate
in Wormley the Abbot of Waltham was obliged to
1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
2 Blue Bk. Inch Awards.
1 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 56.
4 Cott. MSS. vi, 2. The grant is of
doubtful authenticity.
5 Cart. Antiq. M 2 ; RR 7.
487
s Harl. MS. 391, fol. 1-6, 13-15*.
' Plac. dt Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 283.
8 Assize R. 325.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
mate three bridges, one in Chaumberleynesholm (in
Wormley) and two in Melholm (in Wormley ?).'
A grant of free warren was made to the convent
in 1253.10
In I 54 1 the manor of Wormley, with the advow-
son of the rectory and parish church, was granted, as
part of the possessions of Waltham Holy Cross, to
Edward North, Treasurer of the Court of Augmenta-
tions," who in the same year received licence to
alienate it to William Woodlifte, mercer, of London."
William Woodlifte had two daughters : Ann, who
married John Purvey, and Angelette,13 who married
Walter Tooke.14 On the death of their father in
1 548 they appear to have been co-heirs, Angelette
receiving half the manor in 1553 .ls John Purvey,
who survived his wife, died in 1583, and at his death
was seised of the manor-house of Wormley with right
of alternate presentation to the church.16 He was
succeeded by his son William Purvey, who appears to
have been in possession of the whole manor by
1 597." William Purvey died without issue in 161 7,
having settled the manor and manor-house of Wormley,
with right of alternate presentation to the rectory, on
his wife Dorothy, sister of Edward Lord Denny, who
survived him.18 Ralph Tooke, son and heir of
Angelette, is mentioned in the inquisition as his heir.
Dorothy Purvey re-married, her second husband being
George Purefoy of Wadley, Berks.,19 and in 1 62 1
the manor and advowson of Wormley passed to John
Tooke, brother of Ralph,™ and his heirs.21 Courts were
being held in the name of Ralph and John Tooke in
1633. On the death of John Tooke in 1634 the
manor was left to his brother Thomas Tooke for sixty
years for performance of John's will, with remainder
to the male heirs of Ralph Tooke. " Ralph died with-
out issue,33 and the manor appears then to have gone to
his remaining brothers, George and Thomas Tooke.23"
George Tooke sold his moiety of the manor to
Richard Woollaston, who died in 1 601, leaving a son
John, who survived him for a year only. John
Woollaston was succeeded by his eldest son Richard.5'
In 1669 Thomas Tooke devised his moiety of the
manor to trustees for the payment of his debts, and
after his death it was sold successively to William
Hastings, Elizabeth Reynolds, and, finally, to Thomas
Winford, who bought it in 1684 or earlier.85 In
1692 Thomas Winford conveyed to Richard Woollas-
ton his moiety of the manor,'6 with the exception of
the manor-house of Wormley Bury, with appurte-
nances, which he sold to William Wallis of Holborn in
1697." In this way Richard Woollaston became lord
of the whole manor.
Richard Woollaston conveyed the manor to William
Fellowes, whose eldest son Coulston Fellowes was the
possessor in 1728 28 ; from the latter the manor passed
in 1733 by sale to John Deane," who in 1739 sold
AAAA
AAAA
Bush by of Wormley.
Vair a chief gules "with
five passion crosses argent
therein.
it to Alexander Hume. The latter, dying in I 765,
left the manor to his youngest brother, Abraham
Hume,30 who was made a baronet in 17693' and was
succeeded in 1772 by his son Abraham Hume.32 The
second baronet died in I 838, leaving no issue, his two
daughters, Amelia Baroness Farnborough and Sophia
Baroness Brownlow, having died during their father's
lifetime.33 The manor came to Viscount Alford and
the Hon. Charles Henry Cust, children of Lady Brown-
low. In 1853 they jointly
sold the manor to Henry John
Grant, on whose death in 1861
it came to his widow, Mary
Grant.34 In 1880, under the
will of Henry John Grant,
the manor passed to his cousin
Henry Jeffreys Bushby, father
of the present lord of the
manor, Mr. Henry North
Grant Bushby. The latter,
who succeeded his father in
1903, is on the side of his
mother Lady Frances, second
daughter of Francis sixth Earl
of Guildford, the tenth in direct descent from Sir
Edward North, to whom the manor was granted by
Henry VIII.35
The manor of OATES, which first appears in
1 6 1 1 , was held of the manor of Baas and followed
the descent of Broxbourne 36 (q.v.).
The church of ST. LAWRENCE
CHURCH consists of a chancel 35 ft. by 19 ft.,
nave 48 ft. by 2 I ft., south aisle 47 ft.
by 11 ft. 6 in., small vestry and wooden south
porch ; all the dimensions are internal. The walls
are of rubble flint with stone dressings, and are
covered with cement all but the aisle ; the roofs are
tiled. The nave is of early 12th-century date. The
chancel, which has undergone extensive alterations
and has no old detail, is practically modern. During
the 19th century the west wall of the nave was
rebuilt and a bellcote erected, the chancel arch was
rebuilt and a south aisle and a small vestry added.
In 191 1 a larger vestry was built on the south of the
chancel.
In the east wall of the chancel is a group of three
lancet windows ; in each of the north and south
walls are two lancets. All the windows are modern,
as is also the chancel arch.
In the north-east angle of the nave is the door-
way, partly blocked, and stair to the former rood-
loft. In the north wall are two 15th-century
windows ; one is a single trefoiled light under a
square head, the other has two cinquefoiled lights :
these windows have been repaired. Further west is
a narrow 12th-century window with round head and
285.
1 Plac. de Quo H'arr. (Re
'■).
1 Cat. Chart. R. 1226-57, P* 427*
11 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, g. 503 (50).
12 Ibid. 87S (50).
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lxxxvi,
102.
14 Fine R. I Mary, m. 44.
15 Ibid.
16 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cci, 71.
17 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 39 Eliz.
18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxix,
165.
19 Visit. Herts. (Had. Soc. xxii), 161.
20 Ibid. 167.
21 Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 19 Jas. I.
22 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dxv, 83.
23 Visit. Herts. 167.
233 Courts were being held in the name
of Georgeand Thomas in 1653. Inl66l
they were being held by Thomas alone.
Ct. R. communicated by Mr. H. N. G.
Bushby.
24 Chauncv, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 292.
ss Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xi, APp. ii,
309.
36 Close, 2 Anne, pt. viii, no. 35.
" Ibid. 8 Will. Ill, pt. vi, no. 8.
29 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 14.
29 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 7 Geo. II.
»» Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of
Herts, ii, 234.
31 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
32 See Recov. R. East. 33 Geo. Ill,
rot. 157.
3a G.E.C. Complete Baronetage.
34 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford
Hand. 250.
35 From information supplied by
Mr. H. N. Grant Bushby.
85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxix,
200 ; Cussans, loc. cit.
488
Wormley Church from the North-west
HERTFORD HUNDRED
deeply splayed jambs ; the splayed sill appears to
have been lowered. The north doorway has a round-
headed arch of two orders with edge-rolls ; the shafts
and scalloped capitals are restorations. The window
of three cinquefoiled lights in the west wall is modern,
as are also the south arcade and aisle. In the
south wall have been reset the inner jambs of a
12th-century window and also portions of a single
splayed pointed south doorway, which is mainly of ' the Chapel of St. Laurence in the Busshe of
WORMLEY
until 1853, the representatives of the co-heirs of
William Woodliffe exercising alternately the right of
presentation." The advowson was not included in
the sale of the manor in 1 85 3, but was afterwards
sold to Horace James Smith-Bosanquet. He con-
veyed it in 1 88 1 to Henry Jeffreys Bushby, and it
thus became re -united to the manor.43
The old chapel or oratory which was known as
13th-century date. The nave roof retains its 15th-
century moulded and embattled tie-beams and other
timbers. The hexagonal panelled pulpit is of early
17th-century date.
The font has a large cylindrical bowl of the
1 2th century ; it has four large and four small
rectangular panels surrounded by a cable moulding.
Wormley ' lay apparently in the parish of Cheshunt.43
In 1670 Thomas Tooke by his
CHARITIES will directed {inter alia) that land
producing £3 3 year should be pur-
chased, the rent to be applied in providing coats,
petticoats and stockings for six poorest boys and girls,
and the residue to the most aged men and women.
In the centre of each of the larger panels is a leaf The endowment consists of 6 a. 2 r. of land at
ornament ; the smaller are carved with bands of leaf
ornament. The upper part of the font has a border
of leaves, the base is modern.
Over the communion table is a painting of the
' Last Supper,' attributed to Jacopo Palma ; it was
presented to the church in 1 797 by Sir Abraham
Hume, and came from a convent of regular canons in
a village near Verona which had been suppressed.37
In the chancel is a large marble monument to
William Purvey, 1617, and Dorothy his wife, with
recumbent effigies ; over them is a canopy flanked
by pilasters ; on the cornice are the arms. On the
front of the tomb is the kneeling figure of a lady.
There are some 1 7th-century slabs to members of the
Sheere and Tooke families.
In the chancel is a brass to John Cok, yeoman, with
5gures of the man, the lower part of which is missing,
his wife and nine sons. Above is a small representa-
tion of the Trinity, and beneath is a strip of brass with
trees and a dog pursuing a hare, and a cock. There are
remains of a marginal inscription, the date is about
1470. There are also a brass to Edmond Howton,
with the figures of his wife Anne, five sons, and part
of an inscription, 1479 ; a brass of a man, his wife,
Cheshunt, let at £18 a year, which is duly applied.
It is stated in the Parliamentary returns of 1786
that an unknown donor gave land for the poor.
The property consists of an acre of land now
called ' Searangle Corner ' in Cheshunt let at £3
a year.
Charities of Richard Tooke and others : By a
decree of the Court of Chancery made 5 November
1684 (36 Charles II) in a cause between Thomas
Gentle, complainant, and Nicholas Bigg and another,
defendants, stating that several sums had been given
by several persons to the poor of the parish, it was
ordered that an estate at Great Parndon in the
county of Essex, containing 15 acres, should be pur-
chased for the use of the poor of Wormley. The
land is let at £16 a year.
In 1 7 10 Sir Benjamin Maddox, bart., by deed
conveyed to trustees 16 acres of land called Oakells
in Codecote upon trust that out of the rents £6
yearly should be paid to the rector of Wormley and
the residue be paid to the poor. The land is let at
£11 a year. This and the two preceding charities
are administered together. In 1909 boots were
distributed to eighteen men and twenty-four women,
eight sons and four daughters, with shield of arms of also 90 yards of flannel and 120 yards of calico.
Tooke impaling Woodliffe, with no date, but of about
1590 ; an inscription only to John Cleve, rector of
Wormley, died 1404.
The two bells without date or founder's stamp are
apparently modern.
The communion plate consists of a flagon, 1625,
a pewter almsdish, 1699, a cup and paten, 1873, and
another paten.
The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows : (i) bap-
tisms from 1674 to 1783, burials 1676 to 1783,
marriages 1685 to 1753 ; (ii) baptisms from 1783
to 181 2; (iii) burials from 1 78 3 to 1812 ; (iv)
marriages from 1754 to 1812.
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters in the
parish was certified in 1838.38
The church of Wormley with the
ADVOWSON manor was in the possession of the
monks of Waltham Holy Cross in
the reign of Henry II,39 and it appears to have been
retained by the monastery until the Dissolution. In
1 541 the advowson of the rectory was granted with
the manor to Sir Edward North.40 From this
time the advowson followed the descent of the manor
In 1688 Richard Woollaston by a codicil to his
will directed that lands to the value of £100 a year
should be settled for providing £20 a year for clothing
in the parish of Woolmer, £30 a year in the parish
of Whitchurch, and £50 a year in six parishes in
Leicestershire.
This charity was the subject of proceedings in
Chancery at the instance of the Attorney-General
against Jonathan Woollaston, the personal represen-
tative of John Woollaston, the executor, and others,
and in the result, under an order of the Court
26 August 1704, certain lands in the county of Essex
were purchased of the value of £100 a year to be
applied for the benefit of the parishes referred to and
in the like proportions.
The property now consists of freehold land at
Latchingdon, Essex, and ground rents in Berlin Road
and Bromley Road, Catford, in the metropolitan
borough of Lewisham, producing £180 a year or
thereabouts.
In 1909-10 the sum of £32 was applied in
Wormley in suits, serge, flannel and calico to poor,
distressed people.
37 Notes of vestry meeting 9 Aug. 1797,
communicated by Mr. Bushby.
38 Urwick, Nonconf. in Herts. 559.
39 Cart Antiq. M 2.
* L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, 503.
41 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccdxix
489
12 Information from Mr. Bushby.
« L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii (2), g. 734
(8) ; Newrovr', Repert, i, 912.
62
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
In 1660 Josiah Berners by his will gave ^5 yearly
out of Wormley Bury Estate for apprenticing. The
sum of £1 is deducted for land tax ; the sum of £4.
a year and the annual dividends on a sum of
£34-). 3/. %d. consols, amounting to £$ \zs., is
applied in apprenticing. In 1 909 one premium of
£ 20 was paid.
In 1764 Rebecca Ward by her will bequeathed
^150, now represented, with accumulations, by
/,3l8 14/. consols, producing £j 19/. 4^. yearly,
which is applicable in the distribution of beef on old
Michaelmas Day to the poor. About 720 lb. of
beef are distributed annually. The two sums of stock
are standing in the names of James John Deller and
two others, who also hold a sum of £118 13/. jd.
consols, derived under the will of Sir Abraham
Hume, proved in 1838. The annual dividends of
£z \<)s. \d. are distributed in coal.
In 161 3 William Purvey by his will gave £20
yearly to the rector for preaching twenty sermons.
The charge is payable out of the manor of Wormlev.
The recreation grounds consist of 1 acre acquired
under an order of the Inclosure Commissioners, 1 87 1,
in exchange for two parcels of land awarded to the
churchwardens and overseers in 1858.
In 1880 Mrs. Mary Grant, by her will proved at
London 7 December, left j£200> less legacy duty,
now represented \>y £\%\ 16/. \d. consols, with the
official trustees, the annual dividends, amounting to
£\ I Or. \od., to be applied for the benefit of the
schools established in 1863, and for the maintenance
therein of the Established Church.
BOROUGH OF HERTFORD1
Heortforde, Heorotforda (x cent.) ; Hertforde
(xi cent.) ; Hurtford (xiii cent.).
The borough of Hertford is situated 2 miles west
of the main Cambridge road. From it a road runs
north-eastwards to Ware and north-westwards to
Watton at Stone. To the west of the town a branch
from this road leads to Welwyn and another runs
south-westwards to Hatfield, where it joins the Great
North Road. The road between Watton and Hert-
ford would seem to be an ancient road from the fact
that it forms for a little way the parish boundary.
The ford by which the road crossed the Lea was
evidently the ford from which Hertford took its
name and was presumably a little to the south of the
present bridge, the situation of which now causes a
deflection in the road.
Hertford is divided by the River Lea into two
distinct portions ; the principal thoroughfares follow
the shape of a large Y, with Fore Street for its main
limb running east and west. A small triangle of
streets forms its western termination and connects it
on the south with Castle Street and on the north with
a street known as the ' Wash,' which leading north-
wards over the river by Mill Bridge takes a westward
inclination and joins St. Andrew's Street at Old Cross.
Along Fore Street and between it and the Lea the
greater part of the town is grouped, the northern
portion consisting mainly of the houses which com-
pose St. Andrew's Street, on the south side of which
stands the rebuilt church from which it takes its
name. All Saints' Church, which is also entirely
modern, stands in a large churchyard a little to the
south of Fore Street. The castle is situated on the
south bank of the River Lea, to the south-west of
the town, and gives its name to Castle Street, which
skirts the original line of the moat on the south side.
To the north-west of the parish church of All
Saints is the old rectory, a plastered half-timber
building of the early 17th century. On the front
door is the date 1631. The plan is of the H type,
but modern alterations have obscured the original
arrangement. At the north-east of the churchyard
is Hale's Grammar School, a one-storied brick building
with an attic floor and tiled roofs, lighted by modern
brick-mullioned windows. Worked in nails upon the
door is the date 1667; the door itself, however,
appears from its style to be contemporary with the
school building, which was erected about the year
1 61 7 by Richard Hale of London.2 The school was
amalgamated with Ware Grammar School in 1905,
and an increase in the endowment having been made
by Earl Cowper a new building was added at the
rear to extend the accommodation in 1907. Bayley
Hall, situated to the west of the rectory, is now used
as the residence of the head master of the gramm ;r
school. It is a fine Queen Anne house of three
stories and a basement, square on plan, with a large
central staircase hall. Much good panelling remains
internally ; the panelled dado to the stairs is of
mahogany with occasional inlaid ornament. The
elevations are designed in the dignified manner of
the period, with moulded brick string-courses and
gauged brick pilasters. A modern addition has been
made on the east. To the north-west of the house
is a stable building of the same date, the basement of
which has a brick vault, supported by a small circular
column of the same material.
The Shire Hall, where the assizes and quarter
sessions are now held, stands on the north side of
Fore Street in the centre of the market-place. By
the charter of James I the corporation received the
grant of 'a house on the royal waste called the Town
Hall,' with a reservation of the right to hold sessions
of the peace there.3 The erection of a new Shire
Hall was proposed in 1 767/ and the present build-
ing was completed in 1769.5 It is a symmetrically
planned building of stock brick, from the designs of
the brothers Adam.6 Among the paintings in the
Council Chamber are portraits of King William III,
George II, Queen Caroline and other members of
the royal family, presented by the third Earl Cowper
in 1768. The corn exchange and public hall were
built on the site of the old Butchers Market in 1857.7
To the west of the Shire Hall, upon the same side of
'The bounds of the borough as laid 1557. In an account of Hertford Priory
down by the Act of 1832 have been taken in 1497 is a reference to 26s. %,d. paid
as most convenient for arrangement. for the pension of the scholars. This,
2 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 89. A school called however, probably refers to the priory
Hertford Grammar School existed in scholars at Oxford.
490
3 Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. iii, m. 8.
4 Scss. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 105.
5 Ibid. 112. 6 Ibid. in.
7 Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Hertford Hund.
TXT
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Pi
i I J S
^\ lfl'Sndri-ll^44J Hit! ilT^I
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"Mil*
HERTFORD HUNDRED
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
Fore Street, is an interesting pargeted house of the
latter half of the 17th century. It is flush-fronted
and of three stories with an attic and tiled roofs. The
walls are decorated with well-modelled plaster panels,
arranged in three bands, and each having a scroll orna-
ment of acanthus foliage. The window openings have
for the most part been enlarged in the I 8th century,
and the ornament has been much disturbed by subse-
quent alterations. The ground floor has been given
over to shop windows. At the north-east corner of the
market-place is the 'White Hart,' an early 17th-
century building with 18th-century additions. Of a
similar date is the house on the north side now occu-
pied by the Hertfordshire County Council Education
Office. On the west side are two good early 18th-
century houses with an enriched modillion cornice of
wood. The ' Salisbury Arms,' on the south side of
Fore Street opposite the Shire Hall, dates from the early
17th century. The buildings are of brick and timber
and surround a central courtyard. The front has
been rebuilt, but the elevation towards Church Street
remains nearly in its original condition. The main
staircase, in its lower part, is original. The raking
balusters are square moulded and the square newels
have pierced finials. On the east side of the Shire
Hall, at the corner of the market-place and Fore
Street, is a three-storied building of the same date,
the upper stories of which are supported at either end
by Ionic columns. The whole of the intervening
part of the ground stage is occupied by modern shop
windows. No. 56, on the south side of Fore Street,
a little distance to the eastward, is a gabled half-
timber building of the late 1 6th century. Some
original panelling remains internally.
The buildings of the girls' school of Christ's Hospital
stand at the west end of Fore Street, which forms the
southern boundary of its site. Of the original build-
ings which were completed in 1689 for use as a pre-
paratory school for boys as well as for girls, only the
schoolroom and steward's house adjoining, together
with the entrance gateways and portions of the boun-
dary walls, now remain. The buildings as then laid
out inclosed a long tree-planted rectangular courtyard
with the schoolroom at the north end, the entrance
gateway on the south, placed axially with the school-
room, and a block of ten cottages on either side con-
verted in 1760 into ten wards. The original girls'
school block, which faces Fore Street on the west side
of the entrance gates, and the head master's house at
the south-east of the courtyard were erected after
1766 ; they are not shown on the plan of Hertford by
J. Andrews and M. Wren, published in that year.
In 1 800 the dining hall adjoining the schoolroom on
the west was built. The site was extended west-
wards to South Street by the purchase in 1897 of
the adjoining brewery buildings, together with the site
of Brewhouse Lane which divided the two premises,8
the Blue Boy Inn being, however, left standing
at the south-west. On the removal of the boys to
Horsham in 1902 and the reservation of the school for
the girls only, the old wards were demolished and new
buildings planned on modern principles were erected
in their place. The schoolroom is a plain building
with a pedimented centre slightly broken forward,
lighted by large square-headed windows and crowned
by a tiled hipped roof. The south front has been
re-faced with red brick to correspond with the new
buildings. The interior is quite plain, with a coved
plaster ceiling and a later bay on the north side
divided by columns from the main room. Over the
entrance doorway is a niche containing the oaken
figure of a 'blue boy' brought hither from the
former school at Ware. The steward's house at the
north-east corner of the courtyard indicates the
character of the elevations of the wards which have
been pulled down. The dining hall to the west of
the schoolroom, erected in 1800, is a plain building
of stock brick, lighted by large semicircular-headed
windows. Like the schoolroom its south front has
been re-faced with red brick. Some shields and
panelling from the demolished hall of Christ's
Hospital in Newgate Street, London, are preserved
here. The entrance gateway, with its stone piers,
surmounted by leaden figures of ' blue boys,' is of
the original date. These figures are known to have
been placed in their present position in 1 689-8a The
original girls' school block is a long two-storied build-
ing of brick, with a large schoolroom in the centre
extending the whole height and surmounted by a
pediment. It is lighted on the south front by a large
' Venetian ' window, flanked externally by semi-
circular-headed niches, each containing an excellently
modelled figure of a blue-coat girl. Among the
many interesting relics preserved in the buildings is
the monument to Thomas Lockington, Treasurer of
Christ's Hospital from 1707-16, which was brought
here from the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Great
Fish Street, destroyed by fire in 1888. In the
modern chapel is a fine brass almsbox inscribe I 'The
Gift of a Governour Sept. 21st 1787.'
In Maidenhead Street, which runs parallel with
Fore Street on the north side of it, are some good
early 17th-century houses. At the corner o" Honey
Lane,81> which connects Maidenhead Street with the
market-place, is the Old Coffee House Inn, a Jacobean
building of two stories with an attic. The roof has
projecting eaves finished with a plain plaster cove,
and between the windows of the upper story are
elaborate baluster pilasters. The window openings
have all been altered. Next door, in Honey Lane,
is the ' Highland Chief,' a much modernized house
of the same date. Bull Plain is a short wide street
leading northwards from Maidenhead Street to Folly
Bridge, containing some 17th and 1 8th-century work.
No. 16 is a brick two-storied house of the latter
date, with a wood modillion cornice and moulded
brick string-course. Some panelling remains inside.
Fronting southwards upon Bull Plain, the back
bordering upon the branch of the River Lea which
is crossed here by Folly Bridge, is Lombard House,80
a plastered building of timber and brick two stories in
height, dating from about the year I 600. The front
appears to have been rebuilt of brick in the early
I 8th century, but the back with its five gables, over-
hanging upper story and wood-mullioned windows
remains in its original condition. In the entrance
6 This was formerly called Meeting-
house Lane from the fact of the first Non-
conformist chapel being in it, the site of
which was sold to the authorities of the
hospital in the 17th century.
8a Rep. of Royal Com. on Hist. Monum.
of Hem. 1 14.
8b Honey Lane is a corruption
of Oson Lane, a variant of Hosen
Lane, which with Glove Street was
491
the locality of the glovers and
hosiers.
*<: Formerly called Malloryes from the
fact that Robert Mallory lived there temp.
Hen. VI and could dispense^ I o per annum.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
hall is a carved oak chimney-piece surmounted by
the arms and crests of Tooke and Tichborne.9 In
Bull Plain, nearly opposite Lombard House, is a
plastered brick mid-i yth-century house, now three
cottages, with a recessed gabled centre and two pro-
jecting wings crowned by bold modillion cornices.
'The Walnuts,' on the south side of Castle Street,
is a two-storied 17th-century house, the walls par-
geted in plain panels. In Peg's Lane, so named from
a W. Pegg who first built there, is a row of framed
and weather-boarded cottages of the 1 8th century.
The house attached to the brewery in West Street,
as the continuation of Castle Street is called, bears
the date on a brick panel 1 719, above which are the
initials c.i.c. On the south side of West Street is
Bridgeman House, a brick building of the first half of
the I 7th century, two stories in height, with a tiled
hipped roof and a large square panelled central stack.
The elaborately framed and panelled front door is of
original date. The house is now converted into cot-
tages. A door belonging to the premises at the rear
of the yard next to no. I 7 on the north side of Castle
Street bears the date 1654. In Parliament Row, said
to be so named from having been occupied by the
members of the Court at the time of the Plague, are
three plastered half-timbered cottages of the early
I 7th century. The ' Waggon and Horses ' on the
east side of Old Cross is a plastered two-storied build-
ing, probably of the early 17th century. No. 6
St. Andrews Street is a late 1 6th-century building
of brick and timber rebuilt in the early 1 8th cen-
tury. A chimney stack surmounted by two octagonal
chimney shafts of brick, one of which is elaborately
panelled, is the only detail remaining of the earlier
date. At the north-east of St. Andrew's churchyard
is a good early 17th-century cottage of brick and half-
timber with an oversailing upper story. Opposite the
church is a mid- 18th-century house with a door-case
in the Gothic taste of the Batty Langley school. On
the same side of the road a little distance to the east of
the church is a very fine brick house of the first quarter
of the 1 8th century, three stories in height, now
occupied by the Hertfordshire Imperial Yeomanry.
Between the second and third stories is an entablature
of gauged and moulded brickwork supported at either
end of the elevation by Ionic pilasters. The central
doorway and the window of the first floor immediately
over are accentuated by entablatures and curved
pediments supported by small pilasters of the same
order. On the south side of the road, a little further
9 William Tooke of Hertford Town,
ob. 12 Feb. 161 1, married Mary daughter
of Nicholas Tichbome of Roydon, co.
Essex, ob. 29 Aug. 1611 (Visit, of Herts.
[Harl. Soc. xxii], 167).
"' W. F. Andrews, Hertford during icsth
tonus. .
11 Urwiclc, Nonconformity in Herts. 542.
13 Andrews, loc cit.
13 Ibid.
14 See Urwick, op. cit. 532.
15 Pipe R. 24 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
33 ; 25 He':. II, 52 ; see also Rot. Cur.
Reg. (Rec. Com.), i, 203.
16 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 34a.
17 Pa, I. R. i, 6i/>.
18 Cal. Pal. 1281-92, p. 473.
"Pari. R. i, 61/..
'20 Cussans, op. cit. 62.
-1 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), ii, 69,
95. IO+. 1*9-
22 An Act to enable justices of the
peace to build and repair gaols in their
respective counties (Stat. 11 & 12
Will. Ill, cap. 19).
88 A warrant was issued for the levying
of a rate (Sess. R. [Herts. Co. Rec], ii,
3', 33)-
24 Ibid. 79, 82, 127.
35 Cussans gives the date as 1776,
Gough in his edition of Camden
(Britannia, i, 344) as 1778. In 1777
the contractor was paid £1,500 (Sess. R.
[Herts. Co. Rec], ii, 139). The build-
ing was still untiled in 1 790 (ibid.
168).
26 Cussans, op. cit. 62.
-7 Birch, Cart. Sax. i, 49. A doubt as
to the identification arises because Wina,
Bishop of London, in whose diocese
Hertford was then apparently situated,
was not present, and, as it seems from
492
eastward, is a plainer house of the same type and
date.
The Roman Catholic church, built in I 86o,10 stands
in St. John's Street near the Lea. The Congrega-
tional chapel in Cowbridge represents a congregation
dating from 1673,11 but the present building (suc-
ceeding one on the same site) dates only from 1862.12
The Baptist chapel, at the junction of the North and
Hertingfordbury roads, was built in 1842, and the
Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the Ware Road in
1865.13 Quakers are found in Hertford from an early
date,14 and though much diminished in numbers have
a meeting-house in Railway Street at the present day.
The old county gaol, now superseded by the prison
at St. Albans, stood on the south side of the Ware
road. At the end of the 1 2th century there was
a gaol at Hertford, entries for the repair of which
appear on the Pipe Rolls,15 but in 1225 a mandate
was issued to the sheriff to build a new gaol there.16
This, however, also seems to have fallen into disuse, for
in I 290 the inhabitants of Hertfordshire petitioned for
a prison in Hertford,17 and licence was granted to them
to build one there at their own cost on the site of the
old one.18 The castle had evidently been used as a
prison, for William de Valence, the governor,
opposed the building of the new gaol.19 The prison
stood on the north side of Fore Street on the site of
the present corn exchange.20 At the beginning of
the 1 8 th century many complaints were made of its
insanitary state and of the prevalence of gaol fever
there.21 After the Act of 170022 a proposal was
made for the erection of a new building,23 but the
old one was patched up for the time being,24 and it
was not until more than fifty years later that the
work was actually begun.26 The borough prison,
which had up to that time occupied a building in
Back Street, was then amalgamated with it.26
It is impossible to suggest when the site of the
town of Hertford was first settled. In 673 an
important council was held at ' Heorutford ' or
' Herutford,' which has generally been identified with
Hertford. The council was held by Theodore,
Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bisi, Bishop of the
East Angles ; there were also present St. Wilfrid of
York and other great churchmen. It was the first
synod of the united English Church, and dealt with
various important matters, such as the date of Easter,
the status of the bishops, marriage and divorce, and
other points of great moment at the time.27 Hert-
ford, however, first undoubtedly appears in history
ording of the proceedings that Bisi
iidine with Theodore, it might be
the wording of the proceedings that Bisi
was presiding with Theodore, it might be
expected that ' Heorutford ' was in Bisi's
diocese of Dunwich, afterwards Norwich.
It therefore seems possible that Heorut-
ford may be Hertford (now spelt Hart-
ford) in Huntingdonshire. For the
extent of the East Anglian diocese see
the diocesan maps in G. Hill's English
Dioceses and p. 63 of the same work,
where it is pointed out that Hunt'ngdon-
shirc may once have been included in it.
It may also be noticed that the name
Heorutford is capable of other develop-
ments besides Hertford. In the neighbour-
ing parish the name was Hereford(ingbury)
ing pansn me name was nereiuru^mymii y j
in the nth century, and although in this
case the name reverted to a form nearer
Herefordtu
, beco
case the ..«...^ .......«« .~ »
the original one, in another case the
urdtun of the loth century has
ecome Harvington (co. Worcester).
ft
tffl s
HH|
.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
in the ioth century,28 for some years being brought
into a position of prominence as the administrative
centre of the district. About 913 29 Edward the
Elder, during his campaign against the Danes, estab-
lished a ' burh ' between the Rivers Maran, Beane
and Lea. This site formed an important defensible
position on the north side of the Lea, with a river
protection on three sides.30 On the completion of
the work the king left Hertford for M.:ldon in Essex
in order to superintend the building of the ' burh '
at Witham. In the following year, however, some
of his force returned to Hertford and ' wrought the
burh ' on the south side of the Lea,31 with the object
presumably of guarding both sides of the ford. We
thus have at Hertford one of those double towns
built upon the opposite banks of a river, such as arose
at this time at Bedford, Stamford, Buckingham, York
and elsewhere. What these ' burhs ' were we do not
exactly know.32 At first they may have been purely
military stations. They were evidently erected for
the purpose of subduing the surrounding country,
for it is stated in connexion with the building of
Witham and Hertford that ' a good deal of the folk
submitted to him [Edward] who were before under
the power of Danish men.' From a military post it
is only a step for Hertford to have become an
administrative centre, to which the county, formed
probably in the time of Edgar (957-75), was assigned
and from which it took its name.33 It was probably
under the legislation of Edward the Elder limiting
trade to boroughs that Hertford became a double
market town and a mint town, at which coins were
struck from the time of Edward II (975-8) to
that of Edward the Confessor (1042-66). It was
apparently governed as a royal town by one or more
king's reeves,34 to one of whom, who had a house in
the town, there is a reference in the Domesday
Survey.35 By 1086 there was only one borough and
one township, but for some time a survival remained
of the two settlements in the two market-places, the
one on the north side of the Lea at the Old Cross,36
and that on the south at the market-place round the
town hall. The prosperity of the town did not long
survive the Conquest. It was off the main line of
traffic, which at an early date passed from the Roman
Ermine Street to the present north road nearer the
Lea, and, although it retained its importance as
the administrative centre of the county, its trade
diminished.
The ancient borough, according to
BOROUGH the earliest description we have of it,
comprised an area in which were
about 166 houses belonging to burgesses and about
thirty houses held by large neighbouring landowners.37
The earliest surviving delimitation of the boundary
belongs to 162 1, when it was set out as follows : —
From a post at the west end of the town in the road to
Hertingfordbury at the end of Castlemead to the corner of
Sealefield ; then it meets the highway from Hertford to Watton,
thence to a post near Papermillgate, and to the north side of
the river at the east end of Papermill meade ; thence down the
river to Cowbridge ; along the north side to the Lea at the east
end of Hartham ; thence along Priory or Hoppitts mead, along
the mill stream to Butchery green, thence to Back Street . . .
thence to a pile of stones near St. John's churchyard gate, and
thence to the high road from Hertford to Ware ; thence to
Stonehall Close ; then it turns back to the east stile of All
Saints excluding the churchyard, thence to the 'Bell' ; then it
bounds on the tenements of the manor of Baylyhall, meets the
highway of Castle Street, thence to a post in the street, and to
the outermost ditch of the now decayed castle ; along the
outside of the ditch to the millstream of Hertford, along Castle
Mead and so to the post.35
The borough thus comprised the whole of the
civil parish of All Saints 39 and parts of the parishes of
St. John and St. Andrew.40 This was the area of
the borough proper or of burgage tenure, but Hertford
as a vill included a large area of surrounding territory.
In 1428 the parishes which paid subsidy in the
borough were the ' parish of the monks ' (St. John),
St. Andrew, St. Mary, St. Nicholas, and All Saints
with Brickendon Holy Cross.41 For lay taxation,
however, Brickendon and Blakemere (afterwards Pan-
shanger) were assessed separately from the borough.42
The estate of Waltham Abbey, the 'Liberty of
Brickendon,' 43 had belonged to the abbey with high
immunities since the nth century, but the abbey
seems to have encroached on the bounds of the
borough. It acquired much property in West Street,44
and apparently drew this district into the Liberty.
In 1274 t'le burgesses claimed that the 'hamlet of
West Street had been withdrawn from the borough
by the abbot.' 45
The Abbot of Waltham was responsible also for
the blurring of parochial boundaries. In the 12th
and 13th centuries he acquired an estate at Rushen
(in the parish of Amwell ),46 which became known as
Little Amwell. As it entered the abbot's liberty it
lost its connexion with Amwell parish, and from the
1 6th century was regarded as part of All Saints'
parish.
'8 A settlement like Hertford on an
old road does not generally belong to any
ancient Snxon type. The more ordinary
Teutonic form of settlement would be at
Hertingfurdbury. It may be noticed that,
besides the relation between the two
places suggested by their names, the
position of Hertingfordbury village, which
extenis into the parish of St. Andrew,
Hertford, may point to a time when
Hertingfordbury and Hertford were com-
prised within one territorial area, in
which case Hertingfordbury may have
been the original settlement. This would
be an argument against Hertford being
old enough to be the meeting-place of the
council.
29 Angl.-Sax. Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
78. Some historians place the date a
little later.
30 It was off the natural line of road
communication to London and ihe north,
but, what was perhaps more important
at the time, it commanded the water
communication by the rivers just men-
tioned with the fertile lands to the west.
31 Angl.-Sax. Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii,
78.
32 Allcroft, Earthworks of England,
383.
33 V.C.H. Herts, i, 295 ; ii, 2. The
county is first mentioned in the Angl.-
Sax. Chron. in 101 1.
34 As to the authority of king's reeves
in royal towns see Chadwick, Studies on
Angl.-Sax. Institutions, 251, &c. Henry
the reeve is mentioned in 1 168 {Pipe R.
14 Hen. II [Pipe R. Soc.J, 40).
35 V.C.H. Herts, i, 300.
36 Tumor, Hist, of Hertford, 283.
37 V.C.H. H.rts. i, 300.
3S Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 65.
Thanks are owing to the corporation
for permission to inspect these papers,
493
and to Mr. R. T. Andrews for his kind-
ness in showing them.
39 The civil parish of All Saints is a
small area on the south of the river, the
boundary of which coincides on the east
and south and as far as Castle Street with
the boundary of the ancient borough. It
is to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical
parish of All Saints, which includes the
district of Brickendon.
<» See Pari. Papers, Boundary Rep. and
Plant (1832), ii, »43-
*' Feud. Aids, ii, 456-7, 461.
ri V.C.H. Herts, i, 317*, 3314,334.;,
342A, 335 ; Subs. R. bdle. 120, no. 5.
« Q.v.
" Harl. MS. 4809, fol. 166 ff.
« Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, iS84. In
this connexion the name of Wall Field
Alley which formerly ran parallel to the
hamlet on the south is suggestive.
<6 Harl. MS. 4S09, fol. 166 ff. (Ct. R.).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
The Prior of Hertford tried to set up an immunity
like that of Waltham. In 1273-4 tne burgesses
complained that the Prior of Hertford had withdrawn
certain men who used to follow the court of the king
at Hertford and be there for view of frankpledge.47
In the 15 th century the priory and its lands called
Limesy Fee were considered to be outside the borough
(see below under Manors).
The boundary of 162 1 includes a small area, and
the burgesses aimed at expansion. In 1678 ' in
Bayliehall Street, Castle Street, West Street, and the
street from Cowbridge to Porthill the inhabitants
[had] a great trade and [paid] no scot or lot to the
borough, whereby trade was removed into those streets
and the freemen impoverished.' 48 The parishioners
of St. John, on the contrary, complained that so
many poor had settled in the borough part of the
parish that overmuch poor rate fell upon the
' uplanders,' who lived in the parish outside the town.49
The bounds were much enlarged by the charter of
1680.50 'They run from the furthest edge of Kings-
mead to the Ware high road, then including the
highway to a common place called London Crosse
Hill ; thence to Falling Cross Gate, then including
the church and cemetery of All Saints to the west
side of West Street ; then to the Lea and to a post
in the highway to Hertingfordbury ; thence to the
foot of Porthill ; thence including the stream to the
extreme edge of Kingsmead.' 51
Thus West Street and the castle and All Saints'
Church were brought within the borough. In 1 6 10
the south side of C.istle Street was scarcely built up ;
houses extended to Cowbridge and to St. Andrew's.
Fore Street, the present Maidenhead Street, and the
blocks where the Shire Hall and the old market stood,
were all built up.52 By I 766 there was little change
except that the row of houses along the outer castle
ditch was beginning to rise.53
In 1832 the bounds of the parliamentary borough
(which had been coincident with the ancient borough)
were extended to include the larger area known as
the out-borough, the extension comprising parts of
the parishes of St. John and St. Andrew and of the
liberties of Brickendon and Little Amwell,54 and these
boundaries were adopted as the municipal boundary
under the Municipal Corporations Act of 183;.55
In 1888 the borough was divided for the first time
into a St. Andrew's Ward and an All Saints' Ward
for the election of county councillors.56 Four years
later the boundary was enlarged to include parts of
the parishes of St. Andrew, Brickendon and Bengeo,
so that the wards for the election of town councillors
became the Town Ward and Bengeo Ward.57 In
1894 the borough portion of Bengeo was split off
from the rest of the parish, under the name of Bengeo
Urban. St. John's parish and St. Andrew's were
similarly treated. In 1900 the whole urban part of
the borough was made one civil parish ; its area is
1,098 acres of land and 36 of water.58
Under Edward the Confessor there were 146 bur-
gesses in Hertford who belonged to the soke of the
king. Eighteen other burgesses were the men of
Earl Harold and Earl Lewin.59 The term ' soke '
implies that the king held a court for the burgesses,
but it is uncertain if the earls had the like jurisdiction
over their tenants. It does not appear how the earls
obtained their burgages or whether the holders of
such burgages could ' go whither they would.' 60 In
1086 the burgesses of the earls passed to William the
Conqueror.61 These, it is mentioned, all rendered
dues. Besides the burgesses proper there were a
number of houses in the borough held by non-
residents, the landowners of the neighbourhood. The
dues on these houses were clearly not equally heavy
all over the town. Some of the houses ' rendered dues
and do so still ' in 1086, one rendered no dues, and
twenty-one paid none except geld. The dues pro-
bably included multure, which appears in a charter of
William I, a payment for the burgess's house in the
nature of gafol, and possibly something for pasture
rights.62 There may have been other dues, of which
all trace is lost. The profits arising from the town
probably included also the tolls of Ware, St. Albans,
Barnet, Thele and Hatfield.63 In any case the ' dues '
do not seem to have been a fixed or essential part of
burgage tenure. The burgess of 1086 was probably,
as afterwards, the man who held a house within the
borough with the land and pasture belonging, and
resided there.
No attempt seems to have been made by the bur-
gesses to obtain a permanent grant of the borough at
fee farm. They seem to have farmed it in 1225
and 1 226.04 After this time the farm was either paid
in by the sheriff65 or by the warden of the town and
castle.66
The aids formed a periodical burden on the borough.
The full assessment in the 12th century seems to have
been £10, of which a part, generally a half, was
frequently remitted.67 In the aid for marrying Maud
eldest daughter of Henry II to the Duke of Saxony
in 1 168 eleven burgesses accounted for £18 io/.68
Wiger and Henry the Reeve head the list, account-
ing for 100/. and 8 marks respectively; each of the
burgesses accounting is apparently responsible for a
definite amount. Possibly the eleven were the prin-
cipal burgesses who collected the tax from the body
of burgesses. After this date for a time 69 the aids
and tallages were collected and paid by the sheriff.'0
In 1 2 1 8 it is the burgesses who under the name of
the ' men of Hertford ' paid and apparently collected
« Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194*.
4S Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 40.
49 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 282.
50 Par, 32 Chas. II, pt. iii, no. 22.
The bounds are called ' the old limits,'
and are defined because * they have
hitherto been nowhere clearly expressed.'
5[ Ibid.
52 Speed, Engl, and Wales (1610),
plate xxiii.
53 Add. MS. 32350.
54 Stat. 2 & 3 Will. IV, cap. 64,
sched. O. See map in Pari. Papers,
Boundary Rep. and Pirns (1832), ii, 241.
The bounJs of the out-borough seem to
have been those fixed by the
1680.
55 Stat. 5 & 6 Will. IV,
sched. A.
56 Local and Personal Act,
Vict. cap. 222.
57 Ibid.
58 When the new parish
Amwell was formed from the
in 1864 parts of St. John's p
added to it.
59 V.C.H. Hern, i, 300.
6° Ibid.
01 Ibid.
" Cf. infra ' common rights;
494
harter of a Cf. infra ' forinsec tolls."
64 Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), ii, 38,
cap. 76, 139*.
65 Pipe R. 25 Edw. I, m. 23.
55 & 56 68 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec Com.), i,
101, 30 ; ii, 1.
67 Magn. Rot. Scac. de 3 1 Hen. I (Rec.
of Little Com.), 62-3 ; Madox, Hist, of Exch. i,
old liberty 601; Gt. R. of the Pipe, 1155-S (Rec.
srish were Com.), 19.
6> Pipe R. 14 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc), 40.
69 Pipe R. 21 Hen. II, rot. 6, m. 1 ;
20 Hen. II, rot. 6, m. 1.
70 Pipe R. 23 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
Ml, i55» 156-
[Arthur V. Elsilen, photo
Hertford: 17th-century Pargetted House in Fore Street
HERTFORD HUNDRED
the tallage.71 The same entry is repeated some years
later.7- A tallage was taken in 1227, which was
possibly collected bv the burgesses themselves,73 but
after this date the tallages cannot be traced.
The early constitution of the borough is obscure.
It has been already suggested that before the Conquest
the town was governed by the king's reeves ; these
officers continued till towards the close of the I 2th
century and possibly later. The exact date when the
reeve gave place to the bailiff, which probably marks
an increase of burghal rights, is not known. In
I 296 the 'community of the vill,' to use the favourite
13th-century phrase, was paying 40J. 'yearly to have
the election of the bailiff and other customs.' 74 This
custom was known as ' Feist,' which may be connected
with the Anglo-Saxon Fe/san, to recompense ; if this
is so, the payment may imply the purchase of some
rights of self-administration in the 12th century.
The name may be older than the right to elect the
bailiff; other privileges may have been bought in the
1 2th century, which were forgotten in the 13th.75
The most likely time for the purchase of such a right
as the election of the bailiff would be the prosperous
years of the early part of the 13th century, c. 1226,
when it was the bailiffs and not the reeve who held
the farm of the borough and seem to have acted as
the elected representatives of the burgesses.70 In I 2 96
the election was claimed as a custom,77 which is thus
described in 1 3 3 1 : 'the bailiff . . . ought to be
elected by the community of the vill, and they make
the election each year in the next court after Michael-
mas, both of the bailiff and of all other officials,' 78
e.g. sub-bailiff and ale-tasters. But the chief bailiff
still received a yearly sum for a robe from the king.79
The plural address of the writ of 1226 implies two
bailiffs,30 but one bailiff was usual throughout the
13th and 14th centuries; the sub-bailiff occurs for
the first time in 1 3 3 1 -sl
Other royal officials appeared in the 14th century.
In 1359 the king appointed William de Louth his
steward in the court of the vill of Hertford and in
the manor,82 and William accounted for the farm of
the borough in the next year.83 John of Gaunt kept
a bailiff only,84 and the steward disappears — for a
time at least.85 Although the constables, ale-tasters
and minor officers do not appear in records, they must
have been chosen at the borough court.86
Of the burgesses themselves we know little until
the 13 th century. We then find record of the pay-
ment of the house gafol, called Hagavel and fixed at
I4f.87 This commutation (doubtless bought) must
have involved a re-partition by the burgesses among
themselves. The 40/. of ' Feist ' was possibly assessed
among the burgesses in a similar way.88 Multure
and market dues, and perhaps other works,89 must
also have been due. Corresponding privileges would
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
be trade rights, freedom from tolls, pasture and fishing.
The right of burgesshood evidently lay with the
burgage tenants, the holders of the ancient messuages,
who resided in the borough. On such the exercising
of their rights and duties was obligatory, for the
earliest Court Roll (1362) states that 'six men should
be burgesses and are not.' 90 The qualification hinted
at is presumably the ownership of a burgage, the
confirmation the taking of the burgess's oath. The
burgess paid no fine on entry, but the tenant who
held a messuage in the borough and did not reside
within it paid a fine of 4a'.91 Thus we read ' Andrew
Body, citizen of London, comes and shews a charter
for tenements in the borough of Hertford in the
parish of St. Mary the Less. Because he is a foreigner
(cxtrinsecus) and not a burgess he gives \d. fine and
does fealty.' 9S It was possible, however, for new
burgesses to be elected. These were apparently the
residents in the out-parishes of the borough — the
' foreigners.' Such were constituted burgesses ' to
guard and maintain all the liberties and customs of
the vill,' and they gave 3/. \d. each for the liberty.93
In the 15th century, for the first time, there is
plenty of evidence as to the constitution of the
borough. Power was falling into the hands of a
group. The burgesses shared in the market and
pasture rights, but took less and less part in the town
government. In 1461 the whole community of the
vill, with the assent of the chief pledges, elected the
officials,04 and so again in 1465.95 In 1472 'all the
chief pledges ' made the election, a practice which
recurred in 1475 and 1481.96 The chief pledges
always elected the new burgesses and even chose the
new chief pledges.97 The extension of burgess
privilege mentioned above could not be allowed in
the election of burgesses. To allow non-burgesses to
elect would have been absurd. Hence in this the
chief pledges act as the old ' community ' and repre-
sent the burgess core of the court. The officials
included the bailiff and sub-bailiff; two constables,
two weighers of bread, two ale-tasters, two super-
visors of meat, two of fish, and two of hides were
usually chosen in the same manner and time.98 The
bailiff presumably was responsible to the steward and
receiver of the duchy.99
The 15th century gives the first clear view of the
borough court. Its work was of four kinds. Lands
were seized and distraints levied to show entry ;
charters of conveyance were inspected, fealty taken,
and a fine, if the purchaser was not a burgess. Con-
veyances of land in the borough out of court were
treated as invalid. In other words, the court guarded
and registered the transfer of borough land, which
passed freely among burgesses only. This close treat-
ment is probably very ancient, and necessary because
of the position of property as a burgess qualification.
n Pipe R. 2 Hen. Ill, m. 6a, 7.
"Ibid. 8 Hen. Ill, m. 63.'
78 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rcc. Com.), ii,
184.
74 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
'5 Such as rights to pasture or the
commutation of the toll.
76 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 139A.
77 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
78 Survey of 133 1 in Chauncy, op. cit.
238.
79 Ibid.
80 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec, Com.), ii, 139A.
81 See above.
,.), ii,
865,
82 Abbrt-u. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Col
25 5-
83 Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdlt
no. 16.
84 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 53,
no. 998, 999, 1000.
85 The castle officials acted sometimes
as 'supervisors of the town.'
86 Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 865,
no. 16; Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts.
bdle. 53, no. 998.
87 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45 }
Chauncy, op. cit. 238.
88 Ibid.
495
89 Ibid. ; cf. Cart. Antiq. K 10, 23.
90 Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 33.
91 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, no. 37.
92 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
94 Ibid.
95 Ibid.
96 Ibid.
97 Ibid.
99 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 42,
no. 825 ; Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 37.
99 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 42,
no. 825.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Besides this the chief pledges presented offences against
the arizes, assaults, neglect of frankpledge, defects of
the watches, or disobedience to the borough officers.
The court seems to have overstrained its jurisdiction
in the 13th century, for in 1278 the suitors were
presented for an illegal process against a thief.100
Further, there were the elections of the officials and
the burgesses. Finally, a few pleas of debt and
trespass came into court — so few that the sessions
mu;t have been far less important as a tribunal than
as a local government council.
Such was the constitution until the grant of a
charter by Mary in February I 5 54.1 The borough
was incorporated under the style of a bailiff and fifteen
burgesses with power to have a common seal and to
act in courts of law. The bailiff was to be elected
by the burgesses from their number on the Thursday
after Michaelmas in each year, and was to take the
oath. The bailiff and burgesses were to appoint con-
stables and all other officials, and were also to choose
new burgesses, as need might arise, from the ' tenants
and inhabitants' of the borough.2 Thus the charter
placed the bailiff to some extent under the control of
the new body of burgesses. Possibly the chief pledges
may have developed some consultative functions before
this time, for the new burgesses represent the pledges
more than anything else. The ' whole community '
were the chief losers in giving up the election of the
bailiff to the fifteen burgesses.
The charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589 set the
borough government on the lines along which it
developed. The executive was in the hands of eleven
chief burgesses, forming the common council, and a
bailiff.3 The former were co-opted from the assistants,
the latter was elected from the common council
by the assistants and chief burgesses annually upon
St. Matthew's Day. The bailiff-elect took the corporal
oath and entered on office at the following Michael-
mas. The chief burgesses lost their office if they
lived away from the borough for six months. The
assistants were a body of sixteen, chosen from the in-
habitants by the bailiff and chief burgesses ; their only
work was to vote at the bailiff's election. The powers
of the bailiff and chief burgesses were legislative and
executive. They had power to make ordinances at
a court held in the town hall as often as they deemed
convenient ; and their ordinances might be enforced
by fine and imprisonment. The bailiff and burgesses
had power to deal with these fines and with those
proceeding from the market. They appointed the
constables and minor officers. They also chose the
chief steward of the court ; the steward of the
borough was still apparently appointed by the Crown.
These stewards were both associated with the bailiff
and one of the chief burgesses in the holding of
the borough court of record every Monday. Its
competence extended over personal actions within the
borough where the sum sought was under £50. The
bailiff alone had certain executive powers ; he was
clerk of the market virtute officii and he appointed the
serjeant-at-mace.
This charter governed the borough for sixteen
years. In 1605 James I reincorporated the town
under the new style of the mayor, burgesses and
commonalty.31 The mayor was merely the bailiff of
1589. He was elected by the chief burgesses
and assistants from the common council (or chief
burgesses). The latter body was to consist of ten of
the best men inhabiting within the borough
(including the mayor). Each chief burgess was
elected for life by the rest of the council and the
mayor, who was given a certain control in the power
of removing chief burgesses. The sixteen assistants
were to be elected by the mayor and chief burgesses
from the commonalty. The common council could
also remove them. The powers of the assistants in
the mayoral election were defined. On St. Matthew's
Day the mayor and chief burgesses presented two
candidates from their number, of whom the assistants
chose one, who took the usual oath and came into
office at Michaelmas following. The legislative
powers of the old common council passed to the mayor
and chief burgesses. Their executive powers were
extended. They were to choose the chief steward
of the borough, after the death of the Earl of Salisbury,
who was appointed to the office by the king. They
also chose the steward of the court (a lawyer), the
town clerk, and the serjeants-at-mace ; the admis-
sion of burgesses was placed in their hands. Judicial
powers were divided between the mayor and steward.
The court of record, to be held by the mayor and
steward of the court, was transferred to Tuesday, and
the limit of damages brought down to .£40. The
mayor and steward and one burgess were to be
justices of the peace for the borough, but their
jurisdiction seems not to have excluded that of the
county magistrates.
The defect of this charter is the excess of trust left
in the mayor and chief burgesses, who were irrespon-
sible in their town government. The evil effects
were quickly felt in the administration of the common
pasture, if nowhere else.4 Moreover, the corporation
fell into lazy ways. In 1635 penalties were ordained
for those who did not come, or did not come properly
dressed, to official meetings,5 and for those who gave
the mayor or officers ' opprobrious words ' or disclosed
counsel.6 At the same time it was ordered that four
chief burgesses should attend the weekly court of
record. The council met at 'monthly courts,' to
which the chief burgesses and officials were to be
summoned. The ancient array of flesh and fish
tasters, ale-tasters and bread-weighers was still kept
up, with four constables, four viewers of the streets
and two of the commons.7 The regulations made
for the cleanliness of the streets prove that the cor-
poration did something at least in the public interest.
Town government was complicated by the uncer-
tainty of the bounds within which the charter
applied 8 ; and this was the chief argument of the
movers for the new charter obtained in 1680.9 The
style of the incorporation was then altered to the
' mayor, aldermen and commonalty.' The mayor
was chosen from the common council by the same
form of double election as before and on the same
tenure. The ten aldermen were elected from the
assistants by the common council (including the
100 Sec Assize R. 323, m. 46 d., 471).
(6 & 7 Edw. I) ; see also ibid. 325,
m- 33> 3+> aa t0 'he relations between
the bailiff of the vill and the constable
of the castle, whose respective provinces
in administrative work do not seem to
have been very clearly denned.
1 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. ix, m. I, * Ibid.
3 Ibid. 3 1 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3.
sa Corp. Mun.
496
i Cal. S. P. Dom. 1628-9, P- 56°'
' Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 37.
6 Ibid. 'Ibid. no. 57. 6 Ibid. no. 40.
9 Pat. 32 Chas. II, pt. iii, no. 22. See
under boundaries.
Hertford : Bayley Hall
Arthur V. Elsden, photo
Hertford : Cottage at North-east of St. Andrew's Churchyard
HERTFORD HUNDRED
jnayor). The sixteen assistants were chosen by the
mayor and aldermen from the commonalty. Their
powers were extended, in so far as they were to help
in all the business of the borough, and limited in the
election of the mayor, for the mayor, aldermen,
recorder and chamberlain joined with them in the
final vote. The recorder, indeed, assisted the mayor
and aldermen in most of their functions. He took
the place of the old steward of the court, and was
elected by the common council. He assisted in the
making of by-laws and in the choice of the two
serjeants-at-mace. He paired with the mayor in his
judicial work in the borough court, which was to be
held on Wednesdays. The limit of damages was
raised to £60. The mayor, recorder and one free-
man, chosen by the mayor and aldermen, were to be
tjie borough justices, and the mayor, in virtue of the
older charter, remained clerk of market. The charter
created an official, the chamberlain, who had long
been wanting. He was elected by the mayor and
aldermen, to hold office during their pleasure, giving
account when they required. He collected the fines
and amercements, made payments and managed the
borough finance. The chief steward, the Earl of
Salisbury, was to hold his place for life, after which it
was to be filled by election, as in the charter of 1605.
This was the form of the constitution until 1835.
The charter repeated the mistake of 1605. The
mayor and aldermen had a monopoly of power with-
out responsibility. The assistants, who shared in the
making of by-laws,10 were chosen, and perhaps
removable, by the mayor. The usual life tenure of
office increased the irresponsibility of the corporation.
The ordinances preserved resemble for the most
part those of 1635, with an increasing tendency to
the prescription of banquets.11 Possibly the corpora-
tion was careless, if not corrupt, if the treatment of
the pastures from 1 645 to 1709 is a fair instance.
In 1834 the mayor and council were unpopular rather
for their politics than for any malpractice.12
During the 1 8th century practices untouched by
charter hardened into customs. Thus in 1834 'the
junior alderman who had not passed the chair ' was
usually elected mayor.13 Otherwise no changes had
taken place among the borough authorities. Even
the two serjeants-at-mace still stood at the head of
the police force ; but there were seven constables
chosen by the parishes, and watchmen and patrol
under the Paving Act of 1787.14
The salient feature of the report of 1 8 34 is the
decay of the borough courts. The Wednesday court
of record had fallen into disuse by 1782. In 1827
the inhabitants petitioned for its revival, and it was
duly held in 1828. As, however, there were then
only twenty-three summonses, and from 1830 to
1833 an average of three a year,16 the court was
not worth holding. The quarter sessions likewise did
a very inconsiderable business. The petty sessions on
Wednesdays was apparently the court of most resort.
Under the Municipal Corporations Act (1835)
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
Hertford lost its archaisms. The ratepayer burgesses
elected twelve councillors, who chose four aldermen,
aldermen and councillors composing the council.16
This bod}- elected the mayor.
When the borough boundary was extended in
1892, and two wards formed, twelve councillors were
given to the town ward and three to Bengeo, and
one alderman was added to the council.17
The borough court of record has not survived.
The quarter sessions of the borough justices were
continued under the Act of 1835,18 and are still
held. The petty sessions are now held for the county
every fortnight on Saturdays, and by the borough
magistrates every Thursday.
The tenurial qualification for burgesshood had
weakened by 1605, when burgesses to the number of
three were admitted from the out-portions of St. John's
and St. Andrew's by the charter. Nevertheless, it
left definite traces. An out-burgess might join in
municipal elections and the giving of counsel, but he
could not be mayor. Deeper traces remained in the
pasture rights. In 162 1 the rights of pasture were
said to belong to the ' ancient messuages,' thus
following the burgage tenements. Later the right
was claimed for all cottages above thirty years old ;
but in 1 7 19 the commoners were still regarded as
the 'owners of burgage tenements,' and in 1737 are
described as the inhabitant householders of the
ancient borough.
With regard to the freedom of the borough, as far
as we can judge, the 1 6th-century qualification was
seven years' apprenticeship to a freeman. The direct
evidence for it only dates from 1655 19 ; it was still
the usual one in 1834. As early as 1598 the free-
dom could be bought 20 ; the payment varied in the
early 19th century from £5 to £25. The eldest
sons of aldermen took up their freedom on paying is.
to the mayor and the usual fees.
In the 17 th century the corporation treated appli-
cants very fairly. Apprentices' indentures were entered
on the rolls, and they could not be denied the freedom
on payment of is. and the fees, after the completion
of their service. The most important privilege was
the exclusive right to trade and manufacture in the
borough. It was re-asserted in the by-laws of 1692,
1 73 1 and 1752,21 and was maintained in i834-22
The corresponding duty was the ' quarterage,'
apparently a payment for stalls in the market,23 com-
parable with the earlier stall pence. Until 173 1
the rate was higher for freemen dwelling outside the
borough than for those dwelling within it24 ; in
1635 the former paid \d. a quarter, the latter id.-3
After 1624 the freeman, like the inhabitant house-
holders, had the Parliamentary vote,26 and this right
was guarded in the Reform Act.27 By 1 834 almost
all qualified as freemen voted either as £10 house-
holders or as inhabitant householders within the
ancient borough.28 In 1839 there were only 366
freemen in a population of 5,63 1.29 The privilege
was clearly not worth preserving.
10 Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 37 ; Rep.
on Munic. Corp. (1835), V, 2S85.
11 Ibid. ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rip. xiv,
App. viii, 159, 163.
18 Rep. on Munic. Corp. (1835), v, 2890.
13 Ibid. 2885.
" Ibid.
15 Ibid. 2886-8.
16 Stat. 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76.
17 Local and Personal Act, 55 & 56
Vict. cap. 222.
18 Stat. 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76,
sched. A.
19 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Reo), i, no.
20 Carew, Rights of Election, i, 275 et
seq.
21 Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 57 ; Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii, 160-
497
22 Rep.
28S6.
2i Hertf. Corp. Papi
** Ibid, i, no. 37.
» Ibid.
Munic. Corp. (1835), v,
no. 43c.
26 See below.
27 Rep. on Munic. Corp. (1835), v, 288
*> Ibid.
53 Pnrl. Papers, 1839, xviii, 671.
63
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Hertford first sent representatives to the Parliament
of 1298.30 Its two members were present in subse-
quent Parliaments from 1301 to 1311.31 After this
time St. Albans or Bishop's Stortford frequently sent
members, and the representation of Hertford became
very uncertain. Its members sat in 1313,32 1315,33
and from 1319 to 1322. 34 In 1336, 1373 and 1376
they also appeared, but from this time the right to
separate representation fell into desuetude.
The claim to return two members was made in
162 I, and the right was proved to the satisfaction of
a select committee in 1624.35 The Speaker refused
to define the franchise, and the controversy over the
vote of non-resident burgesses raged in a series of
petitions from 1681.36 In 1705 a select committee
resolved that the vote was in the inhabitants,37 free-
men resident at the time of their admission, and the
three chartered out-burgesses.38 On this followed a
second series of petitions accusing the fairness of the
mayor as returning officer,39 a matter on which two
opinions were hardly possible. The borough vote
was a very saleable commodity,40 and bribery, comi-
cally flagrant, was rife in Hertford in 1833. 41 It was
not, however, until 1867 that Hertford lost one
member.42 The Redistribution Act of 1885 merged
the borough representation in that of the county.43
The rights of common held by the burgess by
ancient custom are first described in 129 5-6. 44 The
' community ' used the pasture of Hartham (20 a.)
throughout the year, each burgess paying 4^. a head
for horses, 3*2'. for oxen and cows, \\d. for calves and
\d. for sheep. Kings Mead was subject to the same
rights, except when it was fenced for hay every third
year.45 A third meadow (included in Kings Mead in
I 331) lay open once in three years.46 The custom
may well be more ancient than the burgesses believed,
and the rights a survival of Saxon arrangements.
No change is noticed in 1331, but in 1384
'foreigners' are described as putting their cattle on
the pasture at a rate of id. a head higher than that of
burgess-kine.47 As this usage is referred to ancient
custom, it may well have existed, although unrecorded,
in 1331.
The rates remained unchanged throughout the
1 5 th century,48 but burgesses and foreigners hardly
grazed a dozen cattle among them in the later
years.49
After the grant of the charter in 1554 the question
arose whether the common of pasture belonged to the
tenants of the manor of Hertford or the inhabitants
of the town.50 The custom alleged was that the
meadows should be inclosed from 2 February to
1 August, when they were thrown open to the
inhabitants residing in Hertford ; the Prior of Hert-
ford also had common rights by agreement.51 The
owners, not being inhabitants, had put their beasts on
the meadows, Kings Mead, Halles Holmes, Wreng-
don's Mead, Halle's Cowlees, Hall's Horselees,
Thurland and Chawdell Mead.52 The case was
apparently won by the inhabitants.
The difficulty was that many of the common lands
lay outside the borough. Three kinds of commons
were distinguished by the jury of 1621 : Hartham
and Kings Mead belonging to the borough ; ' foreign '
meadows lying outside the borough — Thurland,
Hither Cowmead, Middle Cowlees, Heathe's Cow-
lees, Halles Hook, Horselees and Hoppitts 53 — which
were common from 3 1 July to Candlemas ; finally,
fields belonging to other manors, and common for all
manner of cattle at all times — Middle Field, Cock,-
bush Field, High Field and others.54 The last two
classes of common rights appear here suddenly and
cannot be traced. They may be omitted from earlier
surveys as involving no payment to the Crown.
In November 1627 the corporation bought Kings
Mead from the Crown for the use of the poor.65
Disputes once more arose between the occupiers of
the ancient burgage tenements and of the newer
houses and cottages. The matter was finally referred
to the Privy Council, who decided that the tenants
of the newly-erected cottages should enjoy a life
interest only, and that all right in the commons
should then revert to the ancient burgagers.56
The mayor and his successors paid small sums to the
poor and larger ones to the corporation, and kept no
account.57 In consequence of an investigation in 1709
the corporation were obliged to repay ^15 11/. \od.
for every year since 1645, and the meadow was put into
trust.58 The corporation considered that they had no
further jurisdiction, and the common rights were so
little guarded that in 1737 fifty-three of the inhabit-
ants agreed to impound cattle and take proceedings in
defence of the poor.59 In 1773 the same complaint
was raised.60 The commoning in Hartham was then
still kept up, and was regulated by the mayor.61
The agistments of this meadow, at the rate of Is. a
head of cattle, formed part of the borough income in
1834.62
Common rights over the meadow called Hoppitts
or Le Holmes were disputed between the burgesses
and the Prior of Hertford in December 1312.63
The prior was evidently trying to free his lands alto-
gether from jurisdictional and economic ties to the
borough. The dispute was compromised. In the
I 6th century the commoning was still shared between
the inhabitants of the borough and the prior (but
'» Return of Memb. of Pari, i, 8.
31 Ibid. 13, 16.
88 Ibid. 41. » Ibid. 48.
31 Ibid. 57-64.
35 J. Glanvil, Rep. of Certain Cases,
87 et seq. ; Carew, op. cit. i, 275 et seq.
36 Ibid.
37 Apparently only those within the
ancient borough (Rep. on Munic. Corp.
[1835], v, 2886).
3S Carew, op. cit. i, 275 et seq. The
non-inhabitant freemen are not mentioned
in the Boundary Rep. (Pari. Papers, 1832,
<■> 24-3)-
39 Carew, loc. cit.
« Cf. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xi, App. iv,
352.
41 Cockburn and Rowe, Controverted
Elections, 184-223; Perry and Knapp,
Controverted Elections, 541.
4a Stat. 30 & 31 Vict. cap. 102.
43 Ibid. 48 & 49 Vict. cap. 23.
* Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
45 Ibid. ; Chauncv, op. cit. 238.
46 Ibid.
17 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle.
S3, no. 998.
ls Ibid. no. 1010 ; bdle. 42, no. 825.
49 Ibid.
50 Duchy of Lane. Dep. lxv, m. 1 ;
cf. also under burgesshood.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 See below.
498
54 Hcrtf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 6;.
55 Aug. Off. Fee Farm Rents, file 42,
no. 261 j Hcrtf. Corp. Papers, v, 35.
56 Turnor, Hist, of Hertf 97. See also
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1628—9, P* 560. For con-
tinuance of the controversy see Turnor,
op. cit. 116. The victory remained with
the inhabitants of the borough.
57 Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 35.
"8 Ibid.
59 Ibid, iv, no. 323.
611 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Rep. on Muntc. Corp. (187O. App. v,
28SS.
13 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. viii,
•59-
HERTFORD HUNDRED
not by his tenants),61 and in 1621 it is mentioned
again.65
Hertford was one of the towns which escaped
'waste' at the Conquest,66 so that its economic
history between 1065 and 1086 is continuous. The
town was prosperous, at least in the eyes of King
William and his officials, who found that it had paid
much less than it could afford.67 Its 1 64 burgesses
imply that Hertford held a position in the county
which it did not keep up. Ware, the rival of
later days, had 125 householders, both free and
unfree 68 ; St. Albans had forty-six burgesses and
forty-two unfree inhabitants 69 ; Cheshunt had ten
merchants, and the remaining fifty-three were villeins.70
The facts point to a pre-Conquest prosperity which
steadily declined during the Middle Ages. Saxon
Hertford may have been in reality the most important
market of the shire.
From the Conquest to the end of the 1 2 th century
the records of Hertford are blank, just at the time
when we should like to know something of the condi-
tion of the market and whether the tolls of Ware,
Hatfield and St. Albans were already charged with the
farm. When the men of Hertford were amerced in
1 1 9 1 for breaking the bridge of Ware 71 they were
probably asserting their monopoly of the passage of
the Lea.
Hertford must have suffered both directly and
indirectly in the war of 121 5- 1 6, for the castle was
besieged and taken more than once, and the district
around was the seat of war.72 At the tallage of
1217—18 Hertford, whose assessment was two- thirds
that of Colchester in 1176,73 was assessed at one-
third the amount demanded from the latter town,
and paid about twice as much as the two rural manors
of Essendon and Bayford.74 The borough paid
tallage on the same basis in 1219 and in 1223-4..75
It evidently did not stand out much above the
neighbouring vills, and was not in the same class as a
commercial centre like Colchester. If the assessment
of 1 2 1 7 was adequate, the town must have prospered
in spite of its difficulties, for in 1227 it paid ^10 to
the tallage,76 which probably bore an unusually close
relation to real values.77 Indeed, this sum was
accepted instead of £16 iSs. zd., the original assess-
ment, ' so that the poor and the greatly injured might
be relieved.' 78
In 1226 the provisional grant of a fair further
points to the fact that the burgesses could afford some
amount of municipal independence. The secret of
this prosperity lay in situation. Hertford was the
natural market to which would come the produce of
the valleys of the Maran, the Beane and the Rib,
country which was especially rich in corn land. The
town was situated on the Lea, just above the southern
bend which brings the river straight down into the
Thames at London. The economic attraction of
London must not be overlooked, for it caused a
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
struggle against the exclusive rights of the borough
early in the 13th century. This attack came from
the metropolis as well as from the local competitors
— Ware, Chipping Barnet, Hatfield and Cheshunt.
In the early part of the I 3 th century the transport
of corn to London had been by boats belonging to
Hertford, but about 1247-8 the men of London
built a granary further down the Lea at Thele, and
shipped the corn in their own bottoms.79 Unfor-
tunately the issue of the quarrel is unknown.
The neighbouring towns suffered from the monopoly
claimed by the burgesses, who held that the Lea must
be crossed at their town bridge. But the direct route
from Royston to London passed the water at Ware, a
rising town. In the 1 2th century Hertford must
have asserted its rights, for until John's reign the
bailiff of Hertford held the keys of the bridge and
ford of Ware, so that carts could only pass with his
licence.80 During the war of I 21 5-16 the men of
Ware disregarded the custom, and carts passed freely
over the bridge and ford, nor had the burgesses
recovered their rights by 1247.81
For a town which owed its existence to a monopoly
of trade and traffic rights the matter was vital,
especially as Ware had attacked the Hertford market
by holding illegal markets on Wednesdays and
Fridays.82 In 1258 the men of Ware sued the
burgesses, complaining that they had forcibly broken
the bridge and dug a channel in the ford, so that no
one, even on foot, could pass it. They had also cut
the London road by digging a ditch across it.83 The
cause of these aggressions was clearly the fact that
the men of Ware had either made or restored the
road between Ware and Hoddesdon, thus leaving
Hertford outside the main line of traffic.84 The
burgesses pleaded the orders of their lord, William de
Valence, but the jury ascribed the whole affair to
their desire to have the passage (of the Lea) through
the middle of their town.
This check damped the enterprise of the men of
Hertford. Five years later the aggression was on
the side of Ware.85 By 1274 the 'turning aside of
the high road which used to go from Hertford to
Ware ' had become a fact, much ' to the detriment
of the vill of Hertford.'86 The bailiffs of Ware
tried also to cut off communication by water by
'occupying the weirs, so that no ship might pass.'87
The tolls at Ware due to the bailiff of Hertford were
not paid in 1277,88 but after this time they seem to
have been rendered. In 1296 the 'tolls of the
passage of Ware ' and of Hertford were separately
valued at 40/. a year,89 but the steady increase in the
tolls of Ware shows that the main traffic passed
through the direct route.
Hertford had lost to Ware the passage of the Lea
and the possession of the main road, and this consti-
tuted the best capital of the borough. If it had ever
been an industrial centre it had lost its position before
64 Duchy of Lane. Dep. lxv, m. I.
65 See above.
66 V.C.H. Hern, i, 300.
07 Ibid. <* Ibid. 327.
69 Ibid. 314.
70 Ibid. 320a.
71 Madox, Hist. Exch. i, 564.
72 ' Ann. Lond.' Ckron. of Ediv. I and
Ediv. II (Rolls Ser.), i, 17 ; Roger of
(Rolls Ser. lxxxiv),
Wendover, Fhr. His
ii, 200.
"Pipe R. 23 Htn. //(Pipe R. Soc),
•54. '55-
u Pipe R. 62, m. 6a, 7 (2 Hen. III).
75 Ibid. 63 (8 Hen. III).
78 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 184.
77 Stubbs, Const. Hist, ii, 40.
78 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 184.
79 Assize R. 218, m. 6 d.
80 Ibid.
si Ibid.
88 Ibid.
499
83 Abbrev. Viae. (Rec. Com.), 148.
84 Apparently before this the line had
passed through Hertford to Hatfield and
joined the Great North Road there or
had gone via Porthill to Wadesmill and
there joined Ermine Street.
85 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 190A.
86 Ibid. 188, 190*.
87 Ibid.
88 Assize R. 323.
89 Ancu Extents Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
1247-8, when the men of Hertford complained that
before 1215—16 there were no weavers or dyers of
cloth in Ware, but that ' now ' there were. If this
is true it may explain the prosperity of Hertford
earlier in the century. The cloth industry cannot
have been very vigorous. A document of 1 290
gives few trade names beyond the ordinary carpenter,
smith, miller, carter, fisher and butcher ; the mustarder
and the merchant are the only suggestive names.110
In 1307 there are cutlers, a dyer, two 'chapmen,'
and a mustarder.91 Of course these casual mentions
can be regarded only as clues. It is more significant
that there is no trace of a craft or merchant gild.
Hertford was falling behind its neighbours. In
1290 St. Albans had more and richer taxpayers,93
and even Cheshunt was larger than Hertford.93
In 1308 the borough paid £y 16s. 8d., against
£12 11/. \d. from Cheshunt and £14 4/. z,\d. from
Ware.94 The burgesses brought forward their old
complaints against Ware without success.95 In 1338
the taxable value was only half that of Ware.96
The history of the markets and fairs (q.v.) enforces
the evidence of court rolls and accounts that Hertford
decayed rapidly during the 14th century and more
rapidly during the 15th. It seemed rather a village
than a borough, and economic documents tend to
treat it rather as a rural manor than as a town.
The depopulation caused by the Black Death evidently
gave an impetus to the decline. In 1428 there
were not ten householders in the parish of St.
Nicholas or that of St. Mary Minor.97 The
auditors began to allow the bailiff increasing sums
for decay of rent.98 Probably the last quarter of
the 15 th century was the apogee.
During this time there is naturally little develop-
ment of trades. Brewing and baking are the most
prominent, with the other provision businesses, the
fishmongers, butchers and chandlers ; tanning and
glovemaking also occur.99
About the beginning of the 16th century new
conditions caused a new prosperity in the borough.
The working classes were now no longer themselves
corn growers, and the question of their corn supplies
was a new problem, especially acute in London.
The provisioning of London taxed the energies of
the Privy Council.100 Hence, while many towns
were emptying their workers into the country,
Hertford found more and more buyers in the corn
market. It was important that the market should
not be monopolized by speculators, and in 1588 the
privy councillors interfered to prevent it.1 Their
object was to keep back some of the grain for the
small local buyer, but this was difficult in the face of
dealers from London. In 1595 the supply (between
140 and 200 qrs. of grain) was sold within an hour
of the ringing of the market bell, and bought not
by the poor, but by bakers from London and local
millers who bought for the London market.2 At
this time there were above forty water-mills alone
within 10 miles of Hertford.3 Many of these
probably served the London trade.
Hertford hardly kept its position in metropolitan
markets as supplies came in from more distant areas,
but it remained the trade centre both for corn and
other goods for the district lying north of the town.
Corn and malt, the chief articles in the market in
1728,4 are the staple commodities to-day. The
trade of Hertford has changed rather in volume than
in kind.
Hertford has probably had a market since' the
Saxon King Edward first built his ' burh ' there,
but there is no historical evidence of it until the
reign of John,5 when it is spoken of as though it
were already established by ancient custom. The
market days were Wednesday and Friday throughout
the 13 th and for the greater part of the 14th cen-
tury,6 but in this latter period the value of the
market was sinking. In 1359-60 the whole tolls
of the market for nine months were only 16/. Sd.7
In 1383 the Wednesday market was transferred to
Thursday by royal grant,8 probably an attempt to
catch custom, and the tolls went up.9 The improve-
ment was brief. In 1397-8 the tolls and pleas sank
to 2CV., and ' no more because merchants forsake the
market for others on every side.' 10 Henry IV con-
firmed the grant of Edward III,11 and pardoned the
burgesses the 26s. at which the tolls were estimated
for ten years,12 and in 1438-9 Henry VI was only
receiving 10;. 6d. from the market.13 It seems to
have become almost valueless by the end of the
century. The Thursday market was still held early
in Elizabeth's reign, but it suffered from the com-
petition of the market at Hoddesdon.14
The Elizabethan charter gave to the corporation
the market to be held on Saturday,15 which has
remained the market day for Hertford ever since.16
The charter of Charles II revived the Wednesday
market,17 which survived in 1888 as a small cattle
market, held in alternate weeks.18 The corporation
have taken the tolls of the market since 1589.19
The Hertford fairs originated in the time of the
minority of Henry III. In 1226 the men of Hert-
ford received a provisional grant until the king came
of age of a week's fair from the Sunday before the
Feast of SS. Simon and Jude (28 October) until the
following Sunday.20 Whether by prescription or
by a grant in confirmation, the fair continued
throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1295
the tolls were worth leu.21 Before 1331a fair on
1 5 August had been acquired by the burgesses, and
90 Lay Subs. R. Herts, bdle. 120, no. 2.
91 Ibid. no. 5.
w Ibid, no, 2.
93 Ibid. ; cf. also no. 5.
91 Ibid. no. 8.
95 Survey of 1338 printed in Chauncy,
op. cit. 238 ; Duchy of Lane. Misc.
bdle. 4, no. 6.
96 Cal. Pat. 1336-40, p. in.
97 Feud. Aids, ii, 461.
93 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdles.
733, no. 12043 i 53> no- 1010.
99 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, no. 37.
100 Cunningham, Growth of Engl. Ind.
and Commerce, ii (l), 51, 318, 23 ff.
I ActsofP.C. 15S0-I, p. 301.
' Cal. S. P. Dom. 1595-7, P- ' z6-
3 Ibid. 336 ; cf. Duchy of Lane. Plead.
exevii, no. C 2.
4 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. I.
5 Assize R. 218, m. 6 d.
6 Ibid.
7 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle.
365, no. 16 5 Hertf. Corp. Papers, i,
no. 2.
8 Cal. Pat. I 381-5, p. 274.
9 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 53,
no. 998.
10 Ibid. no. 1000.
II Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 4.
5OO
12 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 42,
no. 825.
13 Ibid.
14 Duchy of Lane. Dec. Lib. 2 Eliz.
fol. 305*7.
15 Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3.
IG J. Norden, Description of Herts.
(1598), 1 ; Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. iii, m. 8 ;
Rep. on Markets and Fairs, xiii (i), 124.
17 Pat. 32 Chas. II, pt. iii, no. 22.
1S Pari. Papers, 1888, liv, 46.
19 Pat. 3 1 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3.
w Rot. Lit. Clans. (Rec. Com.), ii,
mi.
n Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
Hertford in 1611
{From Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain)
HERTFORD HUNDRED
the two fairs brought in £z 10s. yearly.22 One of
these fairs seems to have been a horse fair held out-
side the town in the 15 th century.23
The Master of the hospital of the Holy Trinity
held a fair on 22 July and paid half the tolls to the
king's bailiff; he did so at least from the last quarter
of the 14th century.2'1 The amount was always small.-5
These three fairs continued until the end of the
15th century, suffering a gradual decay. The bailiff
was compelled to admit that the merchants had given
up the Hertford round. The proof lay in the dis-
appearing tolls. In 1437-8 the October fair brought
in 6s. id. instead of II;. %d. as it had done forty
years before 26 ; the July fair made no profits at all.27
In 1444-5 l^e farmer of the market and fairs
obtained a respite of payment, possibly in consequence
of the paucity of his takings.28
Without some improvement in the 1 6th century
the burgesses would hardly have troubled to obtain
the three fairs granted by Queen Mary. One was
to be held in the parish of St. Andrew from 23 to
25 June ; the other two in the town on 27 to 29
October and on Passion Sunday with the Saturday
and Monday.29 The local distinction was probably
derived from the three extinct fairs. Elizabeth re-
granted these three fairs and added another, to be
held in the parish of St. Andrew from 7 September
to 9 September.30 But the dates seem to have been
changed and the duration shortened very soon, as in
1598 the fairs took place on 24 October, 4 Sep-
tember, 24 June, and the Friday before Passion
Sunday.31 Seven years later a fair lasting from
30 April to 2 May was substituted for that in Sep-
tember.32 The charter of Charles II re-granted this
fair and confirmed the others.33 At the present day
the dates of the fairs are 1 2 May, ; July, 8 Novem-
ber, and the third Saturday before Easter.
Courts of pie-powder appear in the accounts of
the town for the first time in 1384— 5, 34 although
they were probably held earlier. They were granted
to the burgesses by the charter of Queen Mary with
stallage and picage.35 Charles II re-granted these
rights for all the fairs.36
Besides the tolls of the market and fair37 there
were the more interesting forinsec tolls. They are
first mentioned in the reign of Henry III as existing
under King John.38 The tax was zd. on carts of
merchants, \d. on pack-horses, and \d. on pedlars.39
In 1296 the account is fuller. The ' through toll '
was taken at the bridges of Ware, Hertford and
Thele, at the ' Barre ' of Hatfield and Barnet,40 and
at the two ' heads ' of St. Albans.41 The Abbot of
St. Albans acquired the tolls of his own town and of
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
Barnet,42 but the tolls of Ware, Hatfield and Thele
remained in the king's hands and were generally
accounted for as part of the farm of the town,43
although occasionally during the 14th and 15th
centuries they were leased apart.44
This arrangement of tolls may be one for the
sheriff's convenience, or a survival from the time
when Hertford was the shire market with a monopoly
over buying and selling and passage. The lowey or
leucata, the district outside a town over which the
borough officers had certain rights, existed in varying
degrees of importance around many towns. It occurred
at London and Durham, and there is an excellent
instance of it in the confirmation by Henry II of the
customs of Nottingham. By this the burgesses of
Nottingham were to have the tolls from all those who
crossed the Trent as far as Newark, as fully as in the
borough of Nottingham. The charter continues :
' The men of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire ought
to come to the borough on Friday and Saturday with
their carts and loads, nor ought anyone to work dyed
cloths for 10 leagues round, save in the borough.'
Similar rights evidently occurred at Hertford, where the
king claimed the tolls for merchandise carried through
places within 7 miles of Hertford.45 This liberty
was apparently one of the rights which belonged to
the pre-Conquest king's reeve at a time when Hert-
ford as a villa regalis was the administrative centre for
^he district.
The right to have a common seal was first given
to the bailiff and burgesses by the charter of Mary,46
and was confirmed by the subsequent charters.47
The British Museum has one specimen of an early
date, presumably that made under the Jacobean charter.
It shows a rosette of five double leaves, barbed and
seeded, within a border. The legend is ' Burgus de
Hertford, 1608.'48 A later type (probably that
used after 1680) shows the hart in the ford with a
cross between the antlers ; behind to the right a
castle with three towers, to the left a tree on a low
mound.49
The vill or manor of HERT-
FORD was demesne of the
Crown and was granted by
William I as the ' lordship of
Hertford,'50 together with the mills of Hertford and
the manor of Bayford, to Peter de Valognes, Sheriff
of Hertfordshire.51 A confirmation of the two mills
of Hertford cum suo alio feodo with multure and
works (operatione) of the burgesses, was made to
Valognes by Henry I,62 and the Empress Maud con-
firmed the manors of Essendon and Bayford and the
mills of Hertford to Roger de Valognes, son of Peter.53
CASTLE, HONOUR
AND MANOR
22 Extent of 1331 printed in Chauncy,
op. cit. Z38.
23 Hertf. Corp. Papers, i, no. 5.
21 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 5 3,
no. 998.
2i Ibid. "> Ibid. bdle. 42, no. 825.
17 Ibid.
28 Ibid. bdle. 733, no. 12043.
89 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. ix, m. 1.
80 Ibid. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3.
31 Norden, op. cit. 1.
32 Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. iii, m. 8.
33 Ibid. 32 Chas. II, pt. iii, m. 22.
34 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 53,
no. 998.
35 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. ix, m. 1.
86 Ibid. 32 Chas. II, pt. iii, m. 22.
37 See above.
38 Assize R. 218, m. 6 d.
39 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194A;
Assize R. 323.
40 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45 ;
Duchy of Lane. Misc. bdle. 11, no. 25 ;
Pipe R. 2; Edw. I, m. 23.
41 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. no. 45.
42 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 331.
43 Chauncy, op. cit. 238 ; Duchy of
Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 53, no. 998-
1000.
44 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
256; Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xiii,
9 ; Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 1094,
no. 10; Duchy of Lane. Dec. Lib. 2,
Hen. VI, fol. 74a ; Duchy of Lane. Mins.
Accts. bdle. 733, no. 12043 > Cussans,
Hist, of Herts. Hertford Hund. 55.
50I
45 Document quoted by Cussans, op.
cit. 55 n. The tolls must have been of
considerable value, as the rent reserved by
the lease was £33 6s. id.
46 Pat. 1 Mary, pt. ix, m. I.
47 Ibid. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3 ; 32
Chas. II, pt. iii, no. 22 ; 3 Jas. I, pt. iii,
m. 8.
48 Cat. of Seals, no. 4998.
49 Ibid. 4999.
50 The lordship evidently included the
borough, which was farmed by Peter de
Valognes in 1086 {V.C.H. Herts, i, 300).
51 Cart. Antiq. K 10, 22. The grantor
is Willelmus Rex Anglorum, the witnesses
S. bishop and H. sheriff, probably Stigand
and Haimo.
5» Ibid. 23. i3 Ibid. 24.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
These two latter grants probably did not include the
lordship.54 The grant to Roger seems to have been
for life only, for in I 1 54—5 Henry de Essex, the
sheriff, was accounting for the manor of Bayford 58 as
well as for the farm of the borough of Hertford.56
The terms ' manor,' ' borough ' and ' vill ' are used
interchangeably at this date when the whole of the
lordship is meant.57
In 1 249 Henry III granted the vill of Hertford to
William de Valence for life.5s On the death of
William in May 1296 the vill
reverted to the king.59 He
entrusted it to a succession of
farmers,00 who were continued
until Edward I gave it to
Queen Margaret.61 The queen
transferred it to Aymer de
Valence, who obtained a royal
confirmation in 1309 and in
1317a grant of Hertford in
fee.62 His widow surrendered
it ten years later and gave up
all claim to it.63 The vill and
honour were assigned at once
to Queen Isabel in increase of
her dower,64 and after her fall she received a
re-grant.65 In I 360 Edward III granted Hertford to
John of Gaunt, then Earl of Richmond,66 a gift which
was confirmed by Edward III in 1376 e7 and by
Richard II in 1377.68 The minor and vill descended
V
ALENCE.
Bu
,-elh
argei
ofmt,
t and azur
rtlets gules.
an
orle
John of Gaunt.
The royal arms of ED-
WARD III with the
difference of a label er-
Duchy of Lancas-
ter. ENGLAND
•with a label azure.
with the duchy of Lancaster69 into the hands of
Henry IV, and after his death were held in dower
by Queen Joan.70 In the reign of Henry VI they
were granted to the dowager Queen Katherine,71 and
later to Henry's queen, Margaret.72 Edward IV
granted them to Queen Elizabeth Woodville,73 who
held her first court at Michaelmas 14.65. 74 In 1553
Edward VI granted the manor and castle of Hertford
v^ ^7
Kathfrine of France
Elizabeth Wood-
and Margaret of
France. Azure three
fleurs de lis or.
ville. Argent a Jesse
and a quarter gules.
: Valognes' ' other fee ' w
own private property (s
54 Peter c
probably his
below).
55 See Bayford.
56 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 651.
57 Cf. ibid. 774 ; Pipe R. 8 Hen. Ill,
s.v. Herts, (account of Falkes de Breaute).
5S Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 46 ; see also
Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 351; Assize
R. 325.
59 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 56 d.
60 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), 1,
101 ; Cal. Pat. 1292— 1 301, p. 316;
Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 301.
61 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 58.
62 Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 1535131 7-2 1 ,
p. 47 ; Cal. lnq. p.m. 10-20 Ed<w. //,
68 Cal. Close, 1327-36, p. 109.
84 Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 67.
65 Ibid. 1330-4,
66 Misc. Exch. bdle. 5, no. 3 ; Gt.
Coucher, fol. 228, no. 1.
67 Duchy of Lane. Royal Chart. 342-4.
68 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 26.
69 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdles.
53, no. 1000 ; 42, no. 825.
"> Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xvi,
fol. 26 d.
71 Pari. R. iv, 187A.
72 Ibid. v, 11 Si; Duchy of Lane. Misc.
Bks. xviii, 49 (pt. ii).
78 Pari. R. v, 628a.
74 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 37.
75 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii,
fol. 56.
76 Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. i.
77 Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 3 ; Pat.
6 Chas. I, pt. x, no. 1.
78 Harl. MS. 6708, fol. 4 ; Aug. Off.
Fee-Farm Rents, file 42, no. 261; Recov.
S02
to Princess Mary for her life.75 Prince Charles
received a grant of the castle and manor in October
I 609 76 ; and after his acces-
sion he granted them in 1630
to William Earl of Salisbury,77
whose successors have since
held the manor.78
These grants of the manor
include the king's rights over
the borough. An extent of the
manor taken in 1 33 1 begins
with ' the castle of Hertford
and the borough there held of
the king in chief.' 79 The
profits include the fishery
belonging to the borough, the
Jluctus aquae from Hertford to
Waltham, the meadows called
King's Meads, the two water-
mills, the rent called hawgavel
(see above), the custom called ' aletol,' the profits of
the market and the tolls at Ware, Thele and Hat-
field, the fairs and the court leet.80 The ' issues of
the manor ' are first distinguished about the middle
of the 15 th century,81 probably for convenience in
accounting. The grant to the Earl of Salisbury
included the fishery of the demesne water of Hertford,
the meadow called Castle Mead, ten osier beds in
the river and the tolls appurtenant to the castle and
honour.82 The water-mills (which were then held
on lease) were excepted,83 also the tolls of the market
95-
Cecil, Marquess of
Salisbury. Barry of
ten pieces argent and
azure six scutcheons ar-
gent -with a lion sable in
each -with the difference
of a crescent.
R. Hil. 7 Anne, rot. 115 ; East. 9 Geo. II,
rot. 194.
79 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii,
fol. 58 d. The tenure was by knight
service until James I changed it to
socage. See Tumor, op. cit. 66 ;
Cussans, op. cit. 60.
80 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xii, fol. 5 8 d.
81 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdles.
733, no. 12043 i 53> n0- i°i°-
82 Pat. 6 Chas. I, pt. x, no. I.
88 The mills were often leased sepa-
rately from the manor (see Duchy of
Lane. Misc. Bks. xvii, fol. 39 [pt. iii] ;
xviii, fol. 91 ; xxi, fol. 175, I74d., 171,
171 d. ; xxiv, fol. 60, &c.). In the first
of these grants (1416) the mills are called
the Chastell Mills, in the last (1634)
they are described as grain mills. The
park was also leased separately (see Cal.
S. P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 164; Cussans,
op. cit. 52).
HERTFORD HUNDRED
and fair, of which a grant had been made to the
mayor by James I.
The soil and fishing of the Beane ' from the east
end of Paper Mill Mead to Gooies Pool and in the
waters called Black Ditch, Manifold Ditch and the
other ditches to the east of Chadwell Mead ' were
granted to the mayor and burgesses by Charles I in
i627.8' Of the paper mill Cussans says 'the site of
the mill was probably near the old waterworks, for
the channel through which the water flows to the
River Beane is still known as Paper-mill Ditch.' H
A paper-mill is mentioned in 1498, and was probably
the earliest set up in England (see Sele Mill in
St. Andrew Rural).66
The court held at Hertford in the 14th and 15th
centuries did the work of a manorial court while
choosing burgesses and guarding burgess right.8' There
was no distinction between the jurisdictional area of
town and manor. The charters of Elizabeth and
James gave the borough a weekly court of record,6S
with which the older courts were probably fused.
This explanation at least fits the contemporary state-
ment ' that there are certain courts leet and baron
held, and the mayor has used to be instead of the
(lord's) bailiff time out of mind'89 (162 1). After
1630 these manorial courts were held for the ' manor
and castle ' by the officials of the Earl of Salisbury,90
in accordance with the theory that a manor must
have courts leet and baron. There is record of these
courts as late as 1773."
The castle of Hertford is situated on the flat,
low-lying land on the south bank of the River Lea.9-'
It seems to have been one of the castles thrown up
after the Conquest to form a ring of defence round
London. The earthwork defences consisted of a
double ditch on three sides, the space between them
widening considerably on the south-west to form an
outer ward. The ditches communicated at either
end with the main course of the Lea, which sufficiently
defended the north-west face. There was also a
small artificial mound which still exists at the extreme
northern angle of the curtain wall, but there is no
evidence that this was ever surrounded by a separate
moat. The masonry parts of the castle under the
name of the castle of Hertford and the king's houses
in it, which would probably include the keep, the
curtain wall and the houses in the bailey, were
apparently begun by Henry II in 1 1 70.93 They were
under the charge of Henry the Chaplain or Henry
the Deacon, William the Parker, Wigar, Azur, and
Robert Crassus, the three last of whom were burgesses
of Hertford.94 Large sums of money were paid out
by the sheriff on the building operations during the
years 1171,96 1172,96 1173,97 and 1174.98 In 1173
the work was so far advanced that the castle was fully
provisioned against the insurrection of young Henry,
the king's eldest son,99 and in the following year
occurs the last payment for building operations for
some years, so that the work was evidently then com-
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
pleted. This is confirmed by the fact that the castle
was in this year garrisoned by knights and sergeants.100
Lesser sums, probably for repairs, were paid in 1 182 '
and 1183.2 A shell keep similar to that at Berk-
hampstead evidently crowned the mound already
referred to. With the exception of portions on the
southern side the ditches are now all filled in and
levelled, but their extreme limit outwardly is marked
by St. Andrew's parish boundary, and the total area
of the castle site is about 7 J acres.
The existing remains belong entirely to the inner
ward, which was in form an irregular pentagon sur-
rounded by a curtain. This wall, built of flint rubble,
much patched and re-faced with red brick, is still
standing on the eastern and southern sides. It varies
greatly in thickness from 5 ft. to 6 ft. upwards, and
with the exception of the parapet is standing to its
full height. It terminates at the southern angle in a
small octagonal tower (internally 1 2 ft. in diameter),
partially ruined, and evidently built to defend the
postern which adjoins it on the east. The postern
has a pointed arch quite devoid of ornament and
dating from the 1 3th century. The curtain is probably
somewhat earlier in date. In the centre of the western
face stands the Tudor gate-house, a rectangular struc-
ture of red brick with octagonal projecting turrets at
the four corners, that on the south-east being carried
up above the roof. This building forms the northern
half of the house known as Hertford Castle and has
been much altered in the 1 8th century, when the
southern wing was added on the line of the curtain
wall. The windows are all of that date, as is the
pseudo-Gothic corbelling and embattled parapet.
Traces of the western or outer arch of the gate-house
are to be seen behind the modern porch, and above
it is a sunk stone panel bearing a coat of arms (said
to be that of the Tudors, but now too much decayed
to be identified) with supporters, and surmounted by
a crown. The inner or eastern arch of the gate-house
is now transformed into a window.
The internal arrangements of the castle are pre-
served in an Elizabethan plan at the Public Record
Office, prepared by Henry Hawthorne about 1582 or
I 592, when the courts of law were temporarily moved
to Hertford owing to the prevalence of the Plague in
London. The plan is unfortunately mutilated and
what remains is in two fragments,83 but the main
apartments are shown grouped round a central court-
yard with the great hall on the eastern side. With
the exception of the fireplace backs and chimneys the
walls are shown so thin as to imply a timber-framed
building carried on dwarf walls, traces of which
have from time to time come to light under the
present lawn and garden. The hall was an aisled
building of three bays with screens and two porches
at the northern end and a square oriel and a fireplace
at the southern. On the plan it bears a close resem-
blance to the great hall at Ashby Castle (Leicester-
shire). The offices at the northern end are by no
84 Tumor, op. cit. 62. This grant
does not seem to be among the patents
of the year.
85 Op. cit. 53. S6 Ibid. 52, 53.
57 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177,
no. 37 ; Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 33.
83 Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 3.
89 Hertf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 65.
90 Harl. MS. 6708 ; Ct. R. (Gen.
Ser.), portf. 227, no- 82.
91 Hertf. Corp. Papers, iv, no. 388.
92 Its general disposition is excelle.itly
shown in a small inset view of the town
in Speed's map of Herts. (1610), the
accuracy of which is attested by docu-
mentary evidence.
98 Pipe R. 17 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
118.
94 They paid aid in 1168 {Pipe R.
14 Hen. II [Pipe R. Soc], 40).
S03
95 Ibid. 17 Hen. II, 118.
96 Ibid. 18 Hen. 11,40.
97 Ibid. 19 Hen. II, 13.
98 Ibid. 20 Hen. II, 67.
99 Ibid. 19 Hen. II, 13.
"» Ibid. 20 Hen. II, 67, 73.
1 Ibid. 28 Hen. II, 98.
3 Ibid. 29 Hen. II, 19.
2a S. P. Dom. Edw. VI,
Chas. I, lxxxix, 29.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
means clear, and the only apartment with a fireplace
large enough for the kitchen is that marked Court of
Requests.25 To the south of the hall is a square court-
yard, surrounded on three sides by an open timber
cloister, and with a small oratory projecting into the
court at the south-east angle. The great chapel
probably occupied the first floor of one of the wings
shown projecting eastward from the main building.
The great angle bastion on the curtain wall has now
completely disappeared. It was, however, still standing
in 1772, and is shown in a view in Grose's Anti-
quities} On plan it formed the segment of a circle
about 60 ft. in external diameter. The brick wall
built across the gorge is still in part standing and is
of the time of Henry VIII. On the outer face are
traces of the newel stair with a sunk brick handrail.
and the chapel is mentioned in I20z.3a No doubt
the castle suffered severely in the siege at the end of
the reign of John, which would account for a sum of
£10 from the farm of the vill being assigned to the
constable for the repair of the gate in 122 5.' In
April of the same year a mandate was issued to the
sheriff to pull down the houses which had belonged
to Falkes de Breaute5 at Little Berkhampstead,
and to build them up again in the castle of Hertford.6
The old hall, the old chapel, the brewery, and the
marsh.ilsea [marcscakia) were left at Little Berkhamp-
stead, but in July of the following year the king
ordered that the domus marescakie should also be
brought to Hertford and built up there.7 In 1 300
the hall, chamber, wardrobe, kitchen and paling were
repaired, in 1301 the bakehouse and other houses,
Hertford Castle : The Gate-house
The second fragment of the MS. plan shows the
bakehouse and other buildings in connexion with
another angle bastion, in this case open at the gorge.
It seems impossible to place it anywhere else but on
the site of the earlier keep, in which case the keep
ditch, if it ever existed, must have been filled in and
the keep itself destroyed late in the Middle Ages.
These plans and the existing remains are explained
and illustrated by documentary evidence. The resi-
dential part of the castle had been built before 1 1 99,
when a sum of £§ was spent in repairing the hall,
the walls and bridge, and in I 302 the houses, bridges,
outer gates and the chamber over the gate.8
From the 1 4th to the 1 7th centuries there are a series
of surveys of the castle. The earliest of these, dated
1327,' is a survey of the defects with the estimated
cost of their repair. Mention is made of (1) a
certain chamber without the outer bridge in the
entry of the castle and a certain other chamber
adjoining the outer gate ; (2) the middle bridge with
a certain chamber adjoining the outer gate of the
same bridge ; (3) a certain bakehouse against the
*b Marked kitchen in the accompanying
plan.
3 F.Grose, Antiquities of Engl. (1777), ii.
:,rl Pipe R. 1 John, m. 7 ; Rot. Cane.
(Rec. Com.), 145.
Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), ii, 86,
1, 88*, 139*.
He forfeited in 1 22+.
■ Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), ii,
404
7 Ibid. 130. The sheriff was to bring it
whenever the burden of carriage Bhould
eigh least heavily on the neighbourhood.'
8 Cal. Close, 13 1 3-18, p. 515.
9 Exch. Accts. bdle. 465, no. 15.
HERTFORD HUNDRED
same gate and a granary adjoining the bakehouse ;
(4) the great chamber called the King's Chamber
with two chapels adjoining the same, the kitchen and
the lesser hall ; (5) the great hall of the king with
two chimneys adjoining the same and two garde-
robes ; (6) a certain chamber without the postern
and the drawbridge beyond the same postern ; (7) the
stone wall in the circuit with the tower of the same
castle and the two chimneys of the two chambers
aforesaid ; (8) the wooden stockade next the outer
ditch, 'which is in many places prostrate on the
ground.'
The next two surveys are couched in general terms
and give little information as to the buildings of the
castle. That of 1 522-3, 10 however, mentions that
there is ' a fayre river runnynge alonge by the North-
side of the said Castell and the water of the same
Ryver serveth for and to all the houses of Office
within the same Castell and arere a very litle garden
grounde, but there is a fayre courtyarde and large
which is almost finished rounde aboute with fayre
[houses].'
The survey of 1 558-9 " refers only to the general
dilapidation of the buildings, ' as well in timber work
as in tiling, glazing and leading, dawbing, sealing
and ironwork,' and computes the cost of repairs at
Thirty years later the castle buildings were again
in a bad state of repair, and a fourth survey I2 (dated
1587-8) indicates that many of the apartments
required entire rebuilding. Mention is here made
of the privy kitchen, the serving place with the
scullery, the bakehouse, the rooms over the pantry,
the passage between the court and the bakehouse,
the shed towards the kitchen, timber for the chapel
end, the lodging where my Lord Treasurer did lie
in the term, the bridge towards St. Andrews, the
house in the castle yard next the water with the
chimney and the west gable end, the old gate-house in
the castle yard. Many of these buildings may be
identified on the Elizabethan plan and the majority
of them appear to have been of timber. The ' Castle
Yard ' was evidently the inner bailey and the ' bridge
towards St. Andrews ' is distinctly indicated on
Speed's view.
The greater part of the buildings were pulled
down early in the reign of James I. In a survey of
the extent of the castle dated 1609-10 13 it is stated
that ' there are standing upon part of the site of the
said castle one fair gatehouse of brick, one tower of
brick and the old walls of the said castle and also
three old houses without the walls.' The site con-
tained 7 acres and 3 roods, part called the ' Castle
yard ' being fenced with stone and part unfenced
called the ' Castle ditches ' ; ' the utter bryme of the
utter ditch ' being bounded by the king's highway
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
called Castle Street on the south and east. With the
exception of the three old houses and the tower of
brick, evidently the south-east bastion, this survey
represents fairly accurately the still existing remains
of the castle.
The most important period in the history of the
castle was the Civil War in the reign of King John.
Hertford and Berkhampstead were both taken by the
barons in 1 2 1 5 and were held until the following
year. The defection from Louis of France then
began and was followed by the surrender of the
castles.14 At the end of the same year Hertford was
besieged by Louis. The castle seems to have been
bravely defended by the constable Walter de
Godarvile, but after a siege of nearly a month it
surrendered,1,1 probably having no further supply of
provisions.
The castle was used as an occasional residence by
most of the kings of England whilst it remained a
royal castle.16 After the grant in dower made to
Queen Isabel in 1327 (see above) she stayed at the
castle from time to time and died there on 22 August
135 8.17 The next year King John of France was
lodged there during his captivity in England.18 John
of Gaunt received a grant of the castle at the same
time as the manor (see above) in 1360, and bought
large stores of timber from his neighbours, who did
not dare to refuse him, in order to fortify it.
According to the chronicler Walsingham, one of his
grievances when he retired from court in 1377 was
that the king had taken possession of the castle of
Hertford, where he had meant to spend most of his
time.13 The castle was, however, confirmed to him
by a grant of the same year.20 It seems to have been
chiefly between 1396 and 1399 that he used it as a
residence.21 The castle came again to the Crown
on the accession of Henry IV, and in 14.28 was
appointed one of the summer residences of the
Crown.22 In 1424 there is mention of the Bishop of
Durham surrendering the great seal in ' the great
chamber in the castle of Hertford.'23
In the itineraries of Henry VIII Hertford Castle
appears with the royal houses of Hunsdon and Hat-
field.2' The Princess Mary was staying there when
Wriothesley brought her a proposal of marriage from
Philip Duke of Bavaria, nephew of the Count Palatine,
in December 1539.25 Prince Edward was at the
castle at the time of Henry's death. The news of
this event was for a time kept secret from the public,
but the Earl of Hertford (afterwards Duke of
Somerset) and Sir Anthony Browne hastened to
Hertford, took Prince Edward secretly to Enfield, and
there told him and the Princess Elizabeth of the
prince's accession to the throne.26
In 1563, 1581 and 1592 the law courts were
removed to Hertford Castle owing to the Plague in
10 Exch. Accts. bdle. 465, no. 16.
11 Duchy of Lane. Special Com. no. 2.
12 Ibid. no. 416.
18 Duchy of Lane. Special Com. no. 813.
For notices of works at the castle occurring
in 1357, 1397, 1424 and 1560 see Cal.
Pat. 1354-8, p. 583 ; 1396-9, pp. 148-9;
1422—9, p. 193 ; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1547-80,
p. 166.
" 'Ann. Lond. ' Chron. of Ed-w. I and
Ediu. II (Rolls Ser.), i, 17, 21.
15 Matthew Paris, Chron. Mai. (Rolls
Ser.), iii, 5.
16 See Letters Patent dated there, Cal.
Pat. 1232-47, 1247-58, 1 301 -7, 1307-
•3. I330-4, 1334-8, i33s-4°, 1343-?,
'345-8, 1348-50, "354-8, 1377-S1,
1401-5, 1405-8, 1413-16, 1436-41,
146 1-7, 1476-S5, passim.
17 For her household accounts there
in 1357-8 see Cott. MS. Galba, E xiv.
See Cussans, op. cit. 51.
18 Cal. Close, 1354-60, p. 572.
19 Walsingham, Hist. Angl. (Chron.
Mon. Sci. Albani, Rolls Ser.), i, 339.
80 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 26.
M See numerous letters dated there,
Cal. Pat. 1396-9, passim, also of Henry
5°<?
Duke of Hereford. The Duke of Lan-
caster spent Christmas there in 1390
(Walsingham, op. cit. 195).
22 Proc. o/P.C. iii, pp. Iii, 295.
23 Ibid, vi, 346.
84 See L. and P. Hen. nil, xvi, 677.
85 Ibid, xiv, 696-7. There is a letter
of hers dated therein 1536 (ibid, xi, 526).
26 P. Fraser Tytler, England under
reigns of Edtuard VI and Mary (1839), i,
16. See also Burnet, Hist, of Reformat.on
(1865), ii, 37, where it is shown from
Edward's Diary that he was at Hertford,
not Hatfield.
64
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
London." Queen Elizabeth stayed at Hertford on
several occasions,28 but James I does not seem to have
been there, and in the next reign the castle ceased to
be a royal one, being included with the manor in the
grant to the Earl of Salisbury (see above).
Gaol delivery for the county took place at Hertford
Castle.29
Down to the end of the I 2th century the constable-
ship of the castle seems to have been held by the
sheriff of the county. The grant to Peter de Valognes,
sheriff under William I, of the ' lordship of Hertford '
was evidently considered later to include the constable-
ship, for the enrolment of the charter among the
' cartae antiquae ' is headed ' Charter of Robert
Fitz Walter,' 30 and it was evidently one of the charters
which Robert Fitz Walter (who married Gunnora, the
Valognes heir) showed to the king in order to prove
his right to the constableship.31 There is evidence
that Geoffrey Fitz Peter, who was sheriff from 1 190
to 1 192, held the constableship,32 and he continued
to hold it until August 1 202, when he received a
mandate to deliver the castle to Robert Fitz Walter,
who apparently claimed it in right of his wife.33
In the same year, however, Richard de Montfitchet
made fine with the king for the custody of the county
and of the castle of Hertford.3' In 12 I 2 John Fitz
Hugh was custodian and in August of that year was
ordered to give up the custody to John de Bassing-
bourn, leaving behind the wines and other supplies
bought with the king's money.35 During the
temporary peace following the signing of Magna
Carta Robert Fitz Walter, who had been serving as
marshal of the barons' army, obtained another grant
of the custody in succession to John de Bassingbourn.'16
This was in June 121 5, but in August of the same
year war broke out again, and Robert Fitz Walter
went over to France to offer the crown to Louis.
The castle had meanwhile been taken by the barons,
who held it until 1 2 1 6 (see above). After its surrender
to the king, John appointed Walter de Godarvile, a
follower of Falkes de Breaute, governor,3' and he was
holding it during the siege by Louis.38 Whilst it was
in Louis' hands Robert Fitz Walter put in a claim to
the custody which he claimed by ' ancient right,' but
Louis, according to the chronicler, refused on the
somewhat ungenerous plea that Englishmen who had
been traitors to their own king were not worthy of
any office of importance.39
During the next reign a constant succession appears
in the appointment of constables. Before December
1223 the custody had been held by Falkes de Breaute ;
in that month it was granted to William de Eynes-
ford.4" On 7 January I 224 it was granted to Stephen
de Segrave," on 22 January of the same year to
Richard de Argentein, the sheriff,43 who held it until
August 1228.*'' At the latter date it was granted to
Raymond de Burgh, before 23 January 1 230 to
William de Culworth, on that date to Raymond de
Burgh again,44 on 3 July 1230 to William de
Culworth, the sheriff,45 and on 25 September I 230 to
John de Burgh,46 from whom apparently it passed to
Hugh de Burgh, for he in 1232 was ordered to
deliver it to Stephen de Segrave.4' In May 1234 it
was held by Robert Passelewe, who was then super-
seded by William de Culworth,43 sheriff in that year,
and he held it until the appointment of the next
sheriff, Peter de Tany, in May 1236.49 In 1242
Richard de Montfitchet was appointed sheriff and
custodian of the castle,50 holding the office until 1 246. 51
In 1247 the king's brother William de Valence had
a grant of the custody of the castle and mills,52 to
which the vill was added a few days later03 ; this was
converted into a life grant in 1249.54 From this
date the castle descended with the vill or manor (q.v.).
The LIMEST FEE afterwards the
MANORS PRIORT MANOR was the property
of Hertford Priory. In 1086 Ralph
de Limesy was holding lands in Hertfordshire and
elsewhere which had been held by Earl Harold, and
among these apparently was an estate at Hertford
appurtenant to the manor of Hatfield Broadoak in
Essex.55 Ralph de Limesy
founded the priory of St. Mary
of Hertford as a cell to St.
Albans and endowed it with
a hide of land at Hertford
and a church which he had
built there.56 The place where
the friary stood was known as
Limesy Fee and was outside
the area and jurisdiction of
the borough.5'
After the Dissolution the
manor and site of the priory
were granted to Anthony
Denny in February 1537-8.
sallir,
t-wclv
They descended in
27 Stow, Annates, 656, 695, 764. Sec
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1581-90, pp. 71, 75 ;
1580-1625, pp. 79, 80; Acts of P.C.
1592, pp. 273, 274, 275.
38 For councils held there see Acts of
P.C. 1575-7. PP- iQI> !92> '93. '95-
For a visit in 1576 see Hist. MSS. Com.
Rep. vii, App. i, 6290.
29 Assize R. 336 ; L. and P. Hen. Vill,
ivii, 443 (40), &c.
30 Cart. Antiq. K. 10, 22.
81 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii, 185.
32 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 1 7.
88 Ibid. ; Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.),
ii, 185.
34 Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.),
93. It is uncertain whether this was
before or after August, for it is dated
'terminum infra annum (2 John)' only.
35 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 94*.
For wine carried to Hertford in 1226 see
Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 1176.
The rirst mandate to John Fitz Hugh of
21 August was followed by another one
of 29 August, threatening him with the
imputation of bad faith if he did not at
once surrender the castle (Rot. Lit. Pat.
[Rec. Com.], i, 95).
36 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 144A.
87 Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls
Scr.), ii, 641.
88 Ibid, iii, 5. 39 Ibid.
40 Cal. Pat. 1216-25, p. 418.
« Ibid. 420.
42 Ibid. 425.
43 Ibid. 1225-32, p. 199.
44 Ibid. 322.
45 Ibid. 347.
40 Ibid. 348.
47 Ibid. 496.
48 Ibid. 1232-47, p. 50.
40 Ibid. 144.
50 Ibid. 286, 294.
51 Ibid. 477.
52 Ibid. 1247-58, p. I.
M Ibid. 2.
64 Ibid. 46. A similar grant was made
in 1251 (Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57^.351).
?o6
55 V.C.H. Essex, i, 429 ; see V.C.H.
Herts, i, 299. The only possessions in
Hertford belonging to Harold mentioned
under Hertford in the Domesday Survey
are eighteen burgesses who in 10S6
belonged to King William. This can
scarcely be the es ate above mentioned,
which appears not to be noticed in the
Survey (except under Essex), but is
perhaps included in Ralph de Limesy's
manor of Amwell. The close connexion
between the two estates (Hertford and
Amwell) is shown by the style of the
priory manor in 1637, * the manor of the
priory of Hertford and now or late called
the manor of Amwell or the fee of
Amwell' (Close, 13 Chas. I, pt. xxxviii,
no. 17).
SG See article on Religious Houses,
V.C.H. Herts, iv.
57 See Agard's MS. Index to Assize R.
vii (2nd nos.), fol. 21 d. (Hil. 7 Hen. V).
M L. and P. Hen. Vill, xiii (1), 384
(47).
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
London." Queen Elizabeth stayed at Hertford on
several occasions,26 but James I does not seem to have
been there, and in the next reign the castle ceased to
be a royal one, being included with the manor in the
grant to the Earl of Salisbury (see above).
Gaol delivery for the county took place at Hertford
Castle.29
Down to the end of the I 2 th century the constable-
ship of the castle seems to have been held by the
sheriff of the county. The grant to Peter de Valognes,
sheriff under William I, of the ' lordship of Hertford '
was evidently considered later to include the constable-
ship, for the enrolment of the charter among the
'cartae antiquae ' is headed 'Charter of Robert
Fitz Walter,' 30 and it was evidently one of the charters
which Robert Fitz Walter (who married Gunnora, the
Valognes heir) showed to the king in order to prove
his right to the constableship.31 There is evidence
that Geoffrey Fitz Peter, who was sheriff from 1 190
to 1 192, held the constableship,32 and he continued
to hold it until August 1202, when he received a
m.tndate to deliver the castle to Robert Fitz Walter,
who apparently claimed it in right of his wife.33
In the same year, however, Richard de Montfitchet
made fine with the king for the custody of the county
and of the castle of Hertford.31 In 12 12 John Fitz
Hugh was custodian and in August of that year was
ordered to give up the custody to John de Bassing-
bourn, leaving behind the wines and other supplies
bought with the king's money.35 During the
temporary peace following the signing of Magna
Carta Robert Fitz Walter, who had been serving as
marshal of the barons' army, obtained another grant
of the custody in succession to John de Bassingbourn.36
This was in June 12 15, but in August of the same
year war broke out again, and Robert Fitz Walter
went over to France to offer the crown to Louis.
The castle had meanwhile been taken by the barons,
who held it until I 2 1 6 (see above). After its surrender
to the king, John appointed Walter de Godarvile, a
follower of Falkes de Breaute, governor,37 and he was
holding it during the siege by Louis.38 Whilst it was
in Louis' hands Robert Fitz Walter put in a claim to
the custody which he claimed by ' ancient right,' but
Louis, according to the chronicler, refused on the
somewhat ungenerous plea that Englishmen who had
been traitors to their own king were not worthy of
any office of importance.39
During the next reign a constant succession appears
in the appointment of constables. Before December
1223 the custody had been held by Falkes de Breaute ;
in that month it was granted to William de Eynes-
ford.4" On 7 January 12 24 it was granted to Stephen
de Segrave,41 on 22 January of the same year to
Richard de Argentein, the sheriff/2 who held it until
August 1228." At the latter date it was granted to
Raymond de Burgh, before 23 January 1230 to
William de Culworth, on that date to Raymond de
Burgh again," on 3 July 1230 to William de
Culworth, the sheriff,'5 and on 2; September 1230 to
John de Burgh,*6 from whom apparently it passed to
Hugh de Burgh, for he in 1232 was ordered to
deliver it to Stephen de Segrave.47 In May 1234 it
was held by Robert Passelewe, who was then super-
seded by William de Culworth,43 sheriff in that year,
and he held it until the appointment of the next
sheriff, Peter de Tany, in May 1236." In 1 242
Richard de Montfitchet was appointed sheriff and
custodian of the castle,50 holding the office until 1 246. 51
In 1247 the king's brother William de Valence had
a grant of the custody of the castle and mills,52 to
which the vill was added a few days later 53 ; this was
converted into a life grant in 1249.54 From this
date the castle descended with the vill or manor (q.v.).
The LIMESr FEE afterwards the
MANORS PRIORT MANOR was the property
of Hertford Priory. In 1086 Ralph
de Limesy was holding lands in Hertfordshire and
elsewhere which had been held by Earl Harold, and
among these apparently was an estate at Hertford
appurtenant to the manor of Hatfield Broadoak in
Essex.55 Ralph de Limesy
founded the priory of St. Mary
of Hertford as a cell to St.
Albans and endowed it with
a hide of land at Hertford
and a church which he had
built there.50 The place where
the friary stood was known as
Limesy Fee and was outside
the area and jurisdiction of
the borough.5'
After the Dissolution the
manor and site of the priory
were granted to Anthony
Denny in February 1537-8:
D y. n n y. Gules a
hire argent between
vel-ve crosses f army or.
They descended in
27 Stow, Annates, 656, 695, 764. See
Cal. S. P. Dom. 1581-90, pp. 71, 75 ;
1580-162;, pp. 79, 80; Acts of P.C.
1592, pp. 273, 274, 275.
*> For councils held there see Acts of
P.C. 1575-7, PP- i9'» IQ2. '93. "95-
For a visit in 1576 see Hist. MSS. Com.
Rej>. vii, App. i, 629a.
59 Assize R. 336 ; L. and P. Hen. Vill,
xvii, 4+3 (40), &c.
30 Cart. Antiq. K.10, 22.
»' Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii, 185.
32 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 1 7.
83 Ibid. ; Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.),
ii, 185.
34 Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.),
93. It is uncertain whether this was
before or after August, for it is dated
'terminum infra annum (2 John)' only.
35 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 94*.
For wine carried to Hertford in 1226 see
R,t. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii, 117*.
The first mandate to John Fitz Hugh of
21 August was followed by another one
of 29 August, threatening him with the
imputation of bad faith if he did not at
once surrender the castle (Rot. Lit. Pat.
[Rec. Com.], i, 95).
36 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 144A.
8' Matthew Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls
Ser.), ii, 641.
M Ibid, iii, 5. 39 Ibid.
40 Cal. Pat. 1216-25, p. 418.
41 Ibid. 420.
42 Ibid. 425.
43 Ibid. 1225-32, p. 199.
44 Ibid. 322.
45 Ibid. 347.
46 Ibid. 348.
47 Ibid. 496.
48 Ibid. 1232-47, p. 50.
« Ibid. 144.
50 Ibid. 286, 294.
51 Ibid. 477.
52 Ibid. 1247-58, p. 1.
s3 Ibid. 2.
54 Ibid. 46. A similar grant was made
in 1251 (Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 351).
?o6
55 V.C.H. Essex, i, 429 ; see V.C.H.
Herts, i, 299. The only possessions in
Hertford belonging to Harold mentioned
under Hertford in the Domesday Survey
are eighteen burgesses who in 10S6
belonged to King William. This can
scarcely be the es ate above ment oned,
which appears not to be noticed in the
Survey (except under Essex), but is
perhaps included in Ralph de Limesy's
manor of Amwell. The close connexion
between the two estates (Hertford and
Amwell) is shown by the style of the
priory manor in 1637, ' the manor of the
priory of Hertford and now or late called
the manor of Amwell or the fee of
Amwell' (Close, 13 Chas. I, pt. xxxviii,
no. 17).
56 See article on Religious Houses,
V.C.H. Herts, iv.
57 See Agard's MS. Index to Assize R.
vii (2nd nos.), fol. 21 d. (Hil. 7 Hen. V).
58 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (1), 384
(47).
Scale of
Plan of Hertford Castle
HERTFORD HUNDRED
.Hop,
the Denny family a until 1587, when Edward Denny
and Margaret his wife conveyed them to Henry
Colthurst.00 They seem to have been conveyed to
Martin Trott probably about 1590.61 Trott sold
them to Richard Willis in 161 7,M who died seised in
162;,63 leaving a son Thomas
underage.6* In 1637 Thomas
Willis sold the manor to John
Harrison of London,65 and it
descended with Balls Park in
Little Amwell (q.v.) until
the latter was sold to Sir
G. F. Faudel-Phillips, bart.
Hertford Priory is still in
the possession of Marquess
Townshend. In 1624 there
are mentioned as appurtenant
to this manor the water-mill
called Lyckermill or Dicker-
mill and the close called ' the
churchyard of St. John the Evangelist or the Mill
Close.' 66
The origin of the BOURNE FEE in Hertford is
probably to be found in the
property of Geoffrey de Bech,
who in 1086 had three houses
there." Like the manors of
Eastwick (in Braughing Hun-
dred) and Bengeo this prob-
ably came to Baldwin de Clare,
lord of Bourne, and through
his daughter Emma to the
Wakes. Later we find the
court of the honour of Bourne
(Broune, Brunne) being held
at Hertford, to which the
neighbouring tenants of the
Wakes owed suit.68
Another court held at Hertford was the court of
the HONOUR OF MANDEVILLE. In 1086
Geoffrey de Mandeville had property at Hertford
which had been held by Asgar the Staller, and he
had also seven houses which rendered no dues except
geld.69 Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and
Essex, successor of Geoffrey de Mandeville, was pre-
sented in the reign of Edward I for withdrawing his
suit from the borough.70 In the 13th century and
later one of the courts of the honour (called the court
of knights) " was held at Hertford," and to this we
find a Middlesex tenant of the earl's doing suit in
1297."
The VALOGNES FEE in Hertford can also be
traced back to 1086, when Peter de Valognes (who
was farming the borough) held two churches and a
Wake. Or fwo bars
ides with three roundels
ides in the chief.
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
house which he had bought of Ulwi of Hatfield.74
Roger de Valognes, son of Peter, received a grant of
the mills of Hertford (see above) and 'the service of
Alban de Hairon and all other lands and tenements
as his father held them.' 7S In the reign of Edward I
Christine de Maune, one of the Valognes heirs, was
presented for withdrawing her suit at the borough
court.76 The Valognes family held the manor of
Hertingfordbury which in
1086 had been held by Ralph
Baniard, and it is probable
that Ralph Baniard's Domes-
day holding of two houses in
Hertford also came to them
with that manor. In the
13th century the advowson of
the hospital of St. Mary Mag-
dalene is found descending
with the manor of Herting-
fordbury,77 and it seems prob-
able that the Valognes' lands
in Hertfordshire were given
to that monastery. The hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene was taken over by the Crossed Friars of the
order of Holy Trinity,78 and after the Dissolution the
messuage called 'Le Trinitie' was granted to Anthony
Denny.79 In 1577 Edward Denny alienated to John
Spurling the close of pasture called Trinity Close on
which Trinity House stood, 8 acres of arable land
adjoining, ' Friers Grove ' containing 8 acres and
another grove of 6 acres.60
The church of ST. ANDREW was
CHURCHES erected on the site of the former
church in 1 869 81 ; it consists of an
apsidal chancel, nave with aisles, north and south
transepts and west tower. It is built of flint with
stone dressings in the style of the early 14th century.
The north doorway is part of the old church, and
is of late 15th-century date, with moulded arch
under a square head, and with quatrefoils in the
59 Recov. R. Mich. 1574, rot. 818;
Pat. 21 Eliz. pt. v, vi ; 22 Eliz. pt. vii,
viii and ix ; 26 Eliz. pt. r.
63 Pat. 29 Eliz. pt. iii j Feet of F.
Hil. 29 Eliz.
61 By fine of 1 590 (Trin. 32 Eliz.) Colt-
hurst conveyed the rectory of St. John's
to Trott, but the manor is not mentioned.
Chauncy says that Martin Trott held a
court in I 577, which is difficult to explain
unless he was a mortgagee. He was in
possession in November 1590 (see Duchy
of Lane. Dec. and Ord. xxi, 191).
62 Recov. R. East. 15 Jas. I, rot. 20.
63 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii,
64.
61 Ct. of Waris, Fcod. Surv. no. 17.
65 Close, 13 Chas. I, pt. xxxviii, no. 17 ;
Recov. R. Mich. 14 Chas. I, rot. 109.
Cli Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
For the removal of Dickermill to lower
ground in order to get enough water after
the position of the Queen's mills had
been altered see Duchy of Lane. Dec.
and Ord. xxi, 191.
i, 300.
67 V.C.H. Herts.
6S Chan. Inq. p.i
0 Ric. II, no.
. 40.
9 Ric. H, no. 54 ;
30; 15
Edv
III,
69 V.C.H. Herts, i, 300.
™ Huid. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 104.
71 Cal. Inf. p.m. 1-19 EJ-u: I, 442.
7- Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Edw. Ill, no. 10 ;
21 Ric. II, no. 29 ; 1 Hen. IV, no. 50 5
507
Pari. R. iv, 136a ; Duchy of Lane. Misc.
Bks. xviii, fol. 49.
73 Cal. Inq. p.m. 1-19 Edw. I, 442.
7i V.C.H. Herts, i, 300. One of these
churches was probably All Saints (see
advowson), the other one is uncertain.
75 C3rt. Antiq. IC 10, 24.
7G Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 194.
77 Feet of F. Herts. 31 Hen. Ill,
no. 332 ; Div. Co. 20 Edw. Ill, no. 8
Chart. R. 20 Edw. Ill, m. 4, no. 14.
78 See article on Religious Houses,
V.C.H. Herts, iv.
7" L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 1027 (25).
60 Pat. 33 Eliz. pt. i, m. 19.
81 For a description of the old church
and its monuments see Tumor, op. cit. 250.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
spandrels ; the labels have stops carved with angels
holding shields. On the west side of the doorway
are the remains of a stoup.
Under the communion table in the north chapel
is an old stone altar slab, discovered on the site of the
former church of St. Mary the Great in 1888 ; the
slab measures 3 ft. 5 in. by 2 ft. 2 in. and is about
5 in. thick. It bears five incised crosses, and in the
centre is a rectangular cavity about 3 in. by 2 in.
and 1 J in. deep, probably to contain relics. The
communion table in the chapel has twisted legs and
may be late I 7th-century work.
On the nave floor is a brass inscription to Bridget
Whitgifte, wife of Robert Collingwood, one of the
sons of Sir Cuthbert Collingwood, kt., 1610. There
is a floor slab to Arthur Sparke, 1665, with arms.
The church of ALL SAINTS was erected in
1895 on the site of the former church, which
was burnt down in 1 89 1; it consists of chancel,
north organ chamber and vestry, south chapel, nave
with aisles, north transept and west tower. It is
built of squared Runcorn sandstone and has a tiled
roof.
The old church consisted of chancel, nave, north
and south aisles, north and south transepts, and west
tower.82 The only fittings which escaped destruction
were two brasses, now placed in the modern church.
In the north transept are the feet only of a man's
figure and inscription in Norman French to John
Hunger, master cook to Katherine wife of Henry V,
1435 ; the other is an inscription only to Thomas
Boole, 1456.
Plan of St. John's Church, Hertford
There is a ring of eight bells : the first, second
and fourth of 1782, the fifth and eighth of 1797,
and the sixth and seventh of 1793, are all by John
Briant of Hertford ; the third is by Mears &
Stainbank, 1876.
There is an early Spanish chalice and a paten given
by Canon Wigram in 1 8 79, and an 18th-century
chalice and paten given by Mr. Charles Butler in 1880.
The registers previous to 1 8 1 2 are as follows :
(i) baptisms 1560 to 1653, burials and marriages
1561 to 1653 ; (ii) baptisms 1653 to 1723, burials
1653 to 1721, marriages 1653 to 1724; (iii)
baptisms 1724 to 1791, burials 1724 to 1796,
marriages 1724 to 1753 ; (iii£) baptisms 1791 to
181 1, burials 1797 to 181 2 ; (iv) marriages 1755 to
1782 ; (v) rnaniages 1782 to 1812.
The bells were ten in number, the first and second
by John Briant of Hertford, 179 1, and the remaining
eight by Pack & Chapman, 1 771. They have been
recast by Mears & Stainbank.
The communion plate cons'sts of flagon, dated
1680 ; cup and cover paten, 1696 ; paten, 1725 ;
large paten without hall mark ; two chalices, 1874,
and two modern spoons.
The registers previous to 1 8 1 2 are as follows :
(i) baptisms 1559 to 1 64 1, burials 1559 to 1648,
marriages 1560 to 1652 ; (ii) baptisms and burials
1653 to 1675, marriages 1653 to 1674; (iii) all
entries 1675 to 1729 ; (iv) baptisms and burials
82 For description of it and the monuments see Turnor, op.
cit. iS;. In 1763 the old church was greatly damaged by a
storm (see Sess. R. [Herts. Co. Rec], ii, 99).
CO8
HERTFORD HUNDRED
1730 to 1779, marriages 1730 to 1754 ; (v)
marriages 1754- to 1837 ; (vi) baptisms 1780 to
1844 ; (vii) burials 1780 to 1858.
CHRIST CHURCH, in Port Vale, was built in
1868 by Mr. Abel Smith. It is a cruciform build-
ing of stone, in 1 3th-century style, consisting of
chancel, nave of three bays, aisles and transepts, south
porch and west bell turret. The parish was created
in 1869.63 The living is a vicarage, and the patron
is Mr. Abel H. Smith.
Of the church of ST. MART very few records
have survived. In 1428 there were less than ten
inhabitants in the parish.84 The church85 adjoined
the Old Cross ; it appears to have fallen into ruins
in the 1 6th century.86 During the excavations for
the public library in 1888 many of the old stones
were found87; some of these were used in the con-
struction of a memorial fountain near the library,
and consist of the greater part of a window of clunch
of 13th-century date. The arch is moulded, and the
jambs are shafted, with moulded capitals and bases.
Both arch and jambs are enriched with the dog-tooth
ornament. Other fragments are preserved in the
library.
A messuage called St. Mary Churchyard was
included in the grant of the manor to the Earl of
Salisbury in 1630. M
The other parish churches originally in Hertford,
namely, St. John the Evangelist s9 and St. Nicholas,
have disappeared. ST. JOHN'S was built before the
beginning of the 13th century,90 and seems to have
been pulled down before 1624, when the churchyard
formed the mill close of Lyckermill.91 It is said to
have been rebuilt by Thomas Willis, the patron, in
1629,'* and to have been demolished about fifty years
later, after the parish was united to All Saints.ss
The church stood at the east end of the town, to the
north of the present buildings of Christ's Hospital,
upon the site now occupied (191 2) by the timber
yard of Messrs. Ewen & Tomlinson. The founda-
tions (which have since been covered in) were
excavated during the course of building operations in
1893, and reveal the ground plans both of the
original church and of the smaller church erected
upon its site in the 1 7th century. The former was
a large cruciform building, having an aisleless nave
measuring internally about 87 ft. by 29 ft., north and
south transepts, each 30 ft. 4 in. by 20 ft., and a
chancel 24 ft. in width, the eastern foundations of
which cannot now be traced. At the angle formed
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
by the west wall of the south transept with the south
wall of the nave are signs of the existence of a stair-
turret. The thickness of the walls, about 4 ft.,
indicate that the remains are at least as early as the
1 2th century. Several tiles of the 13th and 14th
centuries were found on the site. One of these, of
the later date, has a vigorously drawn hart upon it.
The church of ST. NICHOLAS existed in 1291,
when the Prior of Wilford (Kent) had a pension of
£1 in it." The advowson of the rectory belonged
to the alien priory of Wilford,95 and hence came to
the Crown.96 St. Nicholas was parochial, but the
extent of the parish is unknown. In 1428 it had
less than ten inhabitants (householders).97 In 1487
Tile from St. John's Church, Hertford
there is a will of John Lombard of London, by
which he wished to be buried in the parish church
of St. Nicholas, Hertford.98 The living had been
united to that of St. Andrew by 1 535," so that
probably the chur h was then already disused.100 The
building is described by Chauncy as standing ' near
St. Nicholas Street, at the west end of Back Street,
towards the mills in the back yard to the Maiden-
head Inn, where the ruins of the church are yet to
be seen.' l Moulded stones are occasionally found
on the north side of Maidenhead Street where the
church stood.
In the grant of the manor to the Earl of Salisbury
in 1630 the ruined and decayed church with the
cemetery called St. Nicholas is mentioned.'
68 Land. Gaz. 22 June 1869, p. 3549.
81 Feud. Aids, ii, 461.
85 Chauncy (p. 261) calls this church
St. Mary the Great, and other historians
have followed his example and have called
the priory church St. Mary the Less.
There seems to be no documentary
evidence to support this. The priory was
certainly known as St. Mary Monachorum
[Cat. Pat. 1381-5, p. 207), and there was
a parish church of St. Mary Minor (see
references to the parish of St. Mary Minor
on pp. 4956, 500"). But the parish church
belonging to the priory seems to have been
St. John the Evangelist (see below). It
seems most probable from the present
amount of evidence that the church of
St. Mary {Feud. Aids, ii, 461) or St. Mary
the Virgin (Valor Eccl. [Rec. Com.], iv,
277) was sometimes called St. Mary
Minor to distinguish it from the priory
church and was this church near the Old
Cross.
86 It had been annexed to St. Andrew's
before 1535 (Valor Eccl. [Rec. Com.], iv,
277)-
87 See Herts. Mercury, 6 Oct. 1 906.
88 Pat. 6 Chas. I, pt. x, no. 1.
89 For account of the discovery of
foundations see Herts. Mercury, 2 Dec.
1893.
90 See below under advowson.
91 Ct. of Wards, Feod. Surv. no. 17.
92 Chauncy, op. cit. 257. This second
church is supposed to be the small church
whose foundations have been found within
the area of the larger nave of the
earlier one (see Herts. Mercury, 2 Dec.
1893).
93 Tumor, op. cit. 247. Willis is said
to have dedicated his church in honour
of St. John the Baptist, but all the dc;cu-
509
ments dealing with this later church refer
to it as St. John the Evangelist.
94 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37.
Possibly this was one of the churches
held by Peter de Valognes in 1086 and
was given by him or a successor to
Wilford.
96 This was a cell to Bee Hellouin
(Cat. Pat. 1350-4, p. 503).
96 Ibid. 1327-30, p. 3 ; 1 350-4, p. 503 ;
1 399-1401, p. 443.
37 Feud. Aids, ii, 461.
93 P.C.C. Will, Milles, 10. A bequest
was made to the repairs of the church in
1495 (ibid. Vox, 30).
99 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 277.
100 Several funeral monuments are given
by Weever.
1 See also Speed (16 10), Engl, and
Wales, pbte xxiii.
9 Pat. 6 Chas. I, pt. x, no. I.
A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
St. Andrew's Church is first
JDFOH'SONS mentioned by name in 1208, when
King John granted it to Master
Adam of Essex, his clerk, for life.3 The grant
mentions a perpetual vicarage, which never reappears.4
The advowson of the rectory descended with the
manor until the alienation of the latter to the Earl
of Salisbury. It still belongs to the Crown in right
of the duchy of Lancaster.5
The church of All Saints was probably one of
those held by Peter de Valognes in loS6,6for Robert
de Valognes gave it to Waltham Abbey.7 The gift
was confirmed by Richard I in December I 189,
when the invocation is first mentioned.8 The church
was confirmed to the abbey in I 227,' and a vicarage
ordained at the beginning of the 13th century.10
The convent granted two turns of the presentation
to Richard Heyham just before the Dissolution,"
after which the king gave the rectory and advowson
of the vicarage to Thomas Knighton." Knighton's
widow brought it to John Alleyn, who held it in
1545," and on her death in 1 5 5 1 it descended to
her nephew, Andrew Baynton." His heir Anne "
seems to have married William Anstee, with whom
she conveyed it to Richard Roberts in I 580,16 possibly
in trust for Christopher Aleyn, who died seised in
1588, and whose heir, Edmund Aleyn," transferred
it to Stephen Soame in 1 5 89-,s Sir William Soame,
son of Stephen, conveyed the rectory in 1626 to
certain feoffees,19 who may have been trustees for
Gabriel Barber, who bought the advowson for the
purpose of uniting the living with that of St. John's
and endowing it with the impropriate tithes. The
king was to be patron of All Saints, presenting
alternately with the patron of St. John's.20 The
arrangement was annulled by the House of Lords
before 1649, the patronage being then claimed by
the heirs of Mr. Barber2' ; but it must have been
re-asserted, perhaps at the Restoration.22 The alternate
presentations from 1 709 to the present day have
been made by the Crown.23
A Fraternity of St. John celebrated in the church
of All Saints, and had a chaplain there in 1495.24
After the dissolution of the brotherhood its property
passed to the Crown. In 1575 a ' ruinous house ' in
the north of All Saints' churchyard, which had been
given for an obit and lamp, and the site of another
house called the Guildhall or church house were
granted to John Herbert and Andrew Palmer.23
Ralph de Limesy founded the priory of Hertford
and endowed it with the church which he had built
there.26 It seems probable that this was the church
of St. John, which was situated on the priory estate
to the north of Christ's Hospital.2'" The church of
St. John belonged to the monks at the beginning of
the 13th century, when a vicarage was endowed.28
It seems to be the church which served the parish
known as the ' parochia de Monachorum ' or Monken-
church29 or the parish of the priory,30 and to be the
parish church within the priory mentioned in 1497.31
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson of the
vicarage of the church of St. John the Evangelist were
granted in 1538 to Antony Denny32 and descended
with the priory manor (q.v.).
In 1640 the vicarage was united to that of All
Saints,33 and it was proposed by Sir John Harrison
to endow it with the impropriate tithes. Sir John
Harrison was to have alternate presentation with the
king.34 Apparently the endowment did not stand,
for the rectory appears to have descended with the
advowson.35 This with the priory manor is now in
possession of Marquess Townshend.
The poor's estate comprises the
CHJRITIES charities of John Browne, Alderman
Card, the King's Mead, Standon
Green End Farm, the Herbage Money, and the
charity of Ann Dimsdale, which were formerly under
the administration of trustees for the poor created
under a decree of commissioners for charitable uses
13 September 1708.
In 1909 the gross income amounted to £290, or
thereabouts, of which £jo was derived from the rent
of 101 acres known as the Green End Farm, Standon,
co. Herts., _£li2 from rent of the post office, £23
from the King's Mead, and £S$ 10/. from other
land. A fixed payment of^i a year is also received
from Balls Park and £2 is. lod. from the Lea Con-
servancy Board.
In 1889 the 'Talbot Arms' was sold for £1,000,
and part of the Dimsdale Arms Inn for £300, and
the proceeds invested in stock with the official trustees,
which was subsequently sold out for effecting improve-
ments in the property and towards the cost of building
the post office. The official trustees now (1910)
hold £460 i6j. 3d. consols, which is accumulating
for the purpose of replacing a sum of £315 3/. \\d.
consols, also £305 17/. <^d. consols for the replace-
ment of £1,289 Ils- 5^- conso's by annual instal-
ments of £29, and £21 5/. $d. consols to replace
£74 I is. yd. consols by annual instalments of £4 5/.
3 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 79.7 ;
Cal. Rot. Chart. 1 199-1216 (Rec. Com.),
175a.
4 Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199-1216 (Rec.
Com.), ,75..
6 Cal. Pat. 1225-32, p. 190 ; 1232-47,
p.467; 1301-7, p. 139; H35-4-I, F- 6< ;
Chauncy.op.cit.238 ; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.);
Bacon, Lib. Rc%. 5 1 7.
« V.C.H. Herts, i, 300.
7 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 67.
8 Cart. Antic;. M 15. The church is
called 'of the king's demesne.' This
is probably because the king was lord of
the borough.
9 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-7, p. 27.
1° Liber Antiouus Hugonis Wells (ed.
A. Gibbons), 29.
11 Aug. Oft'. Dec. and Ord. v, fol. 209J.
« L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 87S (61).
13 Ibid, xx (2), 1068 (52).
14 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), exxxiii, 100.
'5 Ibid, clvii, 81.
16 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 22 Eli*.
17 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxvi, 63.
18 Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 31 Eliz.
19 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, App. 1 2.
w Chan. Surv. of Ch. Livings, i, fol. 2;.
21 Ibid.
22 In any case before 1662 (Inst. Bks.
[P.R.O.]), when Sir John Harrison
presented to the united livings.
23 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Bacon, Lib.
Reg. 517.
24 Wills, P.C.C. 30 Vox ; cf. also 5 Feti-
place ; Archd. of St. Albans, W 140 d.
2i Pat. 17 Eliz. pt. iii, m. 2S (grant
begins on m. 9).
-'c Dugdale, Mon. iii, 299.
" See Herts. Mercury, 2 Dec. 1S93.
™ Liber An
A. Gibbons), 29.
Hugonis Wells (ed.
29 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 37;
Feud. Aids, ii, 461.
30 An?. Off. Proc. bdie. 3, no. 92.
31 Rentals and Surv. R. 277. Whether
there was another church att?ched to the
priory used by the monks themselves is
not quite certain, or whether the monks
used the parish church. By will of 1525
John Purfote desired to be buried in the
priory church (P.C.C. 1 Porch), but this
may only mean the church belonging to
the priory.
33 [.. and P. Hen. VIII, xiii (1), 384
(47).
3S Pat. 14 Chas. I, pt. x, no. I ; 16
Chas. I, pt. viii.
34 Chan. Surv. of Ch. Livings, i, fol. 3;.
8S Recov. R. Trin. 20 Chas. II, rot.
124; Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Anne;
Recov. R. Mich. 1 Geo. I, rot. 26 ; East.
5 Geo. IV, rot. 215.
5IO
HERTFORD HUNDRED
In addition to these repayments a sum of .£42 gs.
was in 1909 applied towards the repayment of a loan
from a building society, and a sum of £l~jz 19*. 6d.
was apportioned out of the income of the charity for
the benefit of the poor, as follows : £76 ids. for
the poor of St. John's, £55 5/. 6d. for St. Andrew's,
£19 15/. for All Saints, and £z\ y. for the district
of Brickendon.
Residence for a Wesleyan minister, comprised in
deed 7 December 1896. In 1908, with the sanction
of the Charity Commissioners, the residence was
sold for .£510, and the balance, after payment of
liabilities, was invested in £104 zs. ^d. consols with
the official trustees.
Educational Charities. — The grammar school was
founded in I 6 16 by Richard Hale.36
The Greencoat school was founded in 1760 by
Gabriel Newton, including the gifts of George
Butteris, Lady Grimstone, Mrs. Skinner, and Benjamin
Cherry." This school was afterwards merged with
the Cowper Testimonial School.
My will of 1649 Mary Pettyt, widow, gave two
tenements near Cowbridge for as many poor widows.
These were exchanged in 1824 for other houses in
St. Andrew's Street occupied by eight poor widows
nominated by the churchwardens of St. Andrew's.
The charity of Sir John Harrison, kt., will, 1669,
augmented by his son, Richard Harrison, consists of
certain fee-farm rents purchased with a sum of
.£108 13/. \d. and conveyed by deed 14 March 1676.
The properties charged having been subdivided,
difficulties arose in obtaining payment of the several
charges, and a sum of £5 only appears to be now
received which is regularly distributed in bread
among the poor of All Saints and St. John's. The
official trustees also hold a sum of £lj 10s. consols,
producing 81. 8d. yearly, arising from investment of
balance of arrears of fee-farm rent of £2 lis. zd.
charged on the rectory and manor of Abbots Langley.
In 1625 Roger Daniel by his will (among other
bequests) devised an annuity of £10, of which £5
was payable for a monthly sermon, £4 for fourteen
poorest householders of All Saints and six of the parish
of St. Andrew, I zs. for bread and drink for poor
prisoners in the ' Maine Gaol,' and 8/. for a breakfast
for the administering trustees. The annuity of £10
is duly received from the Merchant Taylors' Company,
London — £5 is paid to the vicar for a monthly
lecture, £\ for twenty poor widows, the 1 zs. for
prisoners is paid into the Post Office Savings Bank,
the amount of which exceeds £20, and the 8/. break-
fast money is carried to the general church account.
Endowments for organist. — In 1698 Mrs. Elizabeth
Cranmer, by will, left £200, which was laid out
BOROUGH OF
HERTFORD
in the purchase of a rent-charge of ^8 issuing out of
land at Springfield near Chelmsford.
In 1724 Robert Dimsdale, M.D., by his will,
devised a rent-charge of £15 issuing out of a house in
the market-place, Hertford. The annuities are duly
paid to the organist, who also receives under the will
of Miss Dionisia Battell, 1730, the sum of £30 a
year, the rent of a house in Fore Street, Hertford,
formerly known as the ' Blue Anchor.'
Thomas Noble, by his will dated 14 August 1662,
devised a messuage in the parish of AH Saints, at a
place there called Bayley Hall Style, for the use of
the poor. These premises are situated in Castle
Street, producing ^65 a year or thereabouts, which
together with a rent-charge of £1 5 a year issuing out
of an estate at Bennington derived under the will of
the same donor is distributed among the poor of All
Saints.
In 1909 a sum of £19 15/. was likewise applied
for the benefit of the poor of All Saints in respect of
the poor's estate for the borough.
In 1 8 I 7 Charles Saunders by will bequeathed £ 500
consols, the dividends to be distributed in bread.
In 1844 Thomas Cheek by will bequeathed X200
consols, the dividends to be distributed in bread
on Christmas Eve to the poor of All Saints and
St. Andrew's, or either of them.
In 1S72 John Davies, M.D., by will proved at
London, left £53 17/. 6d. consols, the dividends to
be applied for any charitable purpose the trustees
should think fit. The annual dividends, amounting
together to £18 16s. 8d., are distributed by the vicar
and churchwardens chiefly in bread.
In 1854 six almshouses in All Saints parish were
built by Marquess Townshend for poor widows and
others.
In 1875 Miss Hannah Smith, by will, bequeathed
a legacy represented by £275 10/. 3d. consols, the
annual dividends amounting to £6 ijs. 8d. — subject
to repair of tomb in cemetery for sixty years after
death of testatrix — in augmentation of the income of
Herts. County Infirmary, at the expiration of the
term the stock to be transferred to that institution.
In 1885 George Ringrose, by will, left a sum of
money, now represented by £187 us. consols, the
annual dividends of £4 I Is. \d. to be distributed in
coals, bread, or money to the poor.
In 1897 Henry Rayment, by will proved at
London, left a sum of money, represented by
£176 18;. I I a', consols, the annual dividends,
amounting to £\ 8s. 4^, to be divided on 8 February
among three poor widows.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees.
3« V.C.H. Htru. ii, 89.
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